Summertime Chores and Daily Routine

I feel the same way!!! My kids are very active and I like it, but it seems like everything else gets put on hold. This is how I look at it... summertime is only 10 weeks, so if things don't get done, oh well. Whenever we are home I throw a load or two of laundry in, clean toilets, then another day do rest of bathrooms, more laundry. Instead of getting things done all at once it gets done in bits and pieces. And hopefully you have a husband you understands how time consuming kids are in the summer and he'll be ok with it being this way, if he's not, tell him to do it himself!!!

I do have a daily system that things happen. Here is what I do:

Monday is laundry day. I have set up baskets in my bedroom and one in the kids hall closet. During the week the kids put their clothes in that basket and as it fills during the week I take it and separate it into the baskets in my bedroom, my husband and I separate our clothes as we take them off each night. I have 4 baskets, 1 is for towels, 1 for darks, 1 for lights, and 1 for blankets and bedding. My husband carries the baskets downstairs for me in the morning, and when I wake up I start the laundry and have the kids help take the baskets upstairs. I fold and put away the same day.

Tuesday is dusting day, making sure that the little things are taken care of so that it doesn't become a huge chore.

Wednesday is bathroom day. All the bathrooms are cleaned from top to bottom: toilets, sinks, showers, tubs, mirrors etc. I have 3 bathrooms and if kept up this will only take me about an hour in the morning.

Thursday is bill and errands day.

Friday is sweeping, mopping and vacuuming day.

Every Night: The kids are required to clean their rooms before dinner because we don't have time after dinner. All dishes are done after each meal or after dinner. I look through each room to see if there is anything that needs picked up and take care of it before we go to bed. The house stays clean and I don't feel overwhelmed. This way most of my time is devoted to the kids because except for Monday most everything takes an hour or 2 in the morning and I have the rest of the day to do fun things outside or inside etc.

Every morning: I make my bed, and require my oldest son to make his. Once they start school they can make their beds, it doesn't have to be perfect, but at least it is done.

I work on cleaning when I can and my husband is very understanding. I am more of a play now type person and if the kids and I want to do something fun, we go and do it. Programs and classes in the summer are so pricey with the daycare slips I see come home from school with the kids so I don't feel bad to spend WAY less than that and go and do fun things with my kdis as I like to be with them and the jobs can wait until nap time. I do feel overwhelmed sometimes but they are only young once and we sure have a great time!!

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I mop and sweep on Tuesdays and vacume on Thursdays and other then that the other things just happen as they happen. Maybe start small with assigning days so you don't feel stuck to one thing. But it definitely motivates me to get those things done!! Good luck

In order to keep from my entire days going to house keeping and missing out on being with my kids I've started a routine. One load (extra large) of laundry a day, I put it in, in the moring put it in the dryer at lunch and fold at nap time or after kids are in bed. Then one room or chore a day, clean the bathroom or dust the house or clean the floors the rest waits until tomorrow. This seems to work most the time as I get 1/2 a day on the house and 1/2 a day to my kids. Sometimes we let the house go a day and go play all day long and on those times it's double time on the weekends while th kids get daddy time. I also run my dishes at night and unload them while my kids eat breakfast.

Hi J.,
With summer here things get a bit crazier then usual at our place but I still try to keep my schedule otherwise I get crazy:). I am faithful about my laundry, it gets done every Mon and Thurs. I clean house every Thurs. Deep cleaning (bathrooms, dusting, mopping, vacuuming etc) is every other Thurs then the following Thurs is vacuuming and sheet changing and of course laundry. I try diligently to keep the deep cleaning schedule because we all enjoy a clean house and often have weekend guests. I also mow on Thursday late afternoons. My morning and evening chores consist of handwatering our flower pots and pulling some weeds from the veggie garden or gathering the crop. The kids do help with this along with feeding the cats and dog. I usually pay bills at night after we've tucked the kids in bed. We have cherry trees and a peach orchard to tend to in the summer so everything can get really topsy turvy but getting my chores accomplished is important to me and my husband is helpful in tending to the kids or other chores as needed to help me accomplish what I need to do. You didn't mention kids but if you have any seek out what chores are age appropriate for them and get them involved in helping you. It's great training for them and a small investment of your time now will give you great relief down the road. I know this doesn't cover everything but hopefully it will help you.Blessings, L.

I try not to stress too much about it. Like you when outside, the inside falls behind. I have 3 11 yr old kids and a 2 yr old. All are responsible for picking up their stuff. Yes, I have to get on them all the time but making them do some stuff helps me tremendously. One of your posts indicates you have a 15 yr old so I guess your kids are not all small. Give them chores. If you spend time in the morning, you can take care of the biggest things and then have fun. Setup time each day to do something. I work full time so spread laundry out for the week. I might have my kids take all jeans or maybe towels from the laundry and I will throw in the washer while I cook dinner. then they hang up on the line or put in the dryer. They also help put their clothes away. In an attempt to get them to realize just what I do in the house, each room is assigned to a day of the week and they must clean it completely--sweep, swiffer (I won't let them touch my steamer just yet) dust. With all working together, we only spend an hour or so getting things done. At night they have to pick up things and throw away or put away. And there is stuff that sits and I will get to it when I can. I decided this year that summer only lasts so long and it is time to start enjoying it.

J.,
I just recently figured out that if I put a load of laundry in the washer right after putting the kids to bed but NOT run the washer, I can move it first thing in the morning... So I get up, change my clothes, add contacts, shuffle my way into the laundry room and press start. Get the kids up, breakfast-ed, teeth brushed... move laundry to dryer and immediately start sorting the next load! We play around together- do chores, tend the garden, etc. Then move laundry again (or in our case start the dryer... again) and start the washer again. When my napper (one year old) goes down for her naps (sometimes two still!) I fold laundry or sew. Things I don't personally do well when she's under foot (oh or LOADING the dishwasher... I just can't have her in the dishwasher when it's dirty. EW!).

This keeps me busy and somewhat sane. We'll see what changes when our next baby gets here in 3 weeks or so!

Good luck to you!
V.
PS hubby pays bills I just pester him about them. :)

Go to a site called FlyLady.com. They have a great way to set up routines to keep the chaos out.

Good luck.

I also like FlyLady. I don't do everything either, but she does help. The biggest thing I've found from her, is the 2 minute hotspots and the 15 minute jobs. I just make a list of the things that are bothering me the most. Somedays it's really long, but I just keep working down the list. I keep it on my phone, so I just erase a job when it's done or add something at the end. If I finish the list, I start over for the jobs that weren't quite done. You'd be amazed how much can be done 15 minutes at a time. I also do the weekly blessing hour, one job a day.

I do as many bills as I can automatically by billpay, and then after those have gone out on Wednesday, I pay bills on Thursday. Doesn't take long that way. I use Mvelopes to track spending, so in about 5 or less minutes each day, the checkbook is balanced.

My kids all help, too, even my almost 2yo. That sometimes takes longer than if I had done it myself, but now that the kids are getting older (4 and 7), it's a big help. The boys can put their laundry away if I leave it in a basket, they also sort their laundry as I'm doing it.

I have read from the FlyLady and other sources that a manual is necessary. After 12 years, I'm finally doing it, and it really helps! I have my morning stuff in there and evening stuff, as well as a daily list. I have one for each day of the week in a page protector, and just check them off. Also have monthly, quarterly, etc. in there, and keep a note of when they were done, so I know when they are due to be done again.

Hope this helps. My house has never been as clean as since I started the Fly Lady stuff. (My office is even under control!!!) GL!

I couldn't do it without my husband's contributions. I'm a working Mom, so 50+ hours of my week are automatically gone just for that. Plus 2 kids (4 & 2) need constant supervision.

I try to do my laundry spread throughout the week.
Yardwork is usually one evening. Costco on Saturday mornings, grocery store on Sunday mornings.

The rest is a toss up and keeping my fingers crossed that I don't drop the ball too badly.

Check out FlyLady! She has really saved me from insanity in this situation. I don't follow her to a T, but have adapted many of her ideas such as "rebooting" the laundry every morning, etc. I know through her website they offer daily emails, have set routines for each day, etc. I actually chose to quit getting those emails and follow her on facebook instead.