Pride goeth before the flu...

Remember in my clothesline post, when I said I rarely get truly behind on laundry? Well, I've been playing catch-up, because a nasty stomach bug is making its way through my house. I've been washing a LOT of bedding, pajamas, and towels. (Oh, and kitchen rugs. Yuck.) Luke had it, then Joey, now Adam has it. (I suspect Gracie has a touch of it, but she's not had quite the same symptoms as the boys. I'll spare you the details.) 

This is really NOT the best week for this to happen, as we're just getting back into school after Christmas Break, and Hubby is interviewing for jobs, studying for his networking certification, and working part-time waiting tables. (Is there ever really a good week for flu?) I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, and I just want our days to settle into a predictable pattern again. Oh well - at least the pantry is stocked from all my recent uber-couponing. 

Normally, our days have a routine. The boys and I are comfortable with it, and it helps keep things running smoothly. The older two boys have their chores, I have mine, we know generally how the day is going to progress. For myself, I have a schedule in my head of what housework gets done on what day, so I'm not running around trying to clean the entire house in one day. It works like this: Monday - kitchen, Tuesday - bathroom, Wednesday - living room, Thursday - bathroom, Friday - bedrooms, Saturday - bathroom. Yes, I clean my ONE bathroom three times a week. I have three boys, remember? 

Laundry is done every day. Luke throws it downstairs, and I sort it into baskets. I know the size of my "sorting" baskets: each basket is equal to one load of laundry. When a basket is full, its contents get thrown in the wash. As per my frugal nature, I only wash full loads. I usually do 2 or 3 loads a day, which is about all my clotheslines can handle. Each load is hung, and when clothes dry, they are folded and put into a basket, dependent on which room they're going in. When the clean-clothes basket is full, I put that basket (room) of laundry away. (So I don't put laundry away every day.) Luke's other chore is folding napkins and kitchen towels, and putting them away. 

Adam vacuums every day. Our house is mostly hardwoods, but we do have area rugs and a German Shepherd. So vacuuming our little space is important. I also bring all our socks to Adam to match and put away. Holey socks go to the rag box, which is used to clean up unmentionable messes (we've used a lot of those this week); unmatched socks go to the mismatch box, where they await their long lost mates! About once every two weeks, we take out the mismatch box and match up socks that have turned up. It's a system that works for us. 

That's a little peek into our housekeeping routine around here. It keeps things running smoothly in our little space. I just wish this stomach bug would pass so that I can get back to my routine! Bleh!