How I do it: Cleaning and chores

This is the cleaning routine I have been following for a good few years now. It works for me, I don't even need to think about it. When the children were home schooling they each had their assigned jobs and the cleaning was over and done with in an hour or so. It's still the same routine even now I don't have all of them all the time at home.

Cleaning and chores routine

Monday:
Tidy, hoover and mop porch
Tidy, hoover, dust and mop living room
Chairs up, hoover, dust and mop kitchen
Hoover and mop stairs

Tuesday:
Hoover and tidy kitchen and living room
Hoover, clean and mop downstairs bathroom
Change table napkins
Bake

Wednesday:
Shopping (takes up most of the morning)
Water plants
(Change girl bed)*
Ironing

Thursday:
Hoover, tidy kitchen, living room, porch and stairs
Hoover, tidy and mop our bedroom, landing and solarium.
(Hoover, tidy, clean and mop upstairs bathroom)*
Shake out rugs.
Change our bed

Friday:
(Change boy's beds)*
Tidy, hoover and mop boy's bedroom
Bake
"Catch up" day

I still have children at home and their jobs at the moment are as follows:

A. (20 and at home all day) Takes/fetches the boys from school/college (not every day), maintains upstairs bathroom in clean and orderly state. Does kitchen work when necessary.

S. (17 and at college till 2.45) Brings the wood for the burner in from the woodshed on a daily basis. Does kitchen work when necessary.

M. (12 and in 7th grade high school, away for the same hours as big brother) Is responsible for all recycling bins and any other rubbish to be dealt with on a daily basis. Does kitchen work when necessary and is also odd job and errand boy!

The * sign in the list above indicates the jobs that the children are responsible for. They are also responsible for maintaining their bedrooms and study areas in a clean and orderly state, including changing their beds once a week.

All of them are at the stage when they know how to do just about everything, from ironing to cleaning bathrooms to hoovering, doing or putting away the shopping, preparing lunch or baby sitting. They also know that when I call them to help me they have to stop whatever they are doing immediately and come to give me a hand. All three help to clear up after every meal but breakfast, basically because they have to be out the door by 7.45am.