Taking the pressure off regarding housework

 I hate housework.  I'm not one of those people that has a house that looks like it came out of a Home Beautiful magazine.  I have 6 kids and a hubby and 2 dogs and 3 cats and a bird and 3 rats that live here too,,,,,,none of them, whether they be two legged or more care if the floors are swept, if there are dust bunnies breeding in every corner or whether the house resembles a bomb site.  It seems I am the only one who stresses about the state of the house.  So in the interest of my sanity I have devised a plan.  Not a plan set in stone, not a plan like that of FlyLady but a plan that I think I can live with.

I have decided that every two weeks each room will get a thorough clean.  In between those times the kids are responsible for their own rooms and the other rooms will be spot cleaned as needed.  This seems to be a plan that I can live with and cope with.  With 7 beds in the house, I just cannot change all the sheets on the same day.  Not only does that produce a ridiculous amount of washing, but the making of all 7 beds is a mission,,,,I always end up with a sore back!!  Normally I would do 3 beds one day and 4 the next but that is all going to change.  From now on I will do the beds every two weeks myself.  (Mine and Hubby's will be done weekly as usual that will just be squeezed in on a non-bed day in the other week).  As for the kid's beds, they are responsible for doing their beds themselves on the off week.  I will help the younger ones and obviously Mr Autism can't do his but the rest are on their own.  If they don't do it, at least I know that they are getting done every second week without fail and I have decided that I can live with that, its not the end of the world and I'm not going to lose sleep over it and nag them like I usually do.  My boys are at their Dad's house for 1, sometimes 2 nights each week anyway so at worst they get slept in for 12 days.  Miss12 and MrAutism are only here 3 days a fortnight and half of school holidays so theirs will definitely survive.


This is my new roster (this does not include weekends,,,,just weekdays,,,,weekends are for essential cleaning only such as bathrooms and kitchen and of course sweeping of floors) :

Monday:  Mr14's room
Tuesday:  Bathroom, Toilet, Laundry
Wednesday:  Mr16's room
Thursday:  Kitchen/Dining
Friday:  Mr11's room

Monday:  Lounge (aka Mr11 with Autism's room)/Alcove area
Tuesday:  2nd Bathroom
Wednesday:  Master Bedroom
Thursday:  Mr9/Miss12's room
Friday:  Family Room

I am into my second week and so far it is working well.  Somewhere I also want to incorporate the outside areas too but I may just fit them in when needed.

I am finding that this has taken the pressure off.  I used to spend alot of time going from room to room doing little bits and it never really looked done.  Now even after a week, the bedroom of Mr14 still looks pretty good.  It has a very light bit of dust, the floor is still pretty good and the bed,,,,,well we shall see whether it gets done or not in the next day or two lol.

I feel so much less stressed about the house and now I don't live in dread of someone popping in unannounced, I know the house looks respectable at least,,,,,cluttered still but at least there are no killer dust bunnies waiting for the next unsuspecting human to walk on by lol.    I know it is early days with my new plan but so far it is fantastic,,,keep your fingers crossed for me lol.