Back in the good ol' days when I was a full-time mom, I had a little box of 3 X 5 cards separated into daily, weekly, monthly, and semi-annual tasks that needed to be done to keep the homestead from falling into wrack and ruin. The idea was that you would go through the cards, pull the one at the front of the day's pile, do that chore, then put it at the back of the pile until next time. It only worked so-so for me because I was fighting a valiant but ultimately futile rearguard against sloth and untidiness, but it was a good idea nonetheless. I came across that card box while moving a few years ago and sighed at the optimism I had that its efficiency would rub off onto my family (it didn't, except for Elizabeth, who has always been tidy and organized).
I see that my current favorite housewife Katie B has updated this idea on her new blog, Housewife How To's, with these printable lists that do the same thing that my little 3 X 5 card box did so many years ago, that is, to keep track of what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and when it has been done. If you're a list maker and a chore checker-offer, you might like perusing what Kate thinks you should do to keep your castle in mother-in-law-surprise-visit-oh-my-gosh-what's-she-doing-here spic and span order. Failing that, you can always frantically try her hints for Crisis Cleaning for Last Minute Guests. :)
Full Disclosure: I HATE this part of homemaking. This is why I pay someone else to clean my house for me. But I wasn't able to afford that until very recently, and I give up a lot of other things to pay for it.
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