When do I clean? | Imamother

amother

Thu, Jul 02 2020, 11:42 am

I haven’t had my cleaning lady in a few months and I’m not planning to bring her back yet. But I’m having trouble fitting in cleaning to my schedule. I have a toddler and baby home all day and two older kids in camp. I also work part time. Can you help me make a schedule so my cleaning is more organized.

mha3484

Thu, Jul 02 2020, 11:53 am

I have two schedules. In the winter I do a significant amount of cleaning on Motzei shabbos and I finish up Sunday morning. In the summer I do most of my cleaning Sunday morning and I finish any thing I did not get around to later in the week. I get my kids to help on Sundays which is huge. They are 1-9. We do family clean up time of the living room toys that they played with on shabbos and or their rooms. Each week is different. I sweeten the deal with ice cream or a slurpee for anyone who participates which motivates them and also shows that I appreciate their efforts.

One thing that I find really helps me is that the weeks that I cook for the week either on Sunday or Monday nights as I am waiting around for stuff to bake and cool I wash dishes, wipe counters mop the floor. Then I just have a dish or two that I used to reheat the food to wash during the week. There are weeks that I dont do this due to various circumstances and I constantly feel like I am playing catch up to keep the kitchen clean.

Amarante

Thu, Jul 02 2020, 12:09 pm

Check out flylady.net

http://flylady.net

She was extremely helpful to me in terms of realizing that one could break down cleaning into easy manageable time slots. Her mantra is you can do anything for 15 minutes - very liberating to actually set a timer and then do whatever one can do especially in terms of prioritizing what needs to be done.

You don't have to follow her slavishly but I think it is helpful because it is easy to get overwhelmed with the totality and not be able to focus on the small jobs one can do that make one's home good enough.

Also try to think about all of the time saving devices you can - there have been some very helpful threads on good labor saving devices. Since you aren't paying for a cleaning woman spend the money on stuff that you might not ordinary purchase. What about a Roomba? Or a really good cordless vacuum (makes it easier to take it out versus a more cumbersome vacuum; or a wet/dry vacuum which is wonderful for getting up wet spills which are inevitable with kids.

Are there other things to save time like having groceries delivered? Instacart might be more expensive but time spent not food shopping is time and energy to spend on other stuff.

Also adjust one's expectations - I also no longer have my cleaning woman because of Covid so I triage. There are things which are necessary for hygiene which are top priority. There are things which I like to keep on top of like clutter because it eats at one even if just subliminally. However, at this point I am not even THINKING about dust bunnies accumulating LOL

amother

Thu, Jul 02 2020, 1:05 pm

hodeez wrote:

Have them clean up before bedtime and you clean up what's left when everyone's sleeping

The oldest is in preschool so they aren’t very helpful. But I was already doing nighttime clean up of toys dishes even when I had a cleaning lady. I’m talking about fitting in bigger jobs like vacuuming the house and cleaning bathrooms.

Rappel

Thu, Jul 02 2020, 2:06 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

My eldest is 4, younger is 2.5. They are responsible for cleaning up their toys, putting their laundry in the laundry basket, and putting their trash in the trash bag. House rule.

For fun, they help me sweep, mop, sort laundry. I can do dishes with just the younger one. I can cut vegetables with the older one. The elder one scrubs the toilet while I wash the shower. They fight over whom gets to set up and transfer the laundry. Because anything is cool if you can do it as a game with imma.

Necessity is the mother of great games. I CANNOT keep up the house on my own, and DH works long hours out of the house. So we make everything a game, and every trip out of the house a trash run. I set up the mop, and they play "Horsie," galloping around the house on the stick. We organise shelves together, and make the socks talk if we ever get to matching them. LOL

obviously I have to fix a lot of their work, but at least they're not making things worse while I'm cleaning.

I'm very tired lately, so I'm not managing them like I normally do, but whenever I'm healthy the system works. And if I'm not -- then that's the moment to let go and focus on what's important.

Last edited by Rappel on Thu, Jul 02 2020, 2:07 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Thu, Jul 02 2020, 2:29 pm

Amarante wrote:

I try to do a big job once a day but it’s hard to find time by day, and after bedtime I’m exhausted plus I have the regular clean up to do! Also my kids are scared of the rumba. Rolling Laughter

zaq

Thu, Jul 02 2020, 6:15 pm

Clean as you go, fitting in bits and pieces here and there. Example: do one task each time you go to the bathroom: swab out the toilet, clean the tub, use a damp sponge to clean the floor if the mop lives elsewhere, clean the mirror, wipe off the counter or sink....by day's end the bathroom is done. Each time you get a drink from the kitchen do one task: clean off the stovetop, the counter, the sink surround, do a few dishes, wipe a splotch or three of gunk off the floor or the refrigerator door...by day's end the kitchen is done.

I'm a morning person and get more done early in the a.m. than late at night. I can get up with the birds and mop my floors before anyone else is up. vacuuming, not so much, which is why I love hardwood floors that can be swept. Bissell carpet sweepers are equally handy for carpeted floors. they just pick up off the surface, so you do have to vacuum now and then, but they're fabulous for quick cleanup. Oh, and little kids love to see them "eat" popcorn and whatnot off the floor.

If you're a night person, you do the same thing in reverse: wait till the kids are asleep and then do anything that's not noisy.

Your kids are young--NOW is the time to train them in housekeeping and assign chores, age appropriate. Even a 2-y/o can throw dirty clothes into a hamper, put unbreakable dishes into the sink, "help" pull laundry out of a front-loading washer, even "help" fold small towels. Yes, you can do it faster and better yourself, but the time you invest in training them now will pay massive dividends as they grow, not only to you but to their future roommates and spouses.

amother

Sapphire

Thu, Jul 02 2020, 6:22 pm

I don't clean a whole lot.
Toys get packed away 1-2 times a week but I don't allow them to take out more than 2 boxes at a time. They clean it up if they want more (ages 5 and younger).
Dishes 5 minutes if it's nightly, 15 if it's every third night.
Clearing off surfaces 5-7 minutes nightly. if things get packed away as they are finished with it's a lot less than that.
Bathrooms once in two weeks, because I keep a spray bottle of Mr clean in the bathroom along with a roll of paper towel and do spot cleaning as needed.
Floors once a week 5 minutes before shabbos. (We don't wear shoes in the house so the floors don't get very dirty. Spills are mopped up right away)
Sweeping takes less than 2 minutes daily.

Some things like clearing surfaces, sweeping crumbs and packing away toys can be done in the morning or any other time you have.

Anything I missed?

amother

Burgundy

Thu, Jul 02 2020, 7:53 pm

amother [ Dodgerblue ] wrote:

We do a big cleaning Thursday night/Friday. I just hired a cleaning lady starting tomorrow. I have had at some points but gave it up over a year ago and dh has been doing th cleaning with me filling in on basics but I am in my first trimester and the house is really being a disaster lately...

Omg same here first trimester can't get a thing done....do you live in Lakewood?
Where oh where did you find a cleaning lady? It's impossible.

amother

Dodgerblue

Thu, Jul 02 2020, 7:59 pm

amother [ Burgundy ] wrote:

Omg same here first trimester can't get a thing done....do you live in Lakewood?
Where oh where did you find a cleaning lady? It's impossible.

Monsey. I guess dh was so desperate, that he arranged it on his own. I just got a text a half hour ago from him to expect a cleaning lady every Friday for 8 hours. Lol
At least the house will get cleaned.

amother

Burgundy

Thu, Jul 02 2020, 9:23 pm

amother [ Dodgerblue ] wrote:

Lol lucky you. I've been asking around everywhere for a cleaning lady and asked DH to ask his friends at yeshiva for leads.

He's like they'll look at me like I'm from Mars...... Can't Believe It

amother

Dodgerblue

Thu, Jul 02 2020, 9:32 pm

amother [ Burgundy ] wrote:

Lol lucky you. I've been asking around everywhere for a cleaning lady and asked DH to ask his friends at yeshiva for leads.

He's like they'll look at me like I'm from Mars...... Can't Believe It

I take.forevef to do things out of laziness. DH is the opposite and doesn't mind doing it usually....I guess he asked me a.couple times and I did nothing about it so he took matters into his own hands.

zaq

Fri, Jul 03 2020, 8:48 am

BTW ITA with the poster who said you have to revise your standards when you have small children, even if you have a weekly cleaner, kal vachomer if you don't. Children are by nature messy; your main responsibility is to keep them safe and cared for, not to have an Instagrammable house. A little dust and disorder is par for the course; if you suffer mental anguish because everything doesn't stay just so, you'll anguish yourself right to the loony bin.

banana123

Fri, Jul 03 2020, 9:16 am

amother [ Sapphire ] wrote:

Yeah. How many kids do you have and how many square meters is your house? Do you do cooking in the middle of the week?

Because for us -
dishes are 15-20 minutes nightly, 45 minutes if it's every 3 nights.
Cleaning surfaces - 20 minutes a night.
Floors take you five minutes? For us it's at least 45 minutes.
Sweeping takes 40 minutes if you do it every day.
Toys you can put away any time you have five minutes, but they'll be taken out five minutes later...

What am I missing here? How do you do it in such a short time?

amother

Firebrick

Fri, Jul 03 2020, 9:24 am

amother [ Burgundy ] wrote:

Lol lucky you. I've been asking around everywhere for a cleaning lady and asked DH to ask his friends at yeshiva for leads.

He's like they'll look at me like I'm from Mars...... Can't Believe It

I’ve never had much trouble finding a cleaning lady. Ask your neighbors.. usually there’s someone who has someone who knows someone...