Thursday, May 20, 2010

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.

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