Chores

Let me start by saying that the mention of the word, "chores", sends a chill up and down my spine.  Don't get me wrong, I love having a clean house and pride myself on it.  The perfectionist side (okay, OCD side) of me hates it when something is not put back in its proper place or if the spines of books aren't straight and the wording is not facing the same way.  However, I hate the daunting task of keeping things clean.  Of course, right after I clean, I make the rule that we can't eat snacks in the living room again.  Then, after a few days, I forget how annoying the task was of cleaning out each sofa and corresponding cushions.  The biggest thing I struggle with is not that the house is not "clean", but that things are not picked up.  The fact that I have a 15-month old hasn't helped that task, either.  However, she has begun helping us pick up her books and toys before bedtime, so she essentially already has a chore at such a young age :)

This brings me to another goal.  Refer back to "Meal Planning" earlier this month for one of my other goals.  To sidetrack a bit, I'm in week three of meal planning and it is going fabulous.  It helps me stay on my budget by shopping for sales and avoiding impulse buys and I have increased my variety of meals.  Win-win!  Okay, so back to my new goal.  I want to do a specific chore (related to cleaning/upkeep of the house) each day of the week.  I've really struggled with having the daunting task of cleaning the house as a whole, rather than trying to break it up into more manageable pieces.  In other words, my daily routine of doing dishes, keeping the kitchen clean, and the never-ending task of laundry, as well as cleaning up her toys each evening will go on.  Some things are just a must.  However, I think I can keep the house really clean all the time if I follow this pseudo-schedule (subject to change):

• Monday: Dust/Windex every room.
• Tuesday: Vacuum all carpets.
• Wednesday: Clean bathroom vanities/showers.
• Thursday: Sweep tile/mop all floors.
• Friday: Relax and enjoy all of the fruits of my labor :)

I'm really just starting to type this as it comes to me, so things may not make perfect sense right now.  But I'm thinking that if I can spend 20-30 min. a day on these things, then it won't seem so overwhelming when I have to clean the entire house.  And, who knows, maybe I will find that I don't need to mop once a week, etc.  I really thought I would have a better handle on things once I stayed at home, but it almost seems harder now because I'm here all the time and things are bound to get more dirty. 

I will say that I am doing this in part because of our new purchase.  I can't believe how excited I got about buying a new vacuum.  I must really be a stay-at-home mom.  I also realized this recently when starting a Christmas list and realizing that 90% of my wants were related to kitchen appliances or utensils!

With the length of my hair, I tend to go through the cheapy vacuums about once every year or two.  Anyhow, here is my new "baby":





I definitely grew up spoiled when it came to having a clean house.  My mom would spend several hours on Saturday doing a deep clean of the entire house and Derek and I would be her little dusters, going all over using Pledge and Windex.  I want to strive to have as clean of house as I did growing up, but don't want to sacrifice time on the weekend/evenings to make that happen.  Here goes nothing!