The Week at a Glance

(I'm writing this out mostly for my own benefit. I know it's not exactly fascinating subject matter...)

I'm a routine-oriented kind of girl. I like to know what to expect each day and am not much for surprises. I believe children thrive on routine as well. For the most part, I try to keep our family's daily activities as consistent as possible.

I've been thinking about my daily chores and tasks. Now that the new baby has settled into a somewhat predictable pattern, I feel I can re-commit to a regular housekeeping routine. I like to break my homemaking duties into daily and weekly segments. Here's my schedule of weekly tasks and events:

Monday: Grocery shopping and errands (after school), supper with my parents
Tuesday: Big laundry day, piano lessons (in the evening)
Wednesday: Ironing, library trip and errands (after school)
Thursday: Laundry, clean lower level (dust, vacuum, bathroom)
Friday: Change sheets, clean upper level (dust, vacuum, bathroom)
Saturday: Laundry, clean basement level (dust, vacuum, bathroom, hamster's cage)
Sunday: Church, make menu plan and shopping list, supper with Ben's parents

I prefer to do the laundry three days each week. On Tuesdays I usually wash four or five loads, and I try to be diligent about folding and putting things away promptly. I figure the job's not done until everything is neatly out of sight! On Thursdays and Saturdays I usually only have two or three loads to wash. It's a good laundry day if I can get everything washed and put away before supper.

I'm a big believer in tidying, organizing and clutter-busting. I try to keep the house reasonably clean at all times. Every day I pick up the toys and such. When the house is tidy I can dust, vacuum and clean the bathrooms very quickly.

My weekly housekeeping routine might change a bit when we move next month. (Our new house is bigger. It also has a fancy front-loading washer!) As well, my son has only three weeks of school left. Our weekdays will be more flexible through July and August. I am looking forward to having many friends over to our new house for play dates this summer!