How We Work on Wednesday...

I thought it might be fun to share what everyone does on our Wednesday cleaning day each week. This list is only for Wed., as they have other chores for the rest of the days, this is just a good old house cleaning day!

Bethany (19) Dust, straighten pots and pans cabinet, clean and straighten front pantry, clean Caleb and Daniel's studio, clean the boys shower, clean 2 ceiling fans, clean the refrig. that is outside, suppose to iron if needed:) name pictures on the computer in Memory Manager

Anna (15) clean certain windows, mirrors and glass front door and appliances, clean two refrig that are inside, clean and straighten back pantry, straighten spice cabinet, iron if needed, wipe the top of two inside refrig., clean bathtub in girls bath, clean two ceiling fans, also name pictures.

Micah (almost 14) mop kitchen, straighten own clothes shelf ( we have shelves instead of dressers for all the boys in their closet) clean outside of kitchen cabinets with comet, take outside trash to pasture area where we burn our trash, clean the outside grounds( picking up and getting things in order) straighten shoe shelf up outside, has sweeping jobs outside

Andrew (12) mop under our two 8 foot eating tables in dinning area, straighten own clothes shelf,vacuum two bedrooms where carpet is, help Micah with outside chores, straighten a blue shelf in the garage area, has sweeping jobs outside, also cleans kitchen cabinets with Micah.

Joshua (10) mop two hallways, straighten his clothes shelf, help with outside chores, has sweeping jobs too.

Jeremiah (8) vacuum around baseboards in two carpeted rooms, clean out under boys beds (scary), vacuum under kitchen cabinet where trashcan is, clean own clothes shelf, help with outside chores, bathroom trash.

Hosanna (6) straighten where I keep all the plastic kitchen containers, straighten children's bookshelf, clean girls closet, wipe the chair rail in girls room, clean metal shelf in kitchen that we keep some small appl. on

Siah (4) clean boys room, help with trash outside, folds small towels (he does that each day) straighten his clothes shelf.

Mercy (2) " I help fold wags, and I like to help Anna clean the windows and waste Windex!!!!!"

Me ( :) I clean both bathrooms, (I am kinda picky), sometimes I vacuum under the cushions on the couch, sometimes I vacuum in small areas that are hard to get to that collect dust and the curtains, maybe lampshades, sometimes I straighten the linen closet up, today I cleaned out a few drawers that were crammed with junk, I usually sweep the girls wood floors in their bedroom, AND I try to keep everyone motivated to get their jobs done :)

Of course the rest of the guys are not here when we do all this but if they happen to be, Elijah mops the hardwoods in the living room and I let Daniel clean the boys bathroom and Caleb and Daniel both help with outside stuff. Now the rest of the days it is just normal chores, laundry, folding, ( they all have a list for the other days too) straightening rooms, and different groups have kitchen chores for all three meals and all the daily chores outside with all the animals, plus mowing and any other yard work. There is no way I can do all this myself and I learned a very long time ago, I have to delegate, which was very hard for me to do, because in my mind I could do it faster and more thorough. I was literally cleaning all the time and it wore me out! So the lists were started and now it seems to be pretty efficient, and if it is not done well enough, I try to gently show where the extra effort needs to be done to get the job done correctly. It's team work and I am so grateful for everyones help!!!!!

One job I did today was gather stuff of Joel's I had in two places and I bought a plastic container and put those things in there. This was so hard. I do not like to look at all that, it brings again the finality of his life here. My heart feels like, ok, he's been gone a long time now, just let him come back and have all these things in this container and let us go on with our lives. Sometimes it just seems like I have cried so much that it only brings a deeper erosion to my heart. It will always be this way until eternity.......

Hope the ideas were helpful, believe me, I know all that cleaning stuff can get in the way of more important things, like being with your children, thats why its good for us to have only one day a week and it be over and then mommy has a happy heart that all is in good shape!!!

Cindy