Household Maintenance on a Schedule
I had to laugh the other day as I was reading a comment by a lady and she thought I was crazy because I had a schedule for housecleaning. Yes, I could see how this might be “crazy” if you have a small household or are retired or something such as this. She did also say that after going back to work she could see it was a good idea. :) I put most all of my household maintenance on a schedule. For me, I found in the process of raising 8 children that if I don’t, inevitably something falls apart and then I am dealing with a major chaos.
I got this idea to schedule my household chores from my husband. He is an aircraft mechanic and it is a bit different than an auto mechanic (other than the obvious.. LOL).. with cars we tend to take them to the mechanic when we have a problem. The car makes a funny noise, or something is not working correctly and we call the mechanic. There are exceptions, most people have scheduled oil changes and tire rotation and such, but for most maintenance we don’t do anything until there’s an issue.
However, with aircraft it is a whole different story. Everything maintenance wise is on a schedule. They check everything about the planes on a time table. At my husband’s company they divide them into categories: A Checks, B Checks and C checks. C checks are the biggest and involve removing everything from the plane right down to seats and floor boards and checking for anything that may be amiss. My husband deals mostly with engines. He had equipment that checks the inside of the engines and he does this according to a schedule. After so many flight hours he has to check this and that and if he sees damage or wear he has to record this and reschedule the plane to be checked at certain intervals, or sometimes he see things and lets them know the engine has to be changed. Occasionally issues develop that are not on schedule and they will check them out when the plane comes in for maintenance. But the idea is to deal with issues before they arise.
So long ago I thought to myself this is a great way to run a large and busy household. You schedule the maintenance. Why wait till a room or area of the house is chaos, take care of it before it gets that way. This is how I keep my house from being a big mess that I am constantly cleaning up (I’ve been there and it is not fun). I maintain. I have daily cleaning schedules that tell me to sweep and mop and vacuum and dust. By the end of the week I know I have hit every major area of my home often enough to keep the dirt and mess at bay. There is something nice about not having to “reinvent the wheel” so to speak every morning. I don’t have to look around at what disaster needs to be dealt with today.. I already have my list and know what areas need to be maintained. I have laundry schedules that remind me who needs to do their laundry and what household laundry needs to be done. I don’t like running out of bathroom towels and then rushing to get them washed. I like have a constant supply ready to go. I have after dinner clean up schedules for my kids. They know if it is their night to help put the food away or load and unload the dishwasher or wipe the counters down and sweep the floor. It makes for a whole lot less arguing about whose turn it is to do what.
So yes, I am a household maintenance scheduling mom and it makes my life run so much smoother and helps keep my kids on top of what they need to be doing each day as well. When you live with a lot of children in your home it can either be chaos or organized and I vote for organized. :)
I should also say that by nature I am NOT an organized person. Having 8 children forced me into it! :) But I have not regretted it. I know that you can learn to be organized as long as you are willing to be disciplined enough to stick with the plan. I can’t say my house is always perfect or we don’t get behind or that we don’t have chaos because we are a normal family living in our home daily. But overall it is not a way of life for us and it has made me a fan of maintenance schedules!!
Examples of my schedules:
Daily chore schedules: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/cleaninglists.htm
Laundry Schedule: http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundryroomorganization.htm ,
Oh, this is great. I am by nature a "messy" when it comes to my bedroom...and let it slide, till it looks messy everywhere else in the house. Although, lately, I've been sensing the need to have a more routine schedule. Somehow I've convinced myself it will help in learning to live m ore frugally too :) :) Thanks for the links. I'm going to take a look at those. I purchased the "Mrs Meyer Clean Day book" at Barnes & Noble awhile back and that lady is a real Mrs. Meyer...had 9 kids, and talked about her daily to yearly cleaning schedule. Thanks for this ;) :) :) Have a great week. Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only person w/a cleaning schedule!!! I do certain things on certain days, that way I'm not doing it all on the weekends. I think having a yearly plan is good also. Would love to see what is put on your yearly schedule.
ReplyDeleteColeen
Crystal~ I too have a schedule, but my problem is sticking to it. I have even had to go to the reward system....no crafting (which I love to do) until the days chores are done. It is just me and my husband so really there isn't too much to do but it still is way better to know that every Monday my living room gets clean :)
ReplyDeleteBlessings,Joann
Crystal, I remember several years ago reading about your "benchmarks" that you set throughout your day. When I implement that, it works great. I'm getting back to doing that as sometimes I can get off course. smile
ReplyDeleteWhat I do is write down a weekly chore list in what I want done for the household between doctors visits and check off things as I go. This way it does not get out of hand on me totally and I understand with so many folks in the household. Thank You alot of why I write things down all of the time and especilly after 5 months ago after a car accident.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to your need for organization. When my kids were young, I had an 'Orderly House' list on the refrigerator. Everyone had a turn at the different tasks based on their ability. The list was done everyday but if we expected company, were going somewhere or had something special to do, I could call out, "I need an orderly house" and everyone flew into action. Each child would take what they were good at then encourage and help each other. The list provided discipline and encouraged teamwork.
ReplyDeleteHi Crystal, I found your blog thru Amy Tipton's at Verde Farm. I have to say that I am thinking that the Lord has been opening my eyes to my lack of discipline. After 30 years of marriage, grown children, and now my first grandchild, I am seeing that I have not lived up to my role as wife, mother, and helper. I have been inspired by your lists and I am going to study them. Pray that the Lord will give me the strength to complete my tasks each day and to consider how my family will benefit from organization and discipline. Thanks for sharing your schedule with me and I appreciate any encouragement. I think that I am not a self starter and need some accountability, yikes! Don't misunderstand, I do a lot in a day, but the things that I do are mostly things that I love to do (such as farming - raising Kunekune Pigs) and "putting out fires" (out of bath towels and need a shower!). Anyway, I am excited about all of the great blogs by all of these awesome kindred spirits. Keep on bloggin'! God bless, Lori
ReplyDeleteI liked that post! I am working on keeping up with all of our maintenence too. I feel like I'm getting the hang of it now. It took me a while to really know what we needed and then where to put everything. I am still working on a good system to deal with my attic. I'd love everything to be really streamlined. So far, donating things I don't need has really helped! My kitchen and all other rooms are really organized. I still have some work to do in my bathroom! Maybe tomorrow! I like things to look neat and scrubbed and clean!
ReplyDeleteHi Crystal! I've been a follower of your blog for about a year and I love it! You always have so many nice tips. I have a technical question...where do you find the cute graphics and backgrounds for your blog? They're so nice, and I am looking for something similar for my own blog. Thanks!
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