Cleaning made easy - with kids!

so we have four kids aged 9 thru 13 (almost 14 - HOLY CRAP!). our house isn't huge - but it's decent sized. i do a "cinderella day" every monday. this means that i deep clean the entire house top to bottom. since all the kids are in school, it's not THAT big of a deal. it's a pitb, but worth it. it even stays clean for like 30 minutes or so. yay!

anyhow, my cinderella day includes:

basement:

straighten

deep clean

sweep

mop

vacuum

garbages out

wash & dry basement linens

vacuum stairs from basement to main level

main floor:

straighten

deep clean

sweep

mop

vacuum

garbages out

vacuum rugs

polish floor (makes it shiny - i do this once a month or every two weeks, depending on my mood)

clean out fridge

run dishwasher

unload dishwasher

wash & dry main floor linens

refill meds & vitamins (every 2 weeks)

upstairs:

straighten

deep clean

sweep

mop

vacuum

garbages out

wash & dry upstairs linens

vacuum stairs from upstairs to main floor

regular stuff:

laundry

ironing

match socks

it sounds like a lot, but really, it's not. why? because my kiddos help keep up with the cleaning during the week.

i divided the house into four zones: kitchen, bathrooms, basement, living / dining / family room (which includes picking up dog poo outside). each kid gets one zone to do for two weeks. at first, i thought they were doing a good job and i wasn't checking on the chores as often. DUMB MOVE on my part! when i finally did, the toilets were nasty (and i only have ONE boy - who can't aim to save his sweet little life!) and the sinks had gobs of toothpaste in them; bookshelves were messy; etc. what the heck? when i sat them down, they questioned, "you have to wipe down the toilet and sinks EVERY day when you have bathroom? i didn't know that!" egads ...

thus, i decided to fix this little 'problem'. i put together lists for each room. each list included the following categories: "the xxxx is clean when ..."; "the xxxx is deep cleaned"; and "monthy to-dos for the xxxx". i went above and beyond and printed out each list for each person in the house. they were laminated (and put on pretty / handsome paper, of course!) and put them on d-rings. each family member has a copy of all the lists on these. now there is NO excuse for anyone to not know what is required and when!

this is the 4 pages together - there is a list on both sides of the pages. they are laminated so things can be checked off as they are completed.



an example of one of the pages up close

oh this has been so great for our family! i know have a 'checklist' to look at when i check the kids' zones at night and in the mornings. if i'm in a nice mood, i tell them what still needs done. if i'm in one of THOSE moods, i tell them to look at their lists and figure it out.

it's nice not having to do it all every day. just "cinderella day".