Okay, I realize that this is a "teaching blog" and all, but it is TGIF Teaching Resources! This IS a resource for all working parents - surviving housework. Here is how I make the house "work" for me. (Please remember - I am NOT bragging that my house is clean. I am merely surviving.)
1. Laundry - my arch nemesis! Last year I got in a real bind and we literally always had 4 baskets full of clean clothes. Then in the morning we were digging in and grabbing wrinkled clothes and mismatched socks. Fast forward to this year - I quit sorting the laundry the way that Mrs. Cleaver did. You know.... whites...colors. I sort by item. I wash my kids pants only, then adult pants only, kids shirts only, adult shirts only, kids towels, socks and underwear and then ditto with adults. My problem was always putting items away. Now I only have to put away pants for a laundry or hang shirts for another. SOOOOOO much easier. Of course I have to do some special loads for the special items, but this has revolutionized my laundry.
2. Make the crock pot work for you. Throw a roast in and have it with potatoes one night and put barbecue sauce on shredded roast another night with sandwich buns. Or, fix double the amount of spaghetti. Eat the spaghetti one night and throw some cheese in with the other spaghetti dish and freeze it. (I use good ole' Corning Ware.) In a week or two, put it in the fridge two nights before hand (or the microwave has that handy defrost button) and when you get home from work, throw it in the oven for spaghetti bake while you do dishes and set the table. (Or troll Facebook)
3. Roomba - my lovely robot vacuum - we call her "Rosey" - the maid from the Jetson's.
4. I wipe my bathroom sink almost every morning after I brush my teeth. Baby wipes!!!!!
5. I clean the shower while I am IN the shower. (Two for one!) Sometimes I will wipe a wall-a-day. "A wall-a-day, keeps the soap scum away!"
6. Kitchen sink - fill with hot water and cleaner (I use bleach) and soak while you are gone. Drain and swish clean when you get home.
7. I try (try is a very hopeful word) to have the dishes dried and put away before we eat supper. After supper everyone is required to put their dishes in the dishwasher. And yes, I have had to sweep up several broken plates over the years. Three year olds can also drop food on the floor. (But now that my kids are older, I am so grateful I made them do this at a young age.)
8. Now that it sounds like I have the cleanest house ever ...... would someone please come and put away my disassembled Christmas tree that is STILL laying in the corner of my living room please? (Seriously. You can only do so much. Christmas will be here in 8 months and I will be so ahead of the game!)
Most people can't aspire to have a "magazine house," so do what you can. My motto is, "Let the house 'work' for you." In other words, anything that can be done while you are gone (crock pot cooking, soaking the sink with cleaner, Roomba vacuuming while you are gone), do it!
These are some of the tips that work for me. What works in your household?
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