31 days to a new housekeeping habit challenge? - Page 2

[AAK]

Who you are:

My name is Amy.  I am a SAHM to 3 girls--as of the end of this month, they will be 11, 8, 5.  I homeschool the two oldest.  The littlest goes to a preschool 3 mornings/week.

Housekeeping struggles:

UGH. . . I read about myself in so many of the previous posts.  I know I am late for joining, but this really ties in with some of my new year's resolutions.  I find that I feel unsettled if things aren't taken care of, but we really get busy and interrupted frequently throughout the day so things slip by and get piled up (esp with dishes and paperwork).  

GOAL for the month:  Have the main area (kitchen/living/dining) tidy before bed.  That way I can start the day feeling on top of things.  The biggest part of this will be the kitchen, but the others have to be there as well.  I did start this on the first so I will just keep adding to this post. 

KEY:

  YES--Job done!

   About half way done.

  Not done at all.

DAY

1 ............  

2 ............ 

3 ............    (had laundry on the couch that needed to be in sleeping kids' rooms)

4 ............ 

5.............    (technically, some is done. . . but quite frankly I am very grumpy tonight and left the kitchen longing for me.  Because it is the worst part of my goal I labled todayas not done at all.)

6............. 

7................

Edited by AAK - 1/9/11 at 8:45am

[mkksmom]

Did about half of the dishes. Better than none, I guess.

[ChristinaLucia]

1) Who you are

  I'm a WAHM, wife of a WAHF, Mom of two.  

2) What your housekeeping struggles are

All of it.

3) Your goal and how you plan to get there

I want a tidy uncluttered clean home.  I plan on getting there 15 minutes at a time :)

[marinak1977]

1) who you are
I'm Marina WOHM of 1 yo DS and 3 furkids I do have housecleaning help every other week but in between the house falls apart

2) My housekeeping struggles are many but the main issues that bother me - stuff that isn't picked up and put away and dog hair everywhere.

3) My goal - on I'm going to start with 2 small but important tasks - getting DS's toys picked up every night and clearing the dining table (it ends up catching everything from shopping, to mail, to random stuff and looks terrible).
My bonus tasks are vacuuming the house (ideally it would get done every 3 days) and mopping the kitchen floor (I really don't do that enough ).

Key - I will have a smiley for each main task and a bonus smiley if bonus task gets done.

DH did the task
we did it together
task got half done
I procrastinated
I couldn't do it because fate interfered

bonus task got done
DH did a bonus task

[marinak1977]

Task 1 - DS's toys (I picked up a stack of books but he really did 95%)
Task 2 - dining table

No bonus tasks tonight but a pretty good start.


Key
DH did the task
we did it together
task got half done
I procrastinated
I couldn't do it because fate interfered

bonus task got done
DH did a bonus task

[e13lorena]

1) Who you are

Stay/Work at home mommie to 3 girls (12, 8, 6) and a step-son (12) that we see rarely (once a month-ish or less)

2) What your housekeeping struggles are

I do really good at the beginning of the week - monday is my bathroom day, I get that done and the girls help (each of them get 3 chores after school), but as the rest of the week carries on, I don't keep up with stuff.

I've had many plans over the years - some that have worked really well (think Fly-lady binder with checklists for kids to check off with dry-erase markers), other that didn't (powerpoint presentation slide for each day of the week (I have to have my laptop up and open to know what to do - if I don't get on my computer - I don't do any of it)

3) Your goal and how you plan to get there

My plan is to do one room or one set of rooms each day, keep up with laundry (a different thing each day) and keep up with the girls' bedrooms each day - it can usually be days that go by when I don't look in there rooms (dh does the tucking in at night) and that is disasterious. I also need to make sure I sweep and dust every other day (DD#2 is allegic to dustmites and vacumming and dusting needs to be done when she's at school and more regularly.

I also need to keep up with the dishes more. I try to do the pans as we're rinsing dinner dishes. Our dishwasher sucks so we have to rinse everything really good and even then stuff stiff comes out dirty. I need to hand wash all our tupperware or else it doesn't get clean or gets hard water stain spots on it and is not so clean.

Okay so the one thing I probably need to work on is sticking to my plan and getting the dishes done each night. I also want to exercise for 30 minutes/day. Drink 2 glasses water/day.

Monday - Bathroom, Tuesday - Bedroom, Wednesday - Kitchen, Thursday - Dinning Room, Friday - Living/Music Room, Saturday - Kid's Bedroom

The Plan for today (Monday):

• Laundry - Wash, Fold, Put Away Wipes, Napkins, Washcloths, Rags
• Vacuum & Dust Living Room
• Clean Shower/Tub
• Write Bathroom Chore List for afterschool for girls (Clean Sinks, Sweep Floor, Clean Toilets, Scoop Litter Box, Trash Can Game, Clean Mirrors)
• Take Trash Out to Curb (we sometimes miss it and then it piles up) I used to count on DH to do this, but he always forgets once he gets home from work at night. So I need to start doing it during the day.
• Extra - Mail an Embroidery Order, Start un-decorating the house with Christmas Stuff (maybe one room a day until it's done)

Key:

Done, yeah

still more to do

 didn't do anything

 something suddenly came up

Hoping to keep up with this thread and keep myself motivated,

Erin

Edited by e13lorena - 1/3/11 at 6:18am

[marinak1977]

Originally Posted by marinak1977 


Key
DH did the task
we did it together
task got half done
I procrastinated
I couldn't do it because fate interfered

bonus task got done
DH did a bonus task

Just realized I forgot a smiley for when I alone do the task - LOL! I am really not expecting DH to do everything every night. My -I got it done smiley would be this

[tanyalynn]

I like everyone else's sliding scales better than my pass/fail.  Because I'm going to see a long string of fails if I only allow 2 choices for myself. 

Yesterday: 15 minutes of organizing happened, a few areas are noticeably better.  Laundry?  Got the new loads put away, and maybe 1/3 of the pre-existing mountain.  It looks a lot better anyway. 

[ltlmrs]

Originally Posted by tanyalynn 

I like everyone else's sliding scales better than my pass/fail.  Because I'm going to see a long string of fails if I only allow 2 choices for myself. 

I never liked Yoda's "Do or Do Not, There is No Try."  I'm not a little green alien and half the time the best a person can do is try :)

[Brisen]

Jan 3 -- so far, I've only had a smooth morning routine for one day, but the other two were sleep in/enjoy the rest of vacation days, so I let them slide.  I have been putting a bit more effort into our evening routine, and it has made a big difference.  Apparently, I wasn't too far away from being able to finish up cleaning the kitchen and vacuum, and it makes a big difference the next morning.

Tomorrow, we're back to normal and I have high hopes for our morning routine.  I have to get to bed early tonight, though.

[e13lorena]

Jan 3. -

• Stick to the Plan -
• Dishes Done -  - DD#1 did some of this as punishment chores and I finished the rest after everyone was in bed
• Exercise - 60 minutes areobic dance
• Drink 2 glasses of water - yeah

Bathroom:  

• Laundry - Wash, Fold, Put Away Wipes, Napkins, Washcloths, Rags - I washed, DD#1 was in punishment chore mode and did the rest
• Vacuum & Dust Living Room - DH was home sick today so I didn't run the vacuum so he could sleep
• Clean Shower/Tub -
• Write Bathroom Chore List for afterschool for girls (Clean Sinks, Sweep Floor, Clean Toilets, Scoop Litter Box, Trash Can Game, Clean Mirrors) -
• Take Trash Out to Curb (we sometimes miss it and then it piles up) I used to count on DH to do this, but he always forgets once he gets home from work at night. So I need to start doing it during the day. - made this part of kid's afternoon chores DD#2 did this
• Extra - Mail an Embroidery Order, Start un-decorating the house with Christmas Stuff (maybe one room a day until it's done) -

Key:

Done, yeah

still more to do

 didn't do anything

 something suddenly came up

Edited by e13lorena - 1/4/11 at 7:43pm

[MrsHin2002]

Hi there,

1) Who you are

WOHM to one son, 3 1/2

2) What your housekeeping struggles are

 
Hmm... where to start? Everything is an issue, really. Not very good early role models, no habits, both DH and I can let things slide until they're really a problem, and we're both cranky.

3) Your goal and how you plan to get there

Kitchen clean-up -- empty garbage, compost and recycling each night. Need to set up a new system -- currently keep large blue recycling bags under the kitchen sink but don't rinse items right away. Would prefer large bags in the garage (since when full they're too big for the spaces) and have smaller bins/buckets in the kitchen, to be emptied each night. Not sure how best to empty the kitchen garbage each night without using extra bags... (one for each day). Want to start with this one as this is probably one of the biggest problems -- esp the compost bowl/bag...

[MamitaM]

Jan.1.

Jan. 2.

Jan. 3. Again all dishes are done, except for the casserole dish that I'm soaking along with a pot. They will get done tomorrow morning though. I should probably get better at washing ALL the dishes and not let things soak overnight, but it is better then letting the dishes sit for a couple of days before getting to them. Maybe I can work on that next month. 

[starbuckmom]

Jan 3rd: I accomplished my afternoon goal of having the living room picked up and vacuumed

I also cleaned up the twins room.  Matched some socks and cleared off their dresser

I cleaned up the kitchen today and ran a load of dishes and before supper, emptied the dishwasher.  Dh cleaned up the kitchen while I was out with our ds running errands.  I still need to put a few things away and tidy up the counters but it's not bad!!

I also sorted kids clothes and ran a load of the twins clothes.  I need to fold and put those away tomorrow.

I really need to focus on our bedroom tomorrow.  Clear out clutter and wash the sheets and then make the bed.

[marinak1977]

Day 2

Task 1 - toy pick up
Task 2 -

In bonus tasks - I continued to declutter and straighten and removed a large box full of random wires from DH's office and organized the wires in drawers bought specifically for that purpose months ago.

Key
I got it done
DH did the task
we did it together
task got half done
I procrastinated
I couldn't do it because fate interfered

bonus task got done
DH did a bonus task

[renaissanceed]

1) Who you are

WAHM of two who is about to dive back into full time as opposed to part time work today.  Eep.

2) What your housekeeping struggles are

Getting the dishes done and put away! I hate emptying the dishwasher and I hate washing dishes by hand so it's a bad combination that leads to dishes sitting dirty in the sink.

3) Your goal and how you plan to get there

My goal is to have all the dishes clean at night before going to bed.  So I plan on going downstairs once the kids are in bed and spending 5, 10 or 15 minutes in the kitchen (and dragging DH down with me so he will make his lunch for the next day, thereby killing two birds with one stone and allowing us to spend time together instead of each staring at our computer all evening).  Now that the kids actually will go to bed without me lying down with them (a recent occurrence), this feels remotely possible.

[mkksmom]

Well, my dishes didn't get done last night after dinner. We never had an official dinner time. DD! ate at a friends house, my toddler and I ate together and dh came home late and didn't eat until 8 PM. By then I was getting the girls ready for bed. Really, dh is supposed to do dishes and I do the floor, counters, table, straightening. I should probably pick something that is just for me to do so it's less frustrating if it doesn't get done.

[ltlmrs]

1.

2.

3. but DH did a load of dishes, so also

Oi vey, this is not looking good...

Key:

Kitchen clean after every meal - not the goal, but would be great!

Kitchen cleaned for the day

Nothing got done because I was genuinely too sick

Could have done it, but didn't

DH saves the day!

[dayiscoming2006]

I needed to choose multiple habits as these all have to get done or I'll give up. I'm more of an all or nothing personality type...

1) Who you are

Sahm to 2 and 4(on the 16th) year old boys. Pregnant with number 3.

2) What your housekeeping struggles are

Everything! It isn't all my mom's fault or anything but I never learned any good habits for cleaning from her. She taught me to binge clean mostly and I don't really have time to do that. I only have little bits of time throughout the day. 

3) Your goal and how you plan to get there

I need to learn to take advantage of any chunks of time I have between rallying the kiddos. 

- do dishes daily (including wiping down counters, table and stove.)

- wash and put away laundry daily

- take on extra organizing/cleaning things as I have time each day

- clean the bathroom weekly

-sweep the floors daily

- throw trash right away (junk mail, boxes, etc.)

[Brisen]

Jan 4 -- did not get to bed early the night before and I wasn't out of bed until 8:30, so our morning routine started pretty late.  I did manage to do everything I planned to, and then some, but it was 12:30 by the time we were done everything and ready to start school!     I would love to get it done faster, but I think right now I need to focus on teaching the kids the routine.  A lot of our time was taken up by me reminding the kids to do their stuff and how to do it.  So, I'll try to get up earlier, but I won't worry too much about rushing at the moment.

Morning routine:

reading/journaling/plan day

exercise

clean litter box

shower

chore meeting w/kids

make breakfast

clean up kitchen

get kids dressed, brushed, etc.

tidy bedrooms

start bread