The Cleaning Schedule Part IV... Thursday's Goals

Today is my last NECESSARY day of cleaning. Today I mop floors, wash laundry as needed, and iron as needed. It's nice to get all of the cleaning out of the way in 4 or 5 days and leave the weekends free for relaxation and doing fun things together as a family. My husband works 4 days/week so I try to get all of the household work done in 4 days so that leaves us our 3 day weekend to not worry too much about what has to be done around the house. Although, now that spring is here and the grass is growing, that means more yardwork on the weekends for Matt, but that works nicely because we let Aiden play outside, and help with the work if he wants, while Daddy is working in the yard (unless if it is mowing or something like that of course!)

Today, I mop my kitchen tile, bathroom tile, the laundry room, and our wood floors in the living room and hallway. For the tile and linoleum I normally use diluted Lysol all-purpose cleaner followed by a hot water rinse. Then I use white vinegar and water on the tiles to clear up any dried water spots. My tile is a dark green color and it is glossy, so spots show up like a neon sign on my floor! The vinegar/water solution takes care of that problem, and leaves the house with that fresh vinegar clean smell! Reminds me of dying easter eggs :-)

I then move onto the wood floors where I normally just go over them with the vinegar/water solution. If the floors are starting to look a little dull, I will go over them with Murphy's Oil Soap. I only do this once in a while as I believe the oil can buildup on the wood surface if you use it too much.

While I am waiting for my floors to dry, I work on any ironing that needs to be done. I only iron when Aiden is in bed; I don't want him underfoot while I have a HOT iron out! And throughout the day I am washing/drying/folding any laundry that needs attention. I've made a rule for myself that I don't start another load of laundry unless the previous loads are folded and put away. Otherwise, I tend to end up with a mountain of clean, dry laundry on my couch that grows and grows and grows and grows and ... you get the idea!

And with that, I have completed my cleaning goals of the week, and I take the weekends off! On the weekends, I just do regular maintenance, such as keeping up with the dirty dishes, and puttings things away, and the occasional load of laundry. But other than that, my workweek is finished! :-)