Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Seven Can Be a Lucky Number (If you believe in that sort of thing)


Ever since our house went on the market, I have worked hard to keep this home in tip top condition on a daily basis. Thankfully, I have a winner of a husband, who is better at housekeeping than I can ever hope to be. Seriously, the man would do it all if I asked him, and frequently does, even when not asked.

I know.

That's hot.

However, we have definitely been more of a team since putting our house up, and the result has been a darn right nice place to live in.

There have been some items that we've been doing every day to help with the upkeep:

  • Making the bed right away
  • Emptying all garbage cans
  • Keeping the kitchen sink empty
So, imagine my GLEE, when I stumbled upon this list, known as the "Daily 7" that Stephanie O'Dea over at Totally Together Journal put together in order to stay ahead of the cleaning game. This is the same Stephanie from A Year of Crockpotting fame.

Yes, I have a bit of a blog crush on her. I am blogstruck. No apologies.

Here are the "Daily 7". They work - whether or not your house is on the market. And if you know of my Mt. Laundry woes, you will understand why I am so very elated about this list of chores to hit EVERY DAY! Check out her site and read in more detail about these lucky 7 tasks.

  1. Make the beds right away
  2. Do one complete load of laundry
  3. Empty all garbage cans
  4. Keep your kitchen sink empty
  5. Clean up after yourself and help children do the same
  6. Bathroom wipe-down
  7. Before Bed 10-minute clean up
We have to continue working on #'s 5-7, but I'm making strides. Last night, the entire family put away clothes together. At one point we were all stuffed into Zane's tiny bedroom. We had a blast.

Good to know, as if this house doesn't sell we could all end up living in an efficiency or studio apartment. Nice to know we could live on top of each other and still make it out alive.

As for the laundry suggestion? Brilliant. For the past three days I have done one complete load of laundry every day (yes, we can very easily have a full load of items every day), which means the items were washed, folded, and put away.

Say it with me: Washed, folded, and put away!

Never in the history of our laundry has this phenomenon ever occurred.

Let me shout if from my rooftop: I HAVE GOTTEN AHEAD OF THE LAUNDRY! I HAVE SCALED AND CONQUERED THE MOUNTAIN!

So, this week is sponsored by the number 7.

Give them a try and tell me what you think. Ah, read that again.

Don't tell me what you think without first giving them a try - we all tend to default to saying, "That couldn't possibly work for me" before trying something new, don't we?

Let me know how it goes.

3 comments:

thecurryseven said...

Oh I wish I could get away with 1 complete load of laundry a day. That's the bare minimum if I want to keep everyone in clean underwear. Two to three loads a day is what has to happen if I'm going to stay caught up. Good thing I have a lot of helpers!

Joline said...

Well I would say that your situation definitely calls for more than one load!

I'm embarassed to say that I only have two children and couldn't even handle one load a day. Or, rather, I didn't THINK I could - I just hadn't ever tried!

It's much less overwhelming for Harper and Zane when I hand them a small stack of their stuff to put away - rather than having them live out of a basket with a mound of clean clothes that has yet to be put away.

You keep those helpers washing and folding and putting things away - train them up right before those next two babies enter the world!

Now, go to bed and get some rest! Look forward to that coffee that will be delivered bedside in the AM.

Teacher Anabelle said...

Your post made me cry. Thank you so much for your kind and sweet words----they mean so very much. I love knowing that there are "real" people out there.
Good luck with the house-selling. I'm here, holding your hand.
xoxo steph