All work and no play makes Alison a tired old housewife, so you will be pleased to hear that creating your weekly routine is about keeping the dull stuff to a bare minimum and making sure that that there is oodles of time for the scrumptious things in life…
**Things To Remember**
* Your weekly routine has to work in conjunction with your daily routines and your monthly routines or your house will be as crazy as ever…
* If you fall behind, do the bare minimum of yesterdays tasks today, then stick with your usual routine, otherwise all hell will break out…
* If something more scrumptious than tidying the living room comes up, then fling off your pinny and get out into the big wide world. Life matters more than housework!!
**The Tasks**
Laundry.
Tidying.
Baking.
Puttering.
Shopping.
Relaxing.
Organizing.
Seven tasks for seven days: no more, no less. Choose one task for each day and that is it- you are not wonderwoman, no matter what you might tell yourself!
Ok, so before we get going on your week, let me tell you about mine. Remember that all my general cleaning is covered by my daily routines and as such is not covered by my weekly tasks...
*
Sunday.
*
In my head, Sunday night will forever be getting ready for school night and so as far as I am concerned the week begins on a Sunday because that is the day I plan the week ahead. Sunday evening is Family Organization night- Mark and I sit down with our diaries and compare the week ahead (mostly so we can squeeze half an hour in together!), we print off bank statements, look at what bills need paying, make lists of things to be done and bought, people to be phoned and social events to be scheduled. Then we crack open a bottle of wine and toast our survival through another week!!
Monday.
*
To me, housekeeping starts and ends with laundry and until that is done and dusted nothing gets done! So Monday is the day I change the beds, launder them and whizz them up to the ironing shop (I'll iron anything other than King Size bedding, my little treat to myself!!). I wash all day, waiting until the machine stops to move the washing straight into the dryer or on to the line, then bringing them in to iron the minute they are dry. With the sweet smell of lavender wafting through the house and piles of freshly pressed clothes and linen everywhere, laundry day is one of my favorite days of the week...
Tuesday.
*
On a Tuesday Finley and I got to Mum's and Tot's and by the time we get back, Finley is exhausted and I get a good two hours to tidy up while he sleeps: This is the day I do my best to control the clutter that occasionally threatens to overwhelm us- I go through the papers and magazines, tie them up and leave them at the front door, I clear out the fridge, chuck anything away that's died a death, then do a 54 fling boogie and throw out as much junk from around the house as possible, because Wednesday is bin collecting day and I like to have all my recycling things seperated from the general waste. I finish off by vacuuming everywhere, dusting and scenting the whole house with my fragrance basket, then get Finley up, load the car with my recycling boxes and drive to the tip, empty the boxes, then drive on to the local farm to buy fresh fruit and veg and then go home to cook something scrumptious...
Wednesday.
*
Oh lovely Wednesday! Because I don't go food shopping till Friday, by Wednesday our food stock is pretty low, so I spend the day using the scraps left over to make pies, stews and baked items to use or freeze for the days ahead: while I realise that many people would bake the day after shopping, I prefer to cook fresh and bake only so that food never goes to waste and we never have to buy biscuits, cakes or bread because I bake them on a Wednesday...
*
Thursday:
*
You all know about Puttering Day, the day we Vintage HouseKeepers live for: I pick up my ironing and shop for flowers, handwash my delicates re-arrange furniture, make seasonal changes around the house and generally ring the changes and try to make our life that little bit lovelier...
Friday:
*
Friday is shopping day. With a toddler alway's in tow, this isn't my favorite day of the week, but I start off by reviewing the pantry and freezer lists, making basic meal plans and shopping lists and then get ready to go: I get going by driving to the most scrumptious of delicatessants to buy local cheese,butter, jam, fresh pasta, oaty biscuits and the most divine hummous and sun dried tomato paste. Then I sneak a quick look in the craft gallery next door, before getting back into the car to drive on to an organic meat farmers shop where I buy minced beef and a Sunday joint. Next comes the Veg farm again to stock up on fruit and veg, then oh horrors, the supermarket, where Finley gets overexcited and throws all manner of nonsense into the basket and I buy staples, beans, nuts, baking ingredients etc, etc. Then we go home, and I spend a hour or two puttering in the kitchen putting the food away and topping up decanters, etc and if Mark is home for the evening we have a takeaway and I retire to bed to get over the ordeal of shopping with Finley...
Saturday:
*
For two Saturdays out of four, Saturday is my day to do all the things that keep me sane! Once a month I have a top to bottom cleaning day and two weeks after that a thorough laundry day, but two precious Saturdays are mine and mine alone. I organise a babysitter for Finley, book hair and beauty appointments go clothes shopping, drive out to faraway antique malls, spend the day in the local city centres (Harvey Nicholls is my spiritual home!)or simply get into bed with a good book and relax, before getting up to cook some tiny treats and get the house ready for snuggle night. And that's it! This is week that works for me, but yours may be completely different, so sit down and work out what you are physically capable of doing and remember not to try and attempt to do more than one thing on one day...
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