Simple Sanity - The Family Cleaning Hour

About two years ago, our family started a new habit that has been a wonderful blessing.

We have a weekly "Cleaning Hour." Everyone participates: Dad, Mom, and all the kids including the four-year-old. We vacuum all the carpets, mop the floors, dust the furniture, clean the bathrooms, empty the trash cans, etc. We pretty much just cover the basics in one hour. To tell the truth it usually ends up with being closer to 70 minutes than to one hour, but it helps to think of it as only an hour.

Cleaning Hour is for serious, basic cleaning. We work quickly, but thoroughly. It is not a time to deep clean, but it is OK to be on the lookout for some cobwebs to knock down. It is also not a time for teaching the kids how to do their assigned chores. We train them at another time so that we are free to spend the whole hour doing actual cleaning.

Before the hour starts, we make sure the house is picked up. It is too hard to vacuum and put toys in the toy box at the same time. We start off with a family huddle, put our hands in the middle, and chant, "Clean, clean, clean!" Then everyone scurries to get their dusting rags sprayed with Endust so they can start on their rooms. As soon as we're done cleaning, we re-gather our huddle and chant, "Done, done, done!"

The kids all dust the furniture in their rooms. Then most of them have vacuuming chores with a small canister vac: the stairway, hardwood floors in the hallway, and louvered doors in front of the laundry area. The six-year-old and four-year-old empty all the trash cans and replace the liners. The older girls have more dusting to do in the main areas of the house. And, they all act as vacuuming assistants. They move chairs, toy boxes, etc. out of the vacuum's way and then replace them after that section has been done.

As the kids have gotten older I try to think of neglected chores to add to our list. Our almost-11-year-old is about ready for more Cleaning Hour responsibilities, and I'm thinking of having her dust the light fixtures. By giving the kids a chore that is currently neglected, I don't get so uptight about the job being done perfectly. At least it's being done, which is better than it was.

Dad and Mom do things that involve major chemicals like the shower & toilet. We also do the carpet vacuuming and floor mopping to ensure a thorough job.

When we first started Cleaning Hour, it was always on Saturday morning. That worked well, but it was a drag to spend our precious weekend time on cleaning. Cleaning Hour has since migrated to Thursday evening most weeks. There are so many times that we really don't feel like doing it. But, once it is done, we are so glad we went through with it. It is so nice to have the house all clean and picked up. It helps Mom's sanity, too! And, the work of cleaning is easier if it is done faithfully every week.

Do we miss a week here and there? Sure, we do. Life happens. People get sick, the calendar gets crazy, etc. But, we try to miss as few weeks as possible, and we make this a priority in our schedules to ensure that it happens.

The final benefit is teaching the kids that there is no free ride. We all have to contribute to the household chores to make our home a nice place to live.