How to Manage Housework While Homeschooling (with some advice on life in general)

Lately, I've been killing it as far as my housekeeping goes. I'm just saying... 

I'm on top of things like I've never been before and my husband keeps saying things like, "I love our home," at the same time I'm thinking that I love our home, too. 

Or he says, "You have made this home so beautiful. You know that?" at the same time I'm sipping coffee with my feet up contently enjoying the work of my hands. 

This post has been two decades in the making. So here are some hard-earned tips to take your housekeeping to the next level. 

But don't keep reading if you already have no idea how someone with a brain might want to talk about cleaning or hear about cleaning. Go watch a make-up tutorial video or something. This post is not for you. 

But if you've moved to the edge of your seat and maybe even leaned in closer to your screen to hear what I have to say about housekeeping, this post is for you. 

First, you have to establish a routine for basic housework morning and evening-

I have had a morning and evening cleaning routine that I've kept for almost two decades. The basis of my morning and evening routines came from Fly Lady.  She offers suggestions for what housekeeping jobs to do and when to do them. If you don't have any cleaning routines established at all, I suggest that you begin with Fly Lady's morning and evening routines (and a few other jobs she suggests) until you establish your own morning and evening cleaning habits. 

Next, try to create a plan for ALL the other housework that needs to get done so you can do it before it gets totally out of hand-

I do not suggest following someone else's schedule for the big housework jobs-not even Fly Lady's. I have never had success trying to follow someone else's schedule, because I always found I was cleaning something that was already clean while something else that was dirty had to wait till next week if I was working according to someone else's schedule. I just couldn't do that. Also, I do not suggest making a list of everything you aspire to get done and trying to meet your own ideal goals. The list you make will probably be too big and unreasonable. Instead, simply start paying attention to when things really need to be done and then do them, but then, right then, make a note of what you did and when you did that job. I use my phone to make these notes. Do you notice the toilet is looking gross and it's time to clean it? Pull out your phone and make a note. Write something like "Clean the toilet." And if it's been at least a month since you did that, write "Once a month." Then clean the toilet. (And maybe wipe off your phone, if needed.) By taking these notes of what needs to be done and when you do it, you will eventually create a routine for ALL the housework that needs to be done at a time that really works for you. 

Give yourself lots of grace-

For almost twenty years, just the basic housework was getting done everyday with my morning and evening cleaning routines. But those other, bigger cleaning jobs, like scrubbing tubs, washing sheets and blankets and curtains, and mopping floors, etc. were getting done at random times throughout the weeks and months when something was so dirty or dusty that it could no longer be ignored and simply cried out for attention (or we were having company and we were panicking to get things presentable.) This was because I was nursing babies, working a part-time here or there, or I just really needed to start our homeschool day, so I just couldn't do as much cleaning as was actually needed. 

Consider what else might be taking time, attention, and energy-

Are you actually wasting lots of time? I used to be spend an inordinate amount of time on Facebook. I never planned to spend a lot of time on there, but without fail, I'd usually ended up staying longer than I sat down to stay. "Just five minutes..." was usually more like twenty minutes before I realized it. I justified this use of time, because I was "seeing" friends and "connecting" there. But, when I finally gave it up, I found that I actually answered the phone and talked when people called instead of letting it go to voicemail, or I called people and talked live and in real time. In my experience, those have been more meaningful connections, and I have felt much less isolated and lonely, more loved and loving towards others. Now, I usually call someone daily and text several, specific friends or relatives throughout the day. I even have more time to actually plan to go to lunch with people. So consider how something like Facebook (or something else that you might be dong to "relax") is actually stealing precious time, energy, and attention that you really desire to give to yourself, or your family, or your friends in other ways. 

Are you trying to do too much?

Are you doing too much to still manage to have the time, energy, and attention to simply clean your house? If you are type-A like me, you probably want to do it all. For many years, I was leading and teaching at our beloved co-op. I liked the job. It was way more interesting than a million other things I could or maybe should have been doing, so I didn't mind the hours it took from me away from other things (like housework). At some point, after one million small and a few really big internal shifts, I perceived that the job had become far too costly to me. Of course, I should have known that every "yes" is a "no" to something else, and I think knew that, but I wasn't really conscious of what the job was doing to my life. I realized I had been saying "no" to some of the most basic things like friendship and housework to say "yes" to something more appealing. I suppose the appealing choice could be the right thing for you, but if you can't manage your home or homeschool well, I suggest things might be way out of order. they were for me. I know that I stayed home from a career, so I could actually work in my home and homeschool my children. When I couldn't even do that (and finally realized I really wanted to), I killed the job that gave me meaning for the job that is more meaningful.  I just did not have any margin for these good, simple, human things when I was spending my time, energy, and attention on other (arguably good) things instead. 

So after all those tips, here's my recipe for housework: 

Sundays- 

I have found that Sunday afternoons are for perfect for mopping and speciality laundry. 

I only make one meal after church. It's either lunch or dinner, and it's usually on the simple side. Today, it was grilled cheese and made-from-scratch tomato soup for lunch. After that meal, we all clean up the kitchen from lunch, empty and load the dishes, and then we start picking up the chairs and (most of) the stuff on the floors. Then I set the Roomba to clean all the floors, because Dwayne bought me one as a gift. (We call our Roomba "Alice" like the housekeeper from Brady Bunch.) At that point, I also gather the bath mats, or pull some curtains down, or gather up all the dirty towels from all the bathrooms, or gather the blankets from the girls' beds and the couches, and I wash a load of something "special" that isn't in the dirty clothes baskets that we wash throughout the regular week. Then I go put my feet up or take a nap or read and enjoy the rest as I listen to the hum of the machines as they do the work. I try to limit the housework I do on Sundays to the basic morning and evening chores and these two jobs, so that I can observe a day of rest and deliberately cease the usual amount of striving that I do during the week. 

Daily in the morning and in some cases, again in the evening-

Feed and give fresh water to Arcus (our parrot)

Sweep kitchen 

Unload and load the dishwasher

Recycling/ Trash

Rotate the laundry- fold or hang what's in the dryer, put anything that's in the washer in the dryer (or hang it to dry), start a new load of dirty cloths, and put away all the clothes 

Make master bed

Every other day- (In addition to morning chores, every other day, we add some of these and so, these chores generally get done every other day)

Sweep living room, hall, downstairs bathroom, and/ or classroom

Change Arcus's (our parrot's) cage liners

Empty little trashes and replace their little trash bags

Gather hangers from the closets and bring them to laundry room so they are ready for more laundry

Once a week- (We add one or more of these chores to our morning routine and so, we get them all done at least once a week)

Empty stuff baskets (little foldable, cube-shaped containers on every floor where I throw all the stuff the girls leave laying around the house)

Wash cage or bird perch

Sweep upstairs hall and stairs

Sweep stairs going to basement and the basement living room

Water plants/ Weed garden path and/ or beds (if needed)

Deep clean one bathroom 

Vacuum all the rugs

Once a week as I cook dinner- 

While I am cooking dinner one night a week, I'll cook other foods like boiled eggs or quinoa salad or chicken salad, etc. (These are foods that are nice to have on hand for snacks and for healthy food on-the- go. Since I am already cooking, I just cook these things once a week while making dinner.) 

On Friday-

Inventory the fridge, freezers, and cabinets (So that I know what I already have and need to use up)

Plan meals for the week and make a shopping list for groceries (I usually plan at least four meals, sometimes five, knowing that some night, I'll choose to breakfast for dinner or cook egg sandwiches or something simple in place of a more formal meal.)

On Saturday- 

Clean out the fridge (as needed)

Organize the groceries into the fridge, freezer, or cabinets

Do any special loads of laundry that need to get done

Clean a special room that isn't normally cleaned 

Every two weeks on Saturday-

Wash everyone's sheets

Once a month-

Wash comforters and quilts on everyone's beds (Usually this happens on Saturday/ Sundays)

Wipe off all screens in the house

Dust everywhere

Every three months-

Wash curtains

Twice a year-

Clean out each closet or cabinet or drawer and purge old and unused stuff and reorganize 

Notice that I don't have every job here yet. So this is still a work in progress. But I am enjoying unparalleled success in my housekeeping and peace and joy in my housework, so this plan of action is really working for me. 

It has honestly been a delightful relief to work out this schedule for myself. 

This is what is working for me, but I hope sharing it will bless you.