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Calling all "Normies" (meaning Moms who don't have housekeepers or HHI): How do you keep your house clean and organized? How many hours a week do you spend cleaning and organizing? What are your best tips?
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part of it was just the age of my kids. as they got older, things got a little more manageable. the other part was choosing five things that didn't take more than 5 minutes each and insisting on getting those done every day. i don't remember what all five were but three were making my bed every day, sweeping our dinette, and taking out the garbage every day, whether it was full or not. i think a fourth was throwing out the bathroom garbage every day and the fifth was clearing off the table every day. this helped for two reasons. first of all, i found that i just felt so much more accomplished and put-together, having this done. and b/c they were such quick things it really wasn't a lot of work (especially b/c dh did the garbage every day). Secondly, i found that so much of my mess was just from not having place to put things. if my garbage was overflowing, that meant that garbage stayed on the table. it really helped me get over that hump from disaster situation to just plain not-so-clean.
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i wrote a schedule and put it up on the fridge. for some reason, writing things down really motivates me, so lists work as well. i have monday-friday written at the top of the paper w/a task for each day right under...all in big letters. vaccuum, dust, clean bathrooms, whatever. every day i do ONE thing...and on days i just can't get to the task, i double up the next day or the day after that. it really works for me as i feel bad when i look at the list and haven't done anything that day. it mocks me ;) i don't have a nanny, a housekeeper or any staff btw.
[ Reply | Options ]Appending my original question: How do you handle meals and meal preparation? Also, "spring cleaning."
[ Reply | Options ]poster above w/the cleaning schedule: i try to prep during the day. anything that needs to be chopped up (like for a stir fry or fajitas) is done while dd is sleeping and refrigerated so i can throw it together at the last minute. i make a pizza every other week which is very easy (pillsbury dough canister), pasta w/homemade sauce (easy if using canned peeled tomatoes and ground beef or chopped italian sausage), sauteed fish w/some 5-minute couscous and a vegetable side etc. all of these types of recipes take about 20 minutes to prep and start cooking, and most can be kept warm on the stove for a while.
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Deep clean once per week; pick-up am & pm; vacuum & dust 2 times per week. We don't have a lot of stuff and throw away/give away things we don't use. Dishes every night before bed. Laundry every other day. Dh and I split work (he does dishes, shops and cooks; I deep clean, dust and laundry. We all pick-up). About 3 hours per week.
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