Routine Review

So how did the week go, housekeepingwise? Well, this is how it should have gone in theory:

This week's focus: Bathroom
Monday: Bathroom
Tuesday: Boys' Bedroom and Bathroom
Wednesday: Dining/Play Room and Bathroom
Thursday: Kitchen and Bathroom
Friday: Living Room and Bathroom
Saturday: Our Bedroom and Bathroom
Sunday: Spare Bedroom and Bathroom

Well, it did sort of work and I am feeling decidedly positive about it. What could you possibly find to do everyday in a bathroom, you may ask? In my bathroom, plenty! I scrubbed the toilet within an inch of its life, washed down the floor, wiped down all the tiles (and the room is practically all tiles), cleaned out the bathroom cabinet (ugh), wiped over the shelves and the bottles of lotions and potions that were on them, washed the curtains and the window, hoovered dust from every crevice I could find (including the extractor fan which was wearing a fur coat), folded towels, removed limescale etc. etc.

None of this would have ever been done in a day (unless I did absolutely nothing else), but spread out over a week it seemed managable. The airing cupboard (except for the towels) has been left undone as has the jam cupboard (we have an under eaves cupboard where we keep a little tumble dryer and all our jars of jam, chutney, pickles and dried vegetables). I'll do them next time, perhaps.

What did I learn? I learned to my horror how filthy my bathroom actually was - even with a daily wiping down of 'essential items'. The dust that gathers in a bathroom is quite astonishing and I don't want to dwell on where it all comes from. I learned that the underside of sinks get grimy as well as the sink itself, that I hate limescale with a vengeance and that towels really do look nicer and take up less space when they are folded in thirds (even my towels which are a mish-mash of handed down unmatchables, some of which have stretched so much over time that they are no longer even rectangular).

As for the daily focus, well that worked okay too. Rooms got a little more TLC than they usually get, for relatively little time spent - this being on top of my 'morning routine' (a la Flylady). Actually, I'm stretching things to call it a morning routine. It's much more nebulous than that. Fluid would be a nice way of putting it. I don't as of yet have anything approaching an evening routine, which is why we wake each morning to a house that looks as though it has been burgled in the night.

What didn't work? The weekend. Things pretty much fell apart at the weekend. Saturday I had washing to catch up with (still have the ironing) because the weather had been to bad to hang things out. I have a tumble dryer but it only emerges from the cupboard in the direst emergency. While I laundered, the boys whooped it up elsewhere and when Rob returned from the allotment it was time to go shopping blah, blah, blah ....... . As for Sunday, well I would prefer not to do housework on the Sabbath but at the present time I have to. Maybe a time will come when it will not be so but for the present it is. But I only do the essentials, so the spare room will have to wait. I cook on a Sunday as well. Do you think that the time will come when I don't have to do that too. Oh happy thought.