my schedule

I'm feeling really bad about my last post of pure negativity. I am really going to try to focus on the positive, not really sure what has caused this latest funk/bad moodiness but I'm going to persevere! Since I call myself "the organized mommy" I thought I might share an organizing tidbit. I haven't really been doing a whole lot of new organizing as of late, just maintaining what's already in place, which is a chore in itself.

I truly struggle with keeping my house clean. Two kids, a (shedding) dog, a parrot (who emits dust naturally) and a very busy working husband makes it hard to keep this place together. Most people would say my house is pretty clean but I am totally neurotic, I feel guilty if I don't clean something. Cleaning is therapeutic for me, I am such a weirdo! When my husband and I get into an argument the first thing I want to do is grab the vacuum or dust cloth. I never thought I was like this, I probably would have argued with anyone who called me a neat freak, but I am what I am. I've only come to this realization since having kids. I feel physically sick sometimes when I go into Zoe's room after a few days of her playing Barbies or dress-up. Oh my goodness, sometimes it looks like Toys R Us threw up in my house and I get so grumpy. What do I do when I have the house to myself (rare, but occasionally)? I clean. I'm really a weirdo. Lately, it seems like it's been hard to stay on top of everything. I'm not sure why but I feel that old anxious feeling creeping up forcing me to stay up late and clean into the wee hours. I realized that I was always cleaning the same things over and over and not hitting any other areas. For example, I was always cleaning the living room because we're in there all the time, but the kids bathroom was being neglected. I definitely had good intentions to get to it, but I never found the time. Right after Zoe was born and I became a SAHM, I made myself a schedule for cleaning/chores. All that new home time made me even more neurotic about cleanliness! I have now made myself a new schedule of cleaning duties and it's been in place for a couple weeks and it seems to be helping. I normally like to have everything clean at once (like it is before a big party) but this is my new reality and sleep is more important to me than sparkling glass.

my new schedule:
Sun: laundry (wash and fold and put away), clip & organize coupons for grocery
Mon: finish remaining laundry, dust upstairs or downstairs
Tues: finish dusting
Wed: vacuum upstairs or downstairs
Thurs: mop, collect all trash and recycling
Fri: clean upstairs bathrooms
Sat: clean powder room, wash sheets on beds

This is my new cleaning schedule. I gave myself a light day on Tuesday because I almost always have to do another big cleaning job at some point. I also am giving myself permission to not dust my whole house every week. Don't laugh, this is a big step for me! I am doing one floor per week, that's all. The same for vacuuming. I would like to say, that I have my vacuum out every single day, I do have kids and pets so something is getting vacuumed every day.

I have also included some other items in my schedule:
M, T, W: I am giving myself time to scrapbook and extra computer time for checking and writing blogs, this is when Zoe is at preschool and Parker usually takes a nap so it's pretty quiet here.
M, T, W: are also my phone call days, calling friends, scheduling things, etc. again, while it's quiet
Thurs: playgroup for Z & P, I am crafting or baking with Zoe while Parker is napping. She likes this and it gives us some bonding time. She has dance on this day too.
Friday: my dreaded grocery day, I have to do it and right now this is the time it gets done, the kids are now doing soccer too on Friday nights, when it's over we'll be back to gymnastics on Tuesdays

So there it is. I was pretty overwhelmed when I started to write down all I have to accomplish every week but I feel better knowing it's mapped out and it seems to be working for now...