Chore Calendar

Guys…I had a bad case of the lazys, (pretend that’s a word) like real bad. Okay it probably wasn’t as bad as it could have been but being a stay at home more some days it’s hard to get out of my pajamas and pick up the house. Now that Ashton is moving around I feel like I’m constantly cleaning and picking up and getting nothing done. Soon it would be bedtime and I’d have a sink and counter full of dishes, a living room looking like a blanket tornado went through it and our bedroom being the catch all. Worst of all I’m usually a clean freak, everything has a home or place and I would spend my weekend deep cleaning my place. So all the clutter was really wearing me down, more so than a realized.

I read about needing a routine when you’re a stay at home mom but with having one son part time and the other full time it’s hard to really create a solid routine. So I thought lets start from the bottom and work our way up. Enter a chore calendar, right now it’s more of a cleaning calendar but I plan to add and tweak things as I figure out this whole motherhood thing. What I did first was write down the things that bug me or interfere/interrupt a good day. It came down to a messing living room, running late because I’m making lunches and a trashed kitchen. Since our kitchen is super small the simplest meals create a big clean up. What I did next was went through my kitchen and organized it so that I knew where everything was, I also made things that I grab daily easier to get to and made an inventory of what I had on hand so that I can plan our meals and pick up missing ingredients. (this will be covered more in my post about meal planning that I am now also trying out and will post soon here.) 

The last two things I did before creating my list was organize our living room and bedroom. I rearranged things that were not making the house function and I’m still currently testing out places to put things that are used daily like my sling, bobby and carrier that aren’t the easiest to store without being tossed on an empty chair. Now I made my list I broke it down to what I want to try and do daily, weekly and once a month. 

Here is what my Chore Calendar looks like, I have it posted on my fridge so I see it first thing when I’m making my coffee and at the end of the day when I’m grabbing my water for bed. 

 *I do I wipe down of the showers every week and a good scrub monthly. 

I’ve only done this a few days and I can honestly say I’m loving it! There’s a big stress lifted off my shoulder, also I like not having to feel like I’m cleaning in circles. Yesterday I actually got to enjoy time relaxing in the morning with Eric on his day off, since I planned a crock pot dinner I tossed it in before we ventured to the lake and tried out our new inflatable kayak. BEST part was when we came home I wasn’t overwhelmed with a cluttered messy house and while I was unpacking from our journey I knew where everything needed to go. Yes there is still some areas that need some help and yes I have a corner of my house that is still a catch all but it’s way better and I’m slowly finding homes for all the items. Do you do a chore calendar? Have your created one for your toddler?

Here’s a picture of the boys at the lake. All the heart eyes right?!