I'm a June Cleaver Wannabe

It's true. I think I was born in the wrong decade. I so should have been a mom of the 50's. All I've ever really wanted to be is a mom. I've always had images of me standing in my immaculate kitchen with an apron on baking cookies, serving a hot meal every night with my five kids playing nicely in the other room.

I know that just isn't reality. After nearly 8 months of being a mom I already know that we're lucky if dinner is room temperature. And store bought cookies are just as good as homemade. But I still love the image of June Cleaver. The perfect housewife. It's not that I think every woman should have a clean house, cook a hot meal every night of the week, and have perfectly behaved children. I know that's just not what everyone wants. But it's what I want. I honestly don't mind doing most of the cooking and cleaning. I feel like it's part of my job as a stay at home mom. A part that I usually enjoy very much. In my short time as a housewife I've picked up several tips to help me get closer to achieving my June Cleaver goal. This weekend I was with some friends and I made a comment about my cleaning schedule. After talking with them about it, I thought I'd share some of my tips. These won't work for everyone. You may not even like them, but they're what work for us. So, take what you want and ignore the rest.

For housecleaning I have a little schedule. I like to divide up the chores and do 1-2 things a day so that I'm not overwhelmed with housecleaning every day. Here's my schedule:
Monday--change and wash the sheets, cut coupons/grocery shopping
Tuesday--dust upstairs and downstairs, vacuum upstairs (on the first Tuesday of the month I also vacuum the furniture)
Wednesday--clean bathrooms, do my and Brad's laundry
Thursday--clean kitchen (wash floor, clean out microwave, wipe down appliances, wash towels, washcloths, and rugs, etc.), wash entry floors (on the first Thursday of the month I wash all of the floors in the house...this will probably increase soon as Micah is just about ready to crawl)
Friday--catch up
Saturday--change and wash bathroom towels

Every day I unload and load the dishwasher as needed. I also sweep or Swiffer the floors in the whole house and wipe down the kitchen counters. I also wash Micah's diapers and clothes as needed (diapers are usually every 2-3 days and his clothes are probably twice a week).

I have this schedule written down on a pad of paper on the refrigerator so that Brad knows what I want to accomplish every day. On his days off he always tries to help me get the cleaning done.

I typically try to get my housework done during Micah's first nap. Sometimes I'll go in my room and do my devotions right away, but then I'll go to my cleaning. I don't usually allow myself to read or go on the computer until I've done at least one bit of cleaning.

I'm a person that thrives on order and scheduling so this really works for me. I love knowing what to expect and having the same routine. However, this schedule does allow for some flexibility. Not only do I have Friday built in as a make up and Sunday as a day of rest, but I also have a wonderful husband who is willing to help me with everything. There are several other things that I schedule and do now that I'm a stay at home mom (meal planning, Micah's schedule, budgeting, etc.), but I will save those for another post. What are some things that help you keep your house in order?