Be Busy....Be Blessed

As many of you know I am blessed to be a stay at home mom.

Before Bitsy graced us with her presence I worked full-time, however, I still had to keep my house clean.

Since Bitsy arrived, it has become even more important for me to keep the house clean.

Because of this I have created a system to help me stay on top of the chores!

Behold....the family calendar:

 Each family member is assigned a specific color.

The same holds true for birthday/anniversaries, bills/guests, and even dinner plans (I try to plan dinner out for the week so that it's one thing less to think about each day).

Let me explain a little bit about what you see in the following picture.

Sundays are set for vacuuming and every other week cleaning the humidifier.

(Did you know you should clean those out regularly?  We use our nearly every night so every other week I take it apart and soak the recommended parts in white vinegar for 20 minutes).

Mondays are designated for groceries, dusting, and it's a reminder that it's trash day.

Tuesdays are vacuuming & laundry day.

Wednesdays are what I like to consider as my lazy days.  Bitsy and I enjoy a carefree day!  The only thing I have to remember (every other week) is to bring the recycling to the curb.

Thursdays are vacuuming & laundry days, as well as the 2nd trash day of the week.

Fridays I do a load of all the towels and whites in the house and every other week I clean the bathrooms.  (Some of you might feel you need to do this weekly).

Every Saturday I change the sheets.

Every other Saturday I wash the duvet cover and the dogs beds.  I also clean the windows.

The goal to remember is that a clean home reduces stress.

There are many small tasks that I tackle daily.

Did you know that it's been said if you keep your sink clean your kitchen will stay clean?

I can vouch for that.  

I don't let dishes pile up.

In fact I tend to clean up right after I'm done cooking/baking.

I load the dishwasher and run it once it's full, then I empty it as promptly as I can.

Anything that is left lying around downstairs gets placed on the stairs so that I can remember to bring it up on my next trip.

All these small chores if left to pile up can really stress you out by leaving you feeling unfocused during your cleaning process....

However, if you do them as you see them the rest just seems to fall into place.

Obviously, you have to set this up to where it will work best for you and your family.

If you have children who are old enough they may help you with some of these tasks.

Maybe your spouse helps you with certain tasks.

My secret isn't really much of a secret when it comes to keeping the house tidy.

Having a calendar where I have everything planned out is my secret weapon and it's something that any family can incorporate into their lives.

I want my house to be ready for someone to drop by at any moment.

(Give me a 5 minute heads up and I might vacuum once more than normal!)

As soon as Bitsy goes down for naps I try to tackle one of my chores for the day and then I am able to enjoy the rest of the time doing something I like (watching a show, reading a book/blog, sifting through Pinterest).

I hope that this is something that you might consider doing in your own home.

If it helps you...WONDERFUL....if not, what does help?

Please feel free to share your secrets here...I'm always up for a good tip!

I hope you had a Blessed Tuesday!