Friday Cleaning Day

My last post described how, as a working mother, I try to keep my household running smoothly on my work days.

Today I'm going to talk about the things I try to achieve on Fridays, my day off, to get the house in order and prepare our home for the weekend ahead.

Fridays aren't just for housework, however. I frequently assist in the reading program in my youngest son's classroom on Friday mornings. Afterwards I often go out for coffee with some of the other mothers.

The tendency when one has only one day at home each week is to either do nothing or to try to do too much. As in all things it is best try to strike a balance.

At one time I would attempt an enormous number of things on Fridays: clean the entire house; wash and hang out all laundry including all sheets and towels, then remake all beds; clean out the fridge; do the grocery shopping; and pay the bills.

Nowadays I am kinder to myself but do try to give the house a decent clean. Anything else can wait for the weekend when there are other helpers around.

It seems to me there are two approaches to cleaning a home. The first, espoused by Flylady in her "Home Blessing Hour" and others, is task-based. That is, you do all of one task for the house, such as dusting or vacuuming, before moving onto another task.

I prefer to clean room by room, working around the house clockwise. This method has the benefit of variety and an immediate feeling of success. Also, if you don't finish you at least feel that part of the house is 'done'.

I'm pretty tired thanks to Adelaide's latest sleep-depriving heat wave, so I'm going to end here today.

If you have any questions, please leave me a comment and I'll try to reply. I have quite a different post planned for tomorrow but after that I'll do one about how we manage weekend chores.