The Dreaded Cleaning Day

Yesterday was the dreaded "cleaning day" in our home and that is why I did not post anything new. Since I have still been working full-time hours I am usually only left with a single day a week to do any type of cleaning. I am horrible at house-keeping. There have been many a times when I have washed the same load of laundry 3 times because I forget to switch it to the dryer (don't judge, you know I just reminded you to switch your load to the dryer!)

Since A has been over the road, I will admit it is much easier to keep a tidy house. There is less laundry, less meals to clean up, less messes that magically appear when I am out of the house, making it more attainable to keep our home orderly. Which makes this momma very happy.

To be honest, my husband and I rarely fight. I do not want to brag but we are a pretty darn good team. But nights when I would come home from working late shifts to find the house that I had just cleaned the day before was now strewn with hot wheels and play-doh and dinner still sitting out on the stove, made me want to start a fight. This is seriously one of the only things I feel like fighting with my other half about. Although, now that he is gone Monday-Friday this issue is pretty much obsolete now. Do not take this the wrong way, I much rather would have a messy house and have A home every night.

Anyways, with A being out of the house I have more time to spend on organizing my home. I have started keeping a daily agenda to help keep me motivated and on-track with my routine. This daily agenda is the start of a "Family Organizer/Binder" to keep our family and home more organized.

I call my daily agenda "Daily To-Doodles" and all I did was use Word Processor to create and print a document that I could write down and organize my day with. On the document I included areas to list specific cleaning and chores that need done, personal goals I want to accomplish, meal planning, appointments, an area to list tomorrow's obligations, and I also listed a check-off list of things that need done everyday.

 

My check-off list of "Dailies" include, make beds, feed cats, dirty laundry, unload/load dishwasher, wipe counters, take out trash, quick sweep, bills, quick tidy ups, and of course my daily call to my trucker!

After editing my document many times and getting it just right to fit my needs, I printed off two copies. Like always, I was out of color ink, so to spice things up I added some color with highlighters.

 I then placed them in page protectors*. This allows me to use a wet-dry-erase marker to write directly on the page protector so I do not have to waste paper by printing it off everyday.

 

This "Daily To-Doodles" sheet has really helped me stay organized and keep me on a routine. Not only am I a happier person in a clean home but C is always in a better mood if we stick to a routine everyday.

When I figure out how, I will provide a PDF of my "Daily To-Doodles" for any of you who would like to use it!

How do you all keep your home running smoothly and organized? I would love input on this because it is an area of my life I struggle with. I would also love ideas of what to add to my Family Organizer/Binder!

*Creative Homemakers is the blog that I first got the idea to use a dry-erase marker on a page protector, although I think she used an ID badge protector, but right now I can not find that particular post.