It’s pretty clear to me that I’m incapable of keeping on top of stuff without some kind of schedule. I’m forgetful, and let’s face it- there are many things I’d rather be doing than cleaning the tile grout in the bathroom. One of my christmas presents this year was a book called “Green Clean” by Linda Mason Hunter and Mikki Halpin (thanks, Jenny and Chris!), and I’ve modified the suggested daily/ weekly/ monthly tasks from that book to reflect what I think will need to be done around here. I’m sure some of this will change, but for now, my goal is to stick to this for a month and then re-assess things.

So, for now, here’s the daily To-Do list:

• kitchen: dishes (as needed); sweep; wipe down counters and stovetop; stains, spills and smudges (as needed); clean sinks; take out compost (as needed)
• bathroom: wipe shower/ tub dry after use; hang towels to dry; put bath toys away; wipe down counter and sink
• living room/ dining room: sweep floors, spot clean messes; tidy and return items to where they belong;
• bedrooms: make beds; tidy; laundry in hampers
• basement: tidy play area; scoop out kitty litter; feed cats

Sounds like plenty to me, especially when there are other tasks that need to be done every week… oh, and then there’s the whole “looking after the kids” thing… and cooking…

The weekly To-Do list:

• kitchen: clean out fridge; steam-mop floor; garbage and recycling; clean drains; wash rags and sponges; clean microwave
• bathrooms: sweep and steam-mop; toilets; clean sinks, mirrors and fixtures; empty trash; wash towels
• living room/ dining room: steam-mop floors; vacuum rug and furniture; clean inside of windows and computer screen; dust
• bedrooms: wash bedding; dust; laundry; sweep floors
• basement: sweep entire floor; empty litter bucket and take out

Monthly tasks:

• kitchen: wash out compost bucket (this would be weekly if we weren’t using paper bin liners); wash inside of fridge; clean oven; clean small appliances;straighten cupboards
• bathrooms: drain maintenance; wash shower curtain and bath mat; clean grout
• living room/ dining room: clean under furniture; wash outside windows (as needed)
• bedrooms: steam-mop floors; dust; air out pillows; vacuum mattresses
• basement: empty and wash out litter box; steam-mop floors; rotate toys 4x per year*

That’s it for now… any suggestions?

*These guys have PLENTY of toys. I try to keep some put away so I can rotate the selection occasionally- that way they have “new” stuff to play with, and they don’t get sick of everything.