Home Organization: Zone Cleaning

This is an additional little side note to my Family Manual Post.

Once upon a time, when I first started my career as a stay-at-home mom of just one very calm and predictable baby, I used to wake up and clean everything in the house that needed it. I worked until the house was clean, and then I sat down to relax and have "me time". This worked right up until we had more kids, really chaotic and unpredictable kids that refused to nap on a schedule. Then of course we added homeschooling to the mix, so everyone is home all day. The above system I like to call "ineffective busybodyness".

In our house education has to rank higher than cleaning the house. I could chase my tail all day cleaning, but the house is never going to look like a model home with our current life. Nor should it. I want us to be a house where you can tell as a family we are having a ton of fun. I don't want it to be sterile and look like nobody lives here. Okay, well, that's not true... I really do want it to look sterile and like no one but me lives here. But it just isn't going to happen unless I am willing to send the kids to school and ban playdough, paint, and glitter. So I decided I could settle for a house that was essentially clean, but looked "lived in", maybe even "well lived in".

Enter the Zone cleaning option. I don't know if someone out there has formalized this system, I just kinda grabbed bits and pieces of what I read on blogs and websites to form my system. The whole family pitches in for whatever the zone of the day is. Yes, I really am exactly. that. mean. This is what it looks like in my house......

ZONES
Get as much help from the kids as you can……

Monday: Kitchen/Fridge

• Clean out the fridge
• Remember to check the door of the fridge and all the bottles of condiments for expiration
• Wipe down the inside of the fridge.
• Sweep the kitchen floor
• Mop the kitchen floor
• Wipe down the outside of all the cabinets and appliances
• Use Old English lemon oil on all the cabinets
• Try to impose some order on the plastics cabinet (good luck!)
• Clean the Microwave inside and out and the stove
• Scour the sink
• Wipe down the backs of all the kitchen chairs and the legs of the table.
• Check oven, see if need to clean.

Tuesday: Errands and Shopping Day


Wednesday: Kids Rooms/Hall Bathroom/Master Bedroom/Master

• Check the kid’s bedrooms, closets, under chests of drawers, inside of drawers for neat and cleanliness.
• Pick up Master Bedroom and Master Bath
• Vacuum the kid’s bedrooms
• Vacuum Master Bedroom
• Dust shelves/windex mirrors
• Clean hall and master bath sink and mirror
• Deep clean toilets
• Scour bathtubs and shower
• Check linen closet for neatness
• Mop floors in bathrooms
• impose some kind of order on hair products

Thursday: Big Laundry day/Playroom

• Strip beds of sheets and wash them
• Put clean sheets on beds
• Move all the remaining laundry through the washer/dryer
• Fold all clothes and put clothes away in drawers (all of them, no stragglers)
• Pick up playroom
• Check under couch in playroom/vacuum
• Dust all wooden surfaces
• Run damp washcloth over all the window sills and baseboards
• Sanitize light switches/door handles/play station controls/remote controls
• Vacuum playroom
• Clean fireplace surround
• Windex TV
• Clean entertainment center

Friday: Living room

• Windex all glass and screens
• Organize entertainment center
• Vacuum Living room
• Wash table cloths or at least get cat hair off (try to encourage cat to nest somewhere else)
• Clear off the hooks near front door and "landing strip"
• Organize bookshelfs
• Be picky about picking up
• Wipe window sills with damp cloth
• Sanitize door handles/light switches/keyboards/mousse/wii controls/remote controls
• Move furniture to pick up behind
• Clean out glut of recorded shows on DVR

Saturday: Outside/Organize Papers

• Mac Poop Scoop
• Clean Grill/Check gas levels/exchange cylinder
• Mow Lawn
• Edge lawn
• Pull Weeds/Prune Plants
• Clean outside furniture
• Treat any weeds/ants/bugs
• Clean out the garage some
• Evaluate need for fertilizing/grass seed/plants to buy
• Wash exterior of house: front door, front porch, exterior paneling as needed.Organize the home office
• Go through the stacks of mail
• Check the calendar for the following week and update.

Sunday: Cars/Lists

• Clean out the cars
• Wash if needed
• Make Menus
• Make Lesson Plans
• Make Grocery lists
• update calendar and sync online, paper, and phone
• Pick out clothes with the kids for the following week (using the calendar) and store them in the correct day's slot in closet so everything is ready to go.