My cousin over at Habitual Impracticality has opened a discussion about laundry and what works for everyone.  We do laundry on Mondays when we are on schedule and our routines are intact.

Here is our cleaning schedule.

Daily Chores:

• Pick up rooms
• Pick up bathrooms
• Kitchen counters, dishes, etc.
• The kids each have living room, bathroom and dining room chores everyday to keep everything pick up and in order.  For example, Katie Ann’s daily chores in January might go like this:
• Bedroom: pick up
• Bathroom: clean & wipe counter
• Living Room: put away everything on tables and flat surfaces
• Dining room: Clean under table.

Weekly Chores - Heavy cleaning in each room:

Monday: Laundry – wash, fold, put away all laundry

Tuesday: Kitchen Day – heavy cleaning in the kitchen and dining room.

Wednesday: Office & Living room – Clear paper, clutter, dust, vacuum, mirrors, etc.

Thursday: Bathrooms – heavy cleaning in bathrooms, sometimes I rotate showers.

Friday: Bedrooms – ALL the way clean! Dust, vacuum, etc.

At various times I have been more organized and have different jobs in each room for each kid on different days so that they are not doing the same thing all the time. This also works really well.  The other thing that I like to have is a before meal and after meal chore schedule.  That way I can say do your after dinner chores instead of calling out to each one with each job over and over.

The other reason I like to have the kids have everything spelled out and clear is so that things keep moving even if I am sick or if I’ve just had a baby.  I just tell everyone to do their chores and the main living areas are at least picked up.

I have found that, without fail, this all goes fabulously when no one is coming over and each and every time someone has just stopped by it has been during a time when our routines are off.  Isn’t that the way it always is though?!