To control housework and not let it control me, I use a daily routine.
Nightly Routine
1. Everyone picks up their stuff and puts it away. This usually only takes about fifteen extra minutes when everyone takes responsibility for their personal items.
2. Clean the kitchen. Turn on the dishwasher as you turn off the lights.
3. Vacuum the family room and straighten the pillows and magazines.
4. Throw in a load of laundry.
I love to go to sleep with my servants workings. As you close your eyes, thank the Lord that you live in a country where you have the privilege of an electric dishwasher and a washing machine.
Morning Routine
1. Make my bed.
2. Switch the clothes from the washing machine to the dryer.
3. Make coffee.
4. Empty the dishwasher while coffee is brewing.
5. Wake kids–eat breakfast–make lunches.
6. Kids rinse their breakfast dishes and load in dishwasher.
7. Fold and deliver clothes to rooms before kids leave for school.
Shower Routine
1. Spray down the tile and glass with Windex before you step out of the shower. Windex is my cleaning product of choice.
2. After you have finished with the sink, spray with Windex.
3. Wipe out the sink and countertop with damp towel. Yes, we use fresh towels each day. A personal family preference.
4. Spray the commode with Windex and swish with potty mop. Wipe down with a paper towel.
This simple daily routine will keep all of your bathrooms relatively clean and germ free. You can get by with a bi-monthly cleaning.
Friday is sheet-washing day. We usually have company over the weekend and it’s nice to have fresh sheets on all the beds. Everyone strips their beds and brings the linens to the laundry room. The first person down starts the wash cycle. On sunny days I will have the kids bring down their comforters and hang them out in the sunshine to freshen them up.
Fresh air is better than any air freshening products. Throwing open the windows on sunny days will keep the house smelling fresh and kill harmful bacteria that lingers in the air. With our busy lifestyles and close living, people tend to keep their homes too warm and closed up. Air conditioners and heat constantly recycle air in our homes. God created the ozone air to rid us of germs. Have you noticed that some homes tend to have a smell to them? My grandmother’s home had a particular smell–moth balls. These smells linger from fried food, pungent spices, smoke from wood stoves or fireplaces, cats / dogs /birds, diapers, and cypress wood paneling to name a few examples. It is not always a pleasant aroma and often the smell is not noticed by the homeowners. We get accustomed to our own house’s smell. If you are daring, ask a trusted friend what she smells when she walks into your home. Air fresheners only mask the smells by adding chemicals to the air. Fresh air or an air purifier scrub the air molecules of impurities.
About Loi Palmer
Loi and her husband Chuck have been married 22 years and have a revolving back door with three teens. She has a successful direct sales business, and is involved in a thriving mentoring ministry to women--Mom to Mom. Loi's passion is cheering on young moms in their vital role as godly wives and moms.
