Three on Thursday (Again)

I'm always interested in housework, probably because the actual deep cleaning is my least favorite part of keeping our home. Do you clean each room on a given day, clean the whole house on one day, or simply clean as you see things are needing it?

  

Generally, I clean in shifts.  My basic schedule looks like this:

• Monday-- vacuum downstairs and change the sheets every other week
• Tuesday--vacuum upstairs
• Wednesday--dust
• Thursday-- clean the bathroom
• Friday-- do any chore that was missed during the previous days

This is the bare minimum, though.  With five children the floor (especially around the table) needs to be vacuumed more than once a week.  The bathroom mirror needs to be cleaned after almost every tooth brushing.  The kitchen counters needs to be wiped down multiple times a day.  This is just part of life with a big family and I do these little jobs as they come up, regardless of  my cleaning routine.  Rarely do I set out to clean the whole house in one day.  It would be too overwhelming and I like the feeling of small accomplishments each day.

What responsibilities does Brian take on around the house, or do you take care of everything at home?

When Brian is off from work every winter, he takes on far more house chores than I would like him to.  It's not that I don't appreciate his assistance, but I feel that since I am the keeper of our home, he should not have to do my work.  But who am I to argue with someone who wants to help?!

During the ten months of the year that he is at work, we have a groove that we have fallen into.  I handle the laundry, schooling, and meal preparations.  I also handle all of the cleaning except for a portion of the vacuuming.  About every other Sunday, he enjoys doing a thorough vacuuming of the downstairs.  He is able to get into places I don't even attempt to tackle since I usually vacuum with a baby on my hip.   I also try to have all of the dishes caught up when he gets home from work, but he washes the dishes after dinner while the kids and I clear the table and put the food away.  On nights that he works late, I do the dishes myself and I realize what a blessing it is to have him do this every other night.  Taking out the trash is also his thing.  Gavin is getting old enough to take over some of the responsibilities, but since our Dumpster is across the street, the job usually falls on Brian. 

I'd love to hear about your new house. What's it like?

The secret is out!  We are in the process of buying our first home.  I should have mentioned that before now, but it has been quite an emotional and tenuous journey (the subject of another blog post, perhaps?) We are beyond excited to be spreading our wings, both in a metaphorical sense and a more literal sense since our new house sits on a 2-acre lot.  After spending our last six years in a townhouse and sharing a yard with our neighbors, the idea of our own space is exhilarating.  

Our current townhouse is a 3-bedroom with no attic or shed so we've been living out of only two bedrooms and using the smallest bedroom as storage space.  Our new house is a moderately-sized 3 bedroom, 2 bath home, but gaining an extra bedroom and an extra bathroom is going to be a luxury.  We are also looking forward to having a dishwasher. 

These questions were submitted by Allyson.   Leave me your 3 questions in the comments and I'll tackle them another Thursday.