The Chores Page
Ok, here’s my plan, so far. Copy, paste, alter, print-out… whatever you need to do to make it work for you! Let me know how it helps you, or you have any suggestions… I’m learning how to do this too!
(Last revised 07/25/10)
Here is my NEW plan – since we moved to a new house, I have a different way of doing things. It’s much simpler and since I don’t have to show our house to prospective buyers anymore (wahoo!) a little more relaxed. I still do stuff from the old plan, but only when I feel like it…or it MUST be done. For the sake of not having to repeat things, I wanted to keep my old plan on this page; it might work better for you and it helps me remember that sometimes you have to clean the petrified explosions out of the microwave once in awhile. Anyway, for the more detailed OLD plan see below, this is what I’m doing now:
One day a week UPSTAIRS – a general pick up of the everyday heavily used areas of the house and vacuum (Exception: Hubby now has office space to himself…I don’t go in there 
). Evaluate beds and change sheets if necessary. Dust and deep clean whenever things get intolerable (lol, see much more relaxed right? )
One day a week DOWNSTAIRS – a general pick up of the everyday used areas of the house (returning all toys to the playroom/living room) and vacuum. Sometimes I have to vacuum again b/c my son is messy and crumbs get everywhere. We try to combat the chaos of toys more than once a week too! 
This is also when I try to do a really good job on the kitchen sink/counters and breakfast room table. I only mop the hardwood floors when things get intolerable.
One day a week BATHROOMS – deep clean sinks, counters and toilets. I only clean our shower when it gets, yes that’s right, intolerable. I do clean my son’s tub more often though, lucky for him.
Day before trash day – clean out the fridge and wash the multitude of containers I thought I lost. Rejoice in once again having something to put leftovers in! I try to remember to clean out the trash can on this day too.
That’s about it…our house is a lot more messy these days and Mommy is a lot less stressed. I am SOOOOOO happy we are done with being in “show home” mode trying to sell our house. Now we can live like normal people and just deep clean when guests are coming. We are certainly not neat freaks though…if you are, then my old plan might make you happier. Good luck!
Here is the OLD plan (basically, the divide and conquer plan. Do what you need to do to make it work for your house/schedule):
Weekly Chores: This list is for those days when you’ll be home all day. If you get to clean each area once or twice each month from this list, you are in good shape. Do as many things as possible while the baby is awake and save others for naptime. That way if you get everything done you can have naptime to yourself or for doing something on the To-Do List
Monday – Bedrooms Day and Living Areas Day!
- Take anything that needs to be mailed to mailbox
- Change sheets (every other week or as needed for guest room)
- Dust furniture/shelves
- Vacuum floors
- Vacuum furniture
- Reorganize, replenish or rotate baby’s toy boxes, taking away ones he hasn’t played with in a while and adding some new ones
- Pick one area (e.g. baseboards, closet, behind the dresser, blinds) that need extra attention and deep clean, reorganize or declutter
Tuesday – Kitchen day and eating area day!
- Clean out and organize refrigerator, throwing away all old food, and cleaning or recycling containers
- Take out garbage for whole house
- Clean trash can under sink if needed
- Clean stove
- Clean microwave
- Dust counter top items
- Deep clean counter-tops
- Disinfect cabinet knobs/handles
- Deep clean sink
- Clean table top and replace place-mats that are dirty
- Pick one cabinet/drawer/under-sink area or pantry to organize/declutter or deep clean
- Reorganize, replenish or rotate baby’s kitchen toys, taking away ones he hasn’t played with in a while and adding some new ones
Wednesday - Garage/Front entryway/Outdoor Areas Day
- Take out the trash and recycling
- After trash/recycling has been picked up, disinfect outside/lids and clean out inside of cans if needed
- Sweep and/or vacuum main walking areas of garage, front entry and front porch
- Sweep back deck/patio
- Go through mail bin: toss junk that’s piled up, bring bills and other important mail to kitchen ATTENTION drawer (this is the drawer you save for bills or anything you need to attend to this week)
- Pick one or two areas that need extra attention and focus 20 minutes there (e.g. coat closet, boxes piling up in garage, etc.)
Thursday – Bathrooms Day
- Clean/Disinfect countertops
- Deep clean shower/tubs
- Deep clean toilets
- Dust areas that need it
- Pick one area that needs extra attention (e.g. undercounter area, collection of seashells, etc.) and clean, declutter or reorganize
Friday – Hardwood Floors and Furniture Day
- Vacuum hardwood floors and mop
- Vacuum bathroom floors and mop
- Pick one or two major furniture items and vacuum thoroughly (take out cushions, go underneath and behind, etc.)
Saturday – Weekend days are set aside for fun as priority number one, but of course some catch-up is allowed on days that we don’t already have plans or can’t think of something to do
- Family fun day or mom/dad fun alone day!
- If no plans, may run errands that are easier without baby (Costco, Petsmart, etc.) OR do a few loads of laundry OR do one major item on To-Do list … especially great if Dad is home to take care of baby.
- Get out cookbooks with hubby and plan meals for the next week
Sunday -
- Family fun day or mom/dad fun alone day!
- If no plans, grocery shopping for next weeks meals
- Find half an hour to pay attention to the ATTENTION drawer, pay bills, get things ready to mail on Monday etc.
