This Lazy Woman's Guide to Housecleaning

I might be a SAHM, but I refuse to spend my days cleaning the house.  The way I see it, the house will always be here and it will always need cleaning.  My son won't always be young and I'm already alarmed at how fast his infancy passed so I don't want to miss out on a minute of his toddlerhood.  I certainly don't want to look back and regret that I was so busy keeping a perfect house that I didn't enjoy these special years with my son.

Thanks to living on a busy street, I can actually dust every single day if I was interested.  Not that I'm interested, mind you.  Most horizontal surfaces are always cluttered and I'm engaged in a never-ending battle with dog hair on my floor.  My house doesn't sparkle and it's most often somewhat messy, but I'm not afraid to have friends over.  Besides, friends don't perform white-glove inspections anyway.

Note that all of these tips are not mine; I got some of them from the FlyLady.  Not FLYing yet?  Check out the website and get FLYing!  Yeah, I'm lazy and I don't do all the things she suggests yet, but I'm getting there.  Below is a quick rundown of a typical day spent at home and you'll see that I agree with the FlyLady that choosing to do a tiny bit of work here and there and making just a little effort ultimately makes a huge difference.

Morning
- Make bed once you get up.
- The FlyLady says to get dressed right away, but I have been really bad about lounging in a bathrobe for an hour or two.
- Unload the dishwasher if it was run the night before. 
- Brew up a little coffee for myself and, hopefully, enjoy a cup before the kiddo wakes up. 
- Put laundry away so the basket is empty. 
- Make breakfast, cleaning up any cooking messes or dishes dirtied along the way, and feed the kiddo. 
- Once breakfast is finished, immediately put dishes in the dishwasher.  If the dishwasher wasn't run the night before, there are probably enough dishes to run it now.  Hand wash pots or pans if used, dry, and put away. 
- Wipe down dining room table, stovetop, and counters.  Assuming the dog didn't pounce on any morsels that might have dropped on the floor, clean those up too.
- Check to see if the kitchen sink still looks good. 
- If using the slow-cooker for dinner, get cracking on that. 
- Go to master bathroom to brush teeth. 
- After teeth are brushed, grabbed toilet bowl brush and do a quick scrub around the toilet bowl.  Use cleanser every two weeks.
- After hand washing, determine if the bathroom sink could use a scrub down and make a mental note if necessary. 
- I slack on this sometimes, but generally I'll wipe down the counter with a washcloth and throw the washcloth in empty laundry basket.

Mid-morning
- Hustle to the hallway bathroom, grab toilet bowl brush and do a quick scrub around the toilet bowl before the kiddo has to poop.  Use cleanser every two weeks.
- After hand washing, determine if the bathroom sink could use a scrub down and make a mental note if necessary. 
- Wipe down the counter with a washcloth and throw the washcloth in the laundry basket.

Lunchtime
- Unload dishwasher if it was run in the morning. 
- Prepare lunch, cleaning up any cooking messes or dishes dirtied along the way, and serve. 
- Once lunch is finished, immediately put dishes in the dishwasher and put any leftovers away in the refrigerator.  Hand wash pots or pans if used, dry, and put away. 
- Wipe down dining room table, stovetop (if used), and counters.  Assuming the dog didn't pounce on any morsels that might have dropped on the floor, clean those up too.

Mid-afternoon
- If not using slow cooker for dinner, start planning and prepping a meal.  Be sure to clean as you go so that you don't end up with a bunch of dishes to wash at the end. 
- Every week or so, I sweep and mop floors throughout the entire house.  I should probably do this every other day, but I'm lazy.

Dinnertime
- Prepare dinner, cleaning up any cooking messes or dishes dirtied along the way, and serve the family. 
- Once supper is finished, immediately put dishes in the dishwasher and put any leftovers away in the refrigerator.  Run dishwasher if it's full.  Hand wash pots, pans, or slow cooker if used, dry, and put away. 
- Wipe down dining room table, stovetop (if used), and counters.  Assuming the dog didn't pounce on any morsels that might have dropped on the floor, clean those up too.
- Throw the kitchen towels in the laundry basket. 
- Scrub down the kitchen sink and, since I have the scouring powder in hand, run to the bathroom sinks and scrub those if needed. 
- Every few days, look under the seat of each toilet and clean with a Clorox wipe. 
- When throwing away the Clorox wipe, determine if the trash needs to be emptied.  If it does, do it. 
- Every couple of weeks, scrub the kiddo's tub after bath time. 
- Take off clothes, make sure to have the kiddo's clothes too, and start laundry. 
- Take shower and make a mental note if it needs to be scrubbed tomorrow. 
- Squeegee and wipe down the shower doors before leaving the shower stall.
- Enjoy the evening with my hubby, but remain mindful that the laundry will need to be swapped over to the dryer in about an hour.
- After laundry is dried, fold it right away and stack it neatly in the basket.


That's it.  Pretty easy, right?  What simple, but effective, steps do you take to keep your house up?