Oh my – Let dogs out. Let dogs in. Feed dogs. Let dogs out. Make coffee. Pour a cup. Let dogs in. Read my AOL newsfeed, my emails, my Facebook, my town’s website, and CC. Pour a second cup. Let dogs out. Let dogs in.
I’m out of bed first, so I tidy my side. H does whatever to his. Lol
First things…
Coffee
Feed cats, blood test diabetic dog, feed dogs, give insulin shot to dog.
Start a load of laundry…
Check emails, texts, FB, and CC!! (Not necessarily in that order!!)
I will start cooking something…maybe with the “I dare not speak its name egg thingy!”
H does dishes (yay!!!)…and does litter box (double yay!!!)
The rest of the day varies by whether I have to work on my business or not. If not, then some odd chores or rotating chores around the house.
Mid-day blood check diabetic dog to make sure he’s not too high or too low. Feed if necessary. If high, walk him.
Before I leave the house, I like to tidy things up because I don’t like returning to any messes.
Evening: dinner…feed pets, check diabetic dog, give insulin shot.
Whenever I leave a room, I try to grab something that needs to be taken out…a coffee cup, laundry, etc.
Before bed…check dog’s blood again, adjust as needed.
Every Monday I change the sheets…habit learned from mom.
I make my bed every morning and I find it remarkable that other grown ups don’t! Who wants to get it a bed with wrinkled, rumpled up sheets and twisted up covers?
In fact, I kind of don’t believe it when people claim they don’t make up their beds everyday. I’m assuming everyone straightens out the sheets and covers before getting back into bed, right? Well, that’s making the bed; just at night instead of the morning.
My thought is, if you are going to do it at night, why not do it in the morning? It would keep the sheets and covers from getting so wrinkled.
No one is going to convince me that there are fewer dust mites if sheets and covers are left in a wrinkled rumpled mess all day. Does a towel dry better rumpled up on the bathroom floor or neatly hung on a towel rack all smoothed out. And guess what: Straightening and smoothing all the sheets, plumping up pillows and then neatly folding back the covers IS making the bed.
For those who don’t like making the bed, I’d recommend simplifying the bedding so that all that needs to be done is straightening out a sheet, fluffing a duvet and smoothing a couple of pillows.
I have a lot of pain from RA and other autoimmune diseases and I literally cannot sleep if the sheets and covers aren’t balanced, symmetrical and smooth on the bed. Sheets and covers that are hanging crooked and that are falling off the bed create pressure points that are very, very painful. Same with wrinkled, rumpled or twisted sheets and covers (or ones that are too heavy). Avoiding those issues provides a very, very good reason for making the bed.
For others with similar issues – you may try getting very lightweight covers and making your bed every morning so that the sheets/ covers are perfectly straight and symmetrical on the bed. Just try it for a week and see if it doesn’t result in less painful nights (and less wakefulness in the night). (High quality down is lightweight but warm).
Not making bed. I put away dishes and play brain games daily.
So how often does everyone vacuum or sweep? I only manage a thorough floor cleaning about once per week, even with a dog who sheds copiously. I would do it more often but the noise upsets said dog as well as football viewing DH. The pattern now is to wait until guests are coming to do deep cleaning. In fact, if I go into a cleaning frenzy the dog goes to look out the window to see who’s coming.
When my bed is made the room just look tidier. When I had a daily housekeeper while working abroad, what I love about it was to have all of our beds made up like hotel beds. She ironed the sheets and the bed very tight. I can’t do it, but I fluff my pillows and pull the comforter over the bed in the morning. It takes less than 2 min.
“What do I do? The same thing I do every night. Try and take over the world!”
Seriously, I wake up in the morning, let the dogs (2) out and put them on their chains, let the cat in, put out her food, do my morning routine in the bathroom, fill the animals’ water and food bowl, call/text whichever of my resident children has to be awakened, check my email, pay any online bills that are due, hit the shower, get dressed and leave for work.
I don’t make my bed. I went to a summer camp for 5 years where they forced us to make our beds, with hospital corners, and at 8 years old, I decided that when I was in charge, beds would not need to be made. I taught all of my kids how to make their beds and we all make the bed (or strip it as warranted) when staying in a home other than our own but it’s not a requirement at home.
H works at home so he usually loads the dishwasher during the day and we run it late at night and he empties it during the day. When all 5 kids lived at home and ate every meal here, we could do two or more loads a day, but now if we do it once every two days, it’s a lot.
The other things I do every day include sorting through the mail and throwing out or shredding what I don’t need, moving any recycling I accumulate to the spot by the front door where I leave it till I go out and trying to find at least one or two things to downsize.
Well, if we’re including animal care… I walk the dog at least five times per day.
I hire someone who comes once a week to vacuum/sweep the entire house, wash the kitchen floor and wipe down the bathroom and scrubs toilets. I scrub toilets between visits if they need it.
Daily:
Make my bed - I can’t leave the house with an unmade bed.
Swiffer whole house (not big and all on one floor) have two dogs that shed.
Wipe off kitchen counters/island. Wipe sink (I hate looking at water stains)
Unload dishwasher if clean. Load dirty dishes if there are any. Put anything left on drain board overnight away.
Wipe bathroom sink. Shower/tub gets Method Daily Shower after each use. Keeps down soap scum.
All that takes about 30 minutes.
I vacuum rugs and floors approx twice a week because of dogs.
Do at least one load of laundry every day.
I cannot stand a messy house so there is never any clutter. Things get put away/thrown out immediately. Everything has a place in my house.
I do a big cleaning (baseboards, windows, sills, and dusting everything, Bona hardwoods, etc., ) approx once every two weeks.
Every few months I clean out/straighten my big junk draw in kitchen, pantry closets in laundry room and straighten linen closet.
My project for next week is the finished part of the basement. We had our hardwoods refinished last month and had to move all furniture and closets out. We put a lot of stuff in the basement. The office is getting a make over and I’m waiting for desk I want to get restocked. But there was a lot of junk accumulated over the years in that room and I am going to sort through it all and get rid of all the unnecessary crap that was in there before setting office back up.
Having hardwoods refinished was a great way to declutter whole house. I got rid of a lot of stuff - especially in secretary, chest of drawers that has table linens, gift wrap stuff, pictures, saved cards, etc, plus bags and shoes from my closet. When you have to move everything out the thought of moving everything back in sucks so.
I’ll get my hardwoods done soon, too. But nothing gets me cleaning like an upcoming trip. A silly thing that
magnifies if there are flights involved. And it is nice to come home to a tidy place. I suppose I should swiffer more often.
Right now I do it about every other week unless I spill something. But I am one person living in an apartment with no kids most of the time, and no pets. I keep the second bedroom & bedroom doors shut – I clean them after guests, then shut the doors. Open them up and freshen up if someone is coming.
Someone mentioned going through the mail every day. I get and look at the mail every day… but right now I have a stack of a few weeks of mail on the dining room table that I deemed something to keep, but doesn’t need attention right away (mostly statements from accounts). Today I plan to go through and review/file them all.
On my DR table, too. But in neat piles, ha. One of my fav household tools is the shredder.
A question: does taking off your shoes at the entry really keep dust down? And then, aren’t your feet (or socks) a mess? Or is the idea you swiffer and vacuum, so much that…? So the shoes aren’t really the issue?
Having a good air filter and electronic air purifier keeps dust to almost non-existent level. Taking street shoes off keeps dirt down. If you start with clean floors, why would your socks get dirty?
@lookingforward I definitely feel taking shoes off keeps dirt WAY down. We are a no shoes house (I don’t force adult guests to take their shoes off.) Shoes stay in the garage. I’m usually barefoot - no socks. Husband often wears socks and no, they don’t get dirty.
Housekeeper cleans floors every other week. Unless I have company or have been a messy cook or have a spill, they don’t get cleaned in between and really don’t need it. Granted we no longer have pets and there are just 2 of us most of the time.
In addition to keep the dirt down, it is SO much better for your wood floors and carpets.
I take off my street shoes and wear slippers mostly inside (just worn inside). It does keep the dirt & dust down. Sometimes I just go around in socks.
Dog duties. Don’t make the bed (I did til we were married. DH doesn’t care.). Unload/reload dishwasher. Nag DH and S2 to put dirty dishes at least into the sink if not the dishwasher. Sweep the kitchen floor (we use the kitchen entrance pretty much exclusively, so much gets tracked in). Wipe counters and table. Take out the day’s recycling to bins. A load of laundry every other day. Go through mail, put 90% in recycling.
Haven’t told DH yet, but I got someone to come in once a month to clean the bathrooms, floors, the stove and dust. He hasn’t noticed. I don’t have them do the bedrooms. It has freed me up to take on some of the other cleaning/organizing projects that need to be done but that I can never get to because of the other chores. I’m here when the cleaning crew is here, and I change linens, straighten up the office, clean out cabinet drawers, etc.
^ Good for you hiring a cleaner, cd.
Your secret is safe with me 
I don’t vacuum because it really messes up my sciatica. H or one of the boys does it. H cleans for the most part since he works from home and, frankly, he cares more about it than I do AND 99% of the stuff in our house is his.
Whoever goes to the basement does laundry. Since the only working shower is in the basement, laundry is done regularly.
I wear shoes in the house, although everyone else goes barefoot or wears flip flops. Once the last dog dies (both are 15), I will have our hardwood floors refinished. The dogs are not huge shedders.
We have a cleaning woman in every other week to do the heavy stuff.