The Pearce Family: A day in the life of Heidi and ways to not feel overwhelmed by house work

I love schedules and lists. My life just runs smoother that way! Now that I am FINALLY done with school (well almost) I can have a normal routine. Here is a day in the life of Heidi:

6:00 am wake up, treadmill, shower
7:00 am get Emmett and have breakfast before Greg leaves for work
8:00 am clean up breakfast and doing 5 minute rule and daily chore, balancing check book and paying bills
9:30 am Get me and Em ready for the day
10:00 am walk or play outside
11:00 am errands or just chill
12:00 pm Greg comes home for lunch
12:45 pm Emmett nap, clean up lunch
1:00 pm Work
4:00 pm Get Em and snack time. Start dinner or play outside
5:00 pm Greg gets home and dinner prep
6:00 pm Dinner, clean up dinner, play, and evening walk
7:15 pm Bath and bedtime routine
7:40 pm Em goes to bed
8:00 pm Hang out with Greg
10:30 pm Bed

Everyone loves a clean house and few people I know enjoy cleaning. Well I found a great cleaning schedule for me that makes it so my house is always clean and that the cleaning is not overwhelming! Above I mentioned 5 minute rule and daily chore, they are explained below.

Five Minute Rule: Go though each room in the house and do a quick spiff putting things away, etc.   The kitchen is the longest because it involves unloading the dishwasher, wiping the counters, and doing the dishes. Bathroom is wiping the mirror, sink and counters, and cleaning the toilet. Bedrooms involves making the bed, changing the sheets (once a week) and doing any laundry. Living room/dining room is a quick pick up.

Daily Chore:
Monday-Sweeping
Tuesday-Vacuuming
Wednesday-Deep clean
     1st Wed, Kitchen-wiping cupboards, trash can, microwave, oven/stove top, fridge, dust, windows
     2nd Wed, Bathroom-cleaning tub and tile, washing bath mats, dust windows
     3rd Wed, Main living areas- vacuuming under furniture and cleaning furniture, dust, windows
     4th Wed, Bedrooms/Office-dust and windows
Thursday-Sweeping and mopping
Friday-Vacuuming
Saturday-Yard
Sunday-Break!

With doing the dishes I clean up right after a meal, put the dishes in the dishwasher and wash the ones that need to be hand washed. This way the kitchen never feels overwhelming and it is always clean!

I do two week grocery shopping in Idaho Falls. This means I plan out our menu for two weeks. This makes it easy when it comes to meal time because I already know what I am going to make and I have all the ingredients for it! Nothing is worse then trying to figure out what to have for dinner when you should have already started making it.

I love that I get to be a stay at home mom. I take great pride in my family and the way my house looks and now I have the time to do those things! Em and I have been having fun going to the library. We went to story time yesterday and Em had fun. Tomorrow we are going to go to music time. We all like to read so the library is our new favorite place!