:: flylady for new moms - monday's routine ::

It's the first day of a new week and hopefully you have just enjoyed a nice weekend as a family and you are ready for a week of outings and fun with your little one. If you spent any part of your weekend madly cleaning your house you probably won't have much to do today, but if you start following these routines you won't have to waste any precious weekend time cleaning anymore.

FlyLady suggests that the focus for Monday is the Home Blessing Hour (so cheesy....I know!). Basically, you spend one hour cleaning your house on Monday and you don't have to worry about it the rest of the week. She uses a timer for each task to keep you on track and not allow you to slip into perfectionist mode and decide to reorganize the bathroom cupboards when you are supposed to be doing a quick clean! I like this because I find I get so distracted when cleaning and often tire out before I finish, or I get sidetracked and start some stupid huge project of reorganization and then feel bad when I can't finish it.

You can do this clean during the day while your Hubs is at work or split it up between the two of you and do it in the evening when he is at home. You don't have to do it all at once either. If you have a really active baby that is crawling I am sure it will be much harder to get it all done at the same time. I still have a little one that loves to watch me do things from his bouncy chair. I give him a running commentary and he smiles and coos and sometimes falls asleep!

If you spend one hour cleaning your house each week, and spend 15 minutes a day doing the detailed cleaning in the current zone (outlined in the emails you can subscribe to here - remember to get the daily digest so they don't clutter up your inbox!) your house will be clean and tidy and will also get a spring cleaning regularly, in small increments each day.

If you have a timer, get it out. Here is your mission for the day. You are going to spend 10 minutes doing each of these 6 tasks. Stay focused and do them as fast as you can, and reward yourself with something nice after....like a trip with the babe to Starbucks, or a fun gossip mag to read while your Hubs takes care of the baby later. Some of them will take less than 10 minutes and some may take slightly longer, but don't allow yourself to spend much more than 5-10 extra minutes on any one task or it is going to feel like too much work! You are not doing detail cleaning, just a quick clean.

1. Change the sheets - strip the bed and put on a set of fresh sheets. Throw the old sheets in the laundry right away so you have a fresh set ready for next week. I love sleeping on fresh new sheets! Open up your windows and get some fresh air into your room too!

2. Trash and Recycling - go around your house and empty all the trash and recycling. Go through your magazine rack and get rid of all your old magazines and newspapers and recycle them! It is so important to do this every week! Paper clutter will drive you ca-razy!

3. Dust - I sometimes use a Swiffer Sheet to do my dusting, or my Norwex dusting mitt. Only spend 10 minutes! Don't dust every knick knack you have!

4. Vacuum - This may take longer if you live in a McMansion, but we only have carpet on our stairs and tiny upper floor so it is a quick job, although it is my most hated one! If only I had a Dyson! You are not allowed to move furniture, just do the middles of the rooms. You will do the detailed cleaning of those rooms in the small "zone cleaning" increments outlined in the emails later on in the program.

5. Polish all Mirrors and Surfaces - Get out your windex or Vinegar solution and polish your mirrors, windows and other shiny surfaces like your fridge and microwave. Only 10 minutes....don't be a perfectionist! This includes the surfaces in the bathrooms.

6. Mop. We have to sweep and mop our hardwood. You should mop any tile or other moppable (is that a word?) floors in the house. Quickly though....don't spend too long!

Whew! Your house is clean now. And you might have even gotten a little workout! Enjoy the rest of your day now. Get that Starbucks and gossip mag and enjoy some you-time while your baby naps.

In addition to the Home Blessing Hour, you should be doing your morning and evening routines (I talked about these on Sunday) and a 15 minute declutter in an area of your house.

I am decluttering our basement this week.....15 minutes at a time......so much less overwhelming that way! You don't have to do alllll of this though, just start small and add more routines in when you feel ready.

p.s Don't feel like you HAVE to do the house clean on Mondays. Pick the day that works best for you, even if it is a weekend.....I just really like to try and keep our weekends for fun and relaxing!