A List for Keeping it Clean Around the House: What and How Often
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
By Bill Primavera
My wife Margaret is a compulsive list maker. That may sound like something bad, but actually, I envy her ability – not to mention her desire – to make lists of things to do.
By comparison, I’m pretty much a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of guy.
Every time I see her focused and writing on a pad or piece of paper, stopping occasionally to gather her thoughts, I know she is making another list. Whether it’s a grocery shopping list or a tally of who gets holiday cards this year (and not if they didn’t send one to us last year), the list system organizes and guides her life.
But most often, it’s a list about household chores that keep things running clean and smoothly.
I wouldn’t know where to begin with such a list, because my wife is in charge in that area, but I researched the subject on the Good Housekeeping website and I share here what I learned. As I review this information, I find that it’s wonderfully in sync with my wife’s schedule in most things.
Here’s the skinny, interpolated a bit to our own situation.
Every day
- Make the beds
- Clean coffee maker
- Sweep kitchen floor
- Wipe down kitchen table and surfaces
- Wash dirty dishes
- Wipe down bathroom surfaces
- Squeegee shower door and walls
- Sanitize kitchen and bathroom sinks
- Do laundry as needed (more if there are children, less for retirees)
Of the list above, my chore mainly is to squeegee the shower door and walls as well as to empty the trash daily. Obviously, if it were up solely to me, our house would be reported to the Health Department.
In the old days when we lived in a 14-room antique house, my job was to do all the outside work. Now that we live in a condominium, there are no outside chores, so I get a lucky pass.
Every week
- Clean the bathrooms, including the shower, tub, sink and toilet
- Mop the kitchen and bathroom floors
- Windex mirrors
- Clean the kitchen, including the microwave and stovetop
- Dust all surfaces
- Vacuum rugs
- Laundering and replacing dish and hand towels
Monthly
Clean and polish furniture and wash mattress covers.
When I consider the chores above, I feel a pang of guilt that my wife is the one who gets most of the household chores done. My intentions, however, are pure. But you know what they say about the best intentions and where that path may lead.
Bill Primavera is a realtor associated with William Raveis Real Estate and founder of Primavera Public Relations, Inc., the longest-running public relations agency in Westchester (www.PrimaveraPR.com). To engage the services of The Home Guru and his team to market your home for sale, call 914-522-2076.
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