Every Thursday morning is cleaning morning around here. I banish the boys to the playroom, set them up with some games/puzzles/snacks and turn a movie on for them. Then I set the timer for one hour and clean the entire house. Ella alternates with helping me (dusting and helping in the bathroom) and joining in on the boys fun. I have done this ever since they were little and/or joined our family and they know that 1 hour is non negotiable. I start in the kitchen, wipe down all the counters, toss out old leftovers, wipe out the microwave. Then I move on to dust and pick up the whole house. This includes picking up all the dropped cars underneath the boys beds. Then I clean the bathrooms, wiping down mirrors, sinks, cleaning toilets, and once a month cleaning the tubs and shower stalls. Then I sweep and mop all the hard floors, vacuum the carpets, and finish with a febreeze session. The whole house thoroughly cleaned in one fell swoop.
I know a lot of friends who like to break it up and do their vacuuming on one day, dusting on another, bathrooms on yet another...but that doesn't work for me. I like getting it all done and not worrying about it for another week. Of course, I daily make sure the toys are picked up and clean the kitchen, but it is a rare thing for me to do anything else throughout the week.
Oh, and my kids know how to clean up too. They know before they move on to another toy they clean up the one they are done playing with. Mostly. We always do a quick family clean up right before naps and bedtime. I like how this lady said it, "More kids doesn't always mean more work, more kids means more workers."
Got any secrets for how you make it work? Pass them on!
I brought out our box of baby toys earlier this week for when we kept Natalie. You'd have thought it was Christmas morning the way the boys got excited. And speaking of clean houses...check out this mess:
It's a big day around here in Ella's world. She has her very first gymnastics class this afternoon. Rest assured grandparents...pictures will follow.
I had another baby appointment yesterday. Everything looks good and it is always so reassuring to hear that heartbeat! I scheduled our big gender finding out ultrasound for March...so the countdown begins. I have absolutely no feeling either way this time around and have nothing to gauge it on seeing how this pregnancy has been so different from my others. Maybe I'm having a good hunting dog this time? The boys would be happy.
Happy Thursday!
3 comments:
"Wow, they sure made a big mess!" -Cana (about the pic of Ezra and the baby toys)
I am so glad to hear you had a great appointment for little baby Hambrick. I know that was such a welcome assurance.
"More kids doesn't always mean more work, more kids means more workers."
I had to laugh at this one Jenn... with all the workers here you would know :)
If I stayed home with my kiddos, I'd likely do exactly what you do - tackle it in one morning and just do the more surface cleaning and picking up the rest of the week.
Congrats on scheduling the big u/s...that will definitely be exciting!
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