Monday, May 30, 2011

Summer is here!



Summer has officially started for us now.  The kids start school in mid-August, so they are out before Memorial day {and we don't have snow days here in L.A.}!  Yippee!

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So, even though summertime may give us all the idea that we can lay around and do nothing all day, the house will not clean itself {nor the laundry} and the kids will eventually get bored!  Trust me, it will probably happen in the first few hours "Mom, I'm bored..."






Source and tutorial to make


I make a summer "schedule" for us just to keep us sort of on par for what's going on. Just because we're on vacation from school, doesn't mean chores stop.  Life happens, laundry is still here, the house still needs to be cleaned, and the yard has to be kept up!  


Last summer I pretty much kept my same schedule as I did during the school year, but modified and switched up a couple of days.  It didn't work as well as I liked, AND I'm tired of having a "cleaning day" - I spend every Monday cleaning and doing laundry.  I like doing all my laundry, once a week, and then being done - it's the "achiever" in me!

During the school year, it's the only way I've had to keep up with my cleaning- since two days a week I'm teaching piano lessons from home.  But, I don't teach piano lessons all summer and I want to go back to my "15 minutes a day" cleaning schedule like I had when the kids were little!  

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Now you get to see my brain in action, and my life out in the open!  Here is my plan {amidst the summer activities} of how I plan to keep my house clean:

Mondays - My laundry day {I will keep this the same}
             - Dusting 
             {15-20 minutes, have kids do their own rooms}

Tuesdays -  Vacumming 
             {20 minutes if I hurry, 30 if I go slow}

Wednesdays - Mopping
             {5-10 minutes for kitchen, 5 minutes or less each bath, 5-10 minutes for family room - my daughter will be helping with this chore, also}

Thursdays - Bathroom Day
             {Mirrors, tub/shower, counters, toilet 5-10 min. each room}

Fridays - Kitchen clean up day
             {Clean sink, wipe down stove/oven, thoroughly wipe counters and all surfaces} 

Here is a FREE printable at my Scribd!
Summer 15 Minute Cleaning Schedule

I plan to try and tackle at least one area of organizing each week {unless we're on vacation!}.  This may be just re-adjusting something I already organized or re-doing something altogether!  I also have noticed some areas in my house that need some attention - dusty and dirty.  I will still try to tackle at least one project a week, if possible, like I usually do on Fridays.  




Keep in mind, when I do a schedule like this, stuff comes up!  If it does, I can easily skip that chore for the day and either combine it for the next day or just do it the following week. Skipping every once in a while isn't a big deal - my house won't fall apart!  I'm not a perfectionist and I just don't need to vacuum my house every single day - I don't have time and it's just not that big of a deal.  Yes, if someone comes in and dumps a shoe full of sand on the floor, of course I'll clean it up.  But, the dog's hair is always around and keeping him {the dog} in his own bed and washing that regularly helps immensely!


On top of this, I do plan to do fun stuff with the kids - since this should only take 15-20 minutes a day to do my small chore!  Yippee!  This gives us days to run errands, go to the beach, hang out at swim lessons, or just sit around at home.  After all, we've got Backyard Thursdays coming, too!  More on that later...



I'll be re-doing the kids' schedule, so I'll try to make that up and show you that when it's done.  I know many of you like seeing that and it might help motivate you, also.  Do you have any fun plans for this summer?

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