1st time mum losing the plot: Does anyone have a schedule for housework they would share?

[sedgiebaby]

I'm struggling to keep on top of all the housework with my new baby (5 months) now she's sleeping through and I'm not so tired I want to get on top of things.

I think I might need a jobs for every: day; week; month just to give me a nudge and help me stay on top of everything and use my time well. Just doing stuff ad hoc as I think of it is not working.

Before I try to write something up....if you have anything you would be willing to share I would appreciate it.

Thank you!

Just to say, that I do more than 1 load a day, but 1 is the minimum to keep things ticking over. Friday is my laundry day, I always do towels and bedding and catch up with clothes then - usually that is 3-4 loads across the day. So perhaps 10 loads a week, and that is with an enormous washing machine that takes a 9kg load!

I do 3 loads of washing a day.
I never leave a room without taking something to put away.
While I'm waiting for the kettle to boil I load/unload dishwasher.
After I've been to the loo I use a Flash wipe on the flush, lid and seat.
When I've washed my face I use the flannel to give the sink a once over.
I make dc responsible for their stuff - they have to tidy their room. If I need to deep clean it, I'll tidy it about every 3 months.
I hoover, polish, clean and mop every week-10 days. More in high traffic areas.

Little and often works best for me. Sometimes I'll have a huge clean up, but there's not much mess if you deal with it as you go along.

Morning Routine:
Dressed to shoes (10 mins)
Clean bathroom (5 mins)
Empty dishwasher (5 mins)
Load washing machine (2 mins)
Air then make beds (3 mins)
Pet care (4 mins)
Check calendar (1 min)
Hot Spot ? desk (2 mins)
Room Rescue (5 mins)
What?s for dinner? (2 mins)

Afternoon Routine:
Follow basic weekly plan for the day (90 mins)
Declutter one area (15 mins)

Evening Routine:
Tidy up with children before TV (15 mins)
Make house smell nice (3 mins)
Bath children & clean bathroom (15 mins)
Hot Spot ? entrance (2 mins)
Hoover communal areas (10 mins)

Bedtime Routine:
Put on dishwasher (5 mins)
Shine sink & lay out cloths (5 mins)
Pick out clothes for everyone (5 mins)
Pet care (4 mins)
Take vitamins (2 mins)
Go to bed at a reasonable hour.

The Basic Weekly Plan is things like shopping, cleaning and changing the sheets. I have put my Weekly Plan and Daily Routine onto sheets and covered them with tacky back. I then put magnetic tape on the back so they stick to the fridge. I use a whiteboard marker to cross them out as I go. Everybody comments on how pretty and practical they are

BornAgainDomesticGoddess = genius

Thank you!

CeliaFate I'm going to do ALL of this thanks for the tips!

Why don't we start a BabyFlyers thread - for people who have a baby and really don't have time for the full thing/don't want to do the "dressed to shoes" thing. Just to really really pare it down to basics and essentials. We can figure out routines that work for us. I see no need to do the whole decluttering thing with a small baby...

My mum, who is very tidy, told me to get whizzing in the morning and set a timer, eg 1 hour. And do ONLy that one hour 9but no breaks at al during this hour, no phopne calls, tea, MN etc at all).

The rest of the day, just do bits as they come up (eg unpacking dishwasher, hanging up laundry).

I found that in 1 hr, I could do the beds, tidy up, clean kitchen (floor, surfaces, pack up dishwasher), clean loo, put on a load of laundry, even do some ironing.

That way you don't feel as if the housework is always on top of you.

And you can MN with a clear conscience!

It's amazing how much you can do in a distraction free hour (eg when baby naps or is quiet)

quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep, i am rocking my baby and babies dont keep

zombieplan sounds like a good idea, but is that the flylady thing because I've had a peruse and I think it is just too too much. I'm trying to get some lists/routines together first to see what might work for me. I've printed some motivatedmom's schedules which look a bit more realistic to me, and I like some of the ones on here, then I thought I'd try to come up with my own. What do you think shall we put our heads together and maybe share routines/lists?

Yeah, I mean a kind of Flylady-lite. Haven't seen motivatedmon as I'm too tight to pay for cleaning advice. We could put together a list of what we think the basics are, then break them down into sensible chunks. Just enough to keep the house tidy, hygienic and generally ticking over, without feeling pressurised to declutter/deepclean etc... I think the flylady stuff all sounds very good, but in practice I just don't have time to follow it in the way it's designed to work. Nor do I get whole hours of time - it's just a few minutes here and there, and I expect many others with new babies are in the same position. Having a list of small jobs that can be done quickly would be motivational and would help to make sure nothing gets overlooked.

I do flylady and think the great thing about it is that you don't need big chunks of time to do it, i have been amazed at what I can accomplish in a few 15 min sessions throughout the day!

Also, you don't HAVE to do everything she suggests on the lists. For example, on her weekly "home blessing" she suggests cleaning the mirrors - mine don't get that dirty so I don't do them every week (more like every 2-3 months!)

Write a list of what needs doing, how often you like it to be done and then figure it out around your baby's schedule.
Monday is my busiest day with me blitzing the house, doing laundry and doing a food shop after school, Tuesday is ironing and mopping floors, Wednesday is changing bedding, Thursday is more laundry, Fridays I do very little as I run a toddler group in the morning and there's not much time between that finishing and school runs.
I have to vacuum and wipe the bathrooms down daily though. Oh and Sunday night I have a look in the cupboards/fridge/freezer and meal plan around what we have in and who's here for the week - if anyone's coming for tea, dh is away etc. DD helps with this. Then when I shop on Monday I know what we need for when and it helps with waste but also makes sure we have enough in plus a few extras.

sorry thebreastmilksonme i dont like correcting but you have missed the important part of the poem.

When my children look back on today I hope they see a mum who had time to play.
There will be years ahead for cleaning and cooking, but your children grow up whilst your not looking.
So quiet now cobwebs and dust go to sleep
I'm rocking my baby and babies dont keep.

This was printed out and stuck on my cupboard for years. It was inspiration that I was doing the right thing making memories playing at the park or having an imaginary tea party on the picnic blanket whilst my own dishes were begging to be done. I refused to feel bad about it and they always got done anyway(eventually). It was the guilt to be supermum that always got me and this helped to cure me of that.

Thanks thebreastmilksonme and maccie, I know the poem too and I take your point. I plan to use nap times to do my housework, but I try to do one job with baby watching because it entertains her, after that she requires my full attention and I'm happy to give it.

Thank you for the input also Alibabaandthe40nappies I think this is along the lines of what I'm aiming for sans cleaner. I'll probably take something from all the suggestions - thanks!

It's ok maccie, I knew there was more to it but I couldn't remeber the fuller version and that is the one I have stuck in my head. I too have it printed and stuck on a wall but I think I will replace it with the proper version now though, thanks!

Totally agree with the sentiments of the poem, about being present for our kids, but don't we want to train them too? DS loves 'helping' mummy with her chores. He's usually more of a hindrance, but I still think it's helpful for him to grow up knowing that everyone works, even SAHMs.

Poet, thanks for the Motivated Moms link. I've tried to do Fly Lady, but her website is more cluttered than my cupboards - I prefer the simple list and the free sample list on Motivated Moms felt like a great start for me. I copied it and adapted it (I work part time). Maybe I can add some elements from Fly Lady, some time spent each week decluttering might move things forward.

I hate housework but I want to get on top of it to be able to do other more fun important things with the rest of my time.

www.flylady.net is all you need.

You start to build up routines that work for you one step at a time.

Ignire the website, just follow the babysteps link, sign up for the emails and ignore all except the daily plan and missions.

I have a two year old DD, a four month old DD abd a two year old DSS on the weekends. I manage to keep my house clean, tidy and in order by:

1. Sweeping and mopping laminate floors downstairs and tiles in the kitchen and bathroom every week but sweeping quickly and wiping up noticeable mess daily.
2. Washing up after every meal and wiping down the worktops.
3. Sorting all mail as soon as I recieve it and doing most online. I have a folder.with polypockets for each month that important letters get filed into.
4. Putting a load of washing in in the morning and having designated days for designated things ie. Towels on a monday, DD's bedding on a wednesday etc.

Once you're organised you'll be able to fly through but the organisation us the most difficult and time consuming part.