how I do it

I am often asked how I do so much. Yesterday Lori from Dusty pages found me on the fly ladies facebook page. Now if you have never heard of the flylady or if you have not been there in a while go check her out at flylady.net.

I have been following her for a while and she has really helped me. The fly lady says we need to take baby steps, and she suggest we declutter our home for 15 min. a day.

I am way past that. I hate to dust, so I have no nick knacks. My husband often say's it does not look like anyone lives at our house, but it easier for me to keep it clean. Here is my routine.

I wake up I straighten up our bed and head straight to the bathroom. I grab some mouth wash, and my clothes. While I am going to the bathroom and swishing my mouth wash, I am putting on my sock, undies and jeans. I then go spit, brush my teeth wash my face and finish getting dressed. I refill the cat's food bowl and their water. I grab some cleaner and wipe down the counter. I then go back to the bedroom and put on my shoes, and clean out the littler box. As I am walking out the door, I grab my bag of cat nastiness, and any dirty laundry. I throw the laundry in the washer. If the washer is full then I start it.

I head to the living room to clean out that box, and then I grab my first cup of coffee. I run a sink full of hot soapy water and I load up any dishes that are there. Then I wipe down the counters and the table.

Next I head to one of the living rooms. I straighten up the sheets that cover the sofa's, or if they are dirty I change them. I then hunt for the remotes and put them back where they belong.

Next I head to the dinning room. Everything seems to get put on the dining room table, so I sort through all of that stuff and get it put away. With the exception of my sewing stuff. The other living room is connected to the dinning room, so I head over to that sofa. I have to kick the dogs off that sofa, and I get it straightened up, then the dogs get back on it.

Once all of that is done I check in with all my friends, and I go see what the flylady has us doing that day.

Yesterday she had us washing down our doors and baseboards. So I got a bucket of hot soapy water and I started on my task. I also ended up wiping down the cabinet in one of the bathrooms. We have three full baths.

After all of that is done. I am done.

I have four children living in this house and they are expected to help keep it clean. I do not Amber, Chris, or Nikkis laundry. They are "grown", so they can do their own laundry. Ryan is responsible for bringing his laundry out once a week, and I will wash, dry and fold his laundry, but he is responsible for putting it away.

Ryan like routine, so he has set chores. Ryan must: unload the dishwasher, take out the trash and recycling, and walk the dogs. On Monday, Ryan goes around and gets all the trash cans and empties them, and if needed he will put a new bag in them. He will then take our trash cans to the road.

The other children are given a daily chore. Yesterday I had Amber go around and clean all the glass and mirrors. Nikki had to clean all three toilets.

Sunday is the day I make everyone give me an hour of their time before they go anywhere. Sunday is the day I change out all the sheets that are one the sofa's. I also pull up all the throw rugs. We sweep and mop all the the floors, replace all the sheets and rugs. Then everyone is given another chore.

Now none of this is set in stone. I will sometimes have to mop during the week. The vacuum gets run everyday.

As far as dinner goes, I usually have something pulled out the night before. If it is going into the crock pot then I do that while I am cleaning up the kitchen. If it does not go in the crock pot then I usually cook dinner around noon. We don't live in the 1950's, and we very rarely eat together. So if I have it done everyone can eat as they are coming and going. Chris is responsible for packing him and Rusty a lunch. He will pack up any leftovers, or make them sandwiches or something.

Before I go to bed, I walk around and grab all the dish towels, wash clothes and whatever is is dirty and I throw then in washer.

For me it is all easy because I have gotten rid of the clutter, and things that I don't need. I still walk around with a box and get rid of stuff. I know that I need to go through my winter stuff and get rid of more of it, because I have not worn some of that stuff yet.

Once summer hits, and the children say, "Hey mom lets go to the beach", they KNOW that they must help me get the house in order and we must have dinner done before we walk out the door.

I hope this helps people to better understand how I can do so much. I can do a lot and take care of my family, because I have gotten the routine down, and because I don't do things for my children if they are able to do it for themselves.