A Large Family’s Journey to Routine: Cleanliness

Earlier this year, I shared that our large family is working to find routine in 2015! After multiple attempts of trying to stick to schedules and rigid programs that didn’t suit our family’s lifestyle, we’re working on habits to bring a sense of order and routine into our home.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve focused on cleanliness from the Laying Down the Rails books, while I worked on the “mom books.”

Here are a few things we’ve attempted to implement:

• Lay out clothes before bed.
• Keep the sink empty and clean.
• Keep the bedrooms clean and smelling fresh.
• Personal hygiene, keep nails trimmed and clean.
• Mom awake around 6:00 for quiet time through Hello Mornings!

And the reality:

Laying out clothes the night before was doable and made a huge dent in our morning chaos! Having clothes ready-to-go first thing in the morning was fantastic because we’re not morning people (except for my 9-year-old, who is awake at the crack of dawn and my husband who wakes up at 2:20am, on purpose.). No need to think about what to wear–wake up, put away your PJ’s and get into the clothes picked out the night before.

We also have a terrible time keeping shoes organized. We bought a hall tree with a compartment, but that wasn’t working. The problem was easily solved by an over-the-door shoe rack! Best money I’ve EVER spent! (And cheaper than the hall tree).

Keep the kitchen sink shining! This was more difficult and made me consider using paper plates for breakfasts and lunches. Or just napkins. Ha! My oldest daughter took on this job–she made sure the dishes were getting washed first thing in the morning, after meal times, and just before bed. I learned that we need to be more selective over the utensils and kitchen gadgets we use.

As for keeping the bedrooms clean and smelling fresh? OK, this was undoubtedly the most difficult. And also one of the easiest. The children’s room was easier to keep organized, as long they put away their clothes and toys each day. But the master bedroom was a different story altogether. In our home, the master bedroom has a very open floor plan–our bedroom and bathroom spill into each other. Also, it seems that everything ends up in our room! This will be a work-in-progress, but I’ve learned a few shortcuts that made an impact:

• Keep the floor vacuumed. It’s amazing how much better the bedroom looked when the carpet was clean.
• Keep the laundry put away. When laundry is left too long in a basket, it tends to be overlooked. Putting laundry away as soon as the clothes come out of the dryer worked well.
• Keep surfaces clear. Most of what’s on our bedroom surfaces–junk mail, opened envelopes, outdated materials, etc. could simply be tossed into the waste basket. Since our bathroom vanity is essentially in our bedroom, it helped to keep those surfaces clear, too. I put a couple of plastic storage tubs under the sinks so that I can quickly hide away items after they’re used.
• Make the bed. It’s simple and only takes a couple of minutes, but even when I had laundry piled up on a chair, and junk mail strewn across my dresser top, seeing the made bed against a freshly vacuumed floor gave the impression that the place was more organized than it actually was.
• Essential oils! While reading through the chapters in Laying Down the Rails, she mentioned the calmness most people feel when they open the door to a nice hotel room–not only is it visually calming, but the first thing people experience is a clean and fresh scent. I put a diffuser in each bedroom and the living area, so that when we walk into the room, we get a whiff of something refreshing! When a visitor came over this week, she commented on how great our house always smells! That made my day!

Personal hygiene. My boys needed to work on this the most. It was a quick habit to pick up though–they needed a few reminders to keep their nails trimmed and clean. The girls also worked to put more effort into fixing their hair, even if it meant simply choosing a pretty flexi and clipping back a few strands.

As for my waking up at 6am? Well the past couple of weeks have been very difficult tending to sick children, my own sickness, and regardless of how quiet I try to be, my Little Nursling knows when I’m awake and insists on waking up, too. So, I just decided to go with it! I grab my Bible and when she wakes up, no biggie! I noticed that if I put her next to me on the bed or even my big armchair, she’ll play with a few toys and won’t venture off.

Overall, it’s still a work-in-progress, but we’re making progress! Our home school routine is falling into place, and after a couple more weeks, we’ll begin working on new habits.

Small things that make a big difference:

• Lay out clothes the night before.
• Keep a small bag of hygiene items in the car: hair brush, nail file, wet wipes, etc.
• Find a tool to organize shoes.
• A vacuumed/swept floor helps any room look better.
• Try to keep surfaces cleared–a couple of small plastic bins under the cabinets in both the kitchen and bathrooms help.
• Aim to put the laundry away as soon as it comes out of the dryer or off the clothesline.
• Work on keeping the kitchen surfaces clear, the sink empty, and the kitchen table wiped down. Norwex cloths are very handy for this.
• Diffuse essential oils or other nice smelling fragrance. Good choices are lemon oil, bergamot oil, and Joy. Lemon and bergamot oil are also great for cleaning the air.
• Even if Quiet Time means that you’re simply reading the Bible to your baby, it’s still the most important part of a productive day.

Do you have any other ideas or suggestions that could help as we polish up the next couple of weeks and habits? I’d love to hear them.

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Sara Elizabeth Dunn

Sara Elizabeth is a Christian homeschooling mom to 7, a birth and postpartum doula, and a special needs advocate. Having both typically-developing and special needs children, ranging from preschool through adult, she not only understands the unique challenges of teaching several children with different learning styles and abilities, she has experience balancing therapy schedules with family life. Her passions include sharing home remedies, homeschooling tips, encouraging mothers and most importantly, making it all less intimidating.

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