Deep cleaning when we can.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a house cleaner?

I often look around the house and wish I had extra help. Someone else to tackle the bathtubs and dusting while I fixed meals and loaded the dishwasher.

Since we don't have a budget for hired help, Scott and I have to do what we can, when we can. I've seen magazine articles on how to divide up the chores, on a daily or monthly basis. I've never cared for that. Everyday is different at our house. We don't create messes on schedule, so why should we clean on schedule?

Add in two little people who need us constantly and then you have a real challenge. Challenge accepted. Today, we decided to stay home and take care of chores. I even opened up the clothesline.

Last summer, we bought a retractable clothesline off of Amazon. It's a great product. String it across the yard when needed, retracts when we're finished, easy peasy. Sunlight is a natural whitener and the fresh air makes the laundry smell so fresh. I love it. There's also the added bonus of saving energy.

I don't use the clothesline as much as I thought I would, honestly. Aside from the fact that it's been rainy for the past few weeks, it's more time consuming that simply switching a load of laundry into the dryer. I have to haul my basket of wet laundry outside, and spend five minutes hanging it on the line. It's actually a soothing activity. Much like ironing. Unfortunately, during that five minutes, my son, James, can create chaos. On a few occasions, he's locked me outside and then I've had to yell through the door, for him to let me in. It's better if I wait to do these things when I'm not the only adult home.

I'm taking full advantage of cleaning today. So far, I've washed and line dried our sheets, washed two pillows, washed the shower curtains and bath mats, vacuumed upstairs, and filled several bags with Katie's outgrown baby clothes for donation and selling. Someone else tackled the three bathrooms: Scott. Thank Goodness, because I loathe scrubbing bathtubs. There's still the quilt and more pillows to wash. The mattress cover to take out of the washing machine and line dry. I just realized that I should have planned more carefully. It's nearly 4pm and I doubt the mattress cover will dry completely outside.

My advice for cleaning is this: create a reasonable to-do list (the shorter the better), have another adult around, and plan for breaks every 30 minutes. Someone will need their diaper changed or to be fed, someone will run crying from the vacuum or undo the neat pile of stuff, everyone will need to stop and eat, rinse and repeat.

I'm currently on a break right now, while Katie's asleep and Scott's off to Redbox with James. Did I mention rewarding yourself? We will inevitably fall asleep during Lincoln, but at least we'll have fresh, clean sheets!