I am tidy. I am clean. I spend far too much time each day doing typical motherhood tasks like scrubbing, sweeping, picking up and general tidying. We don’t go to bed unless the playroom and kitchen are fully cleaned. I make our beds each morning and wash the sheets each week. Our incredible Cleaning Ladies come once a month for the serious deep cleaning (which honestly, I should probably do at least once every two weeks) But when it comes to actual organization, real life rigorous routine-  I.need.help.

I have so little time to clean the house the way I want to. In my mind, I’m a mixture of Martha Stewart, Ree Drummond and Mary Poppins. In real life, I just keep putting things into neat piles and piling the laundry behind the closed door and pretending they don’t exist. While this is super acceptable these days and I tell myself “this is just the way real life is,” this is not the wife or mother I want to be for my family. Sure, its 2017 and women aren’t necessarily all “Cinder-elly, Cinder-elly” anymore, but I believe one of the ways I’ve been called to take care of the home and family I’ve been given is to keep an orderly home. Not just clean, not just pretty, but orderly. I almost feel like the word ‘homemaker’ is a dirty word these days but that’s the job I signed up for. It’s the job I’ve prayed for. And it’s the job I want to thrive in most.

I really like Clean Mama and I’ve been a fan of  I Heart Organizing for years to find cleaning schedules and organization methods. Often times, I get so inspired I jump into a crazy project (put everything in the pantry in a glass jar! put the entire contents of the linen closet into matching baskets for the sake of cohesion! Done and DONE!) But nothing sticks, you know? I’ve found that using a schedule made by someone else with steps I don’t necessarily always do often means I won’t be able to hold to that routine long term. I decided to make my own daily routine that actually fits my real life so I will be motivated to keep it.

And friends, can I tell you something ridiculous? Sometimes I strive more to have a photoshoot ready, Pinterest worthy home rather than a home that actually functions well for those I love. And to be honest, that’s how it runs half the time. It looks great! But do I actually know where things are? That piece of paper, that piece of a toy, that article I was saving, that doctors order…nope. It’s often in the abyss of some drawer/cabinet/black hole. This is not healthy.

I’ve decided 2018 is the year to tackle the goal once and for all, and I’d so appreciate your help. What is your cleaning schedule? How do you address the kid’s stuff? How do you stay organized? Do you regularly de-clutter? Did you used to struggle with home keeping? What book, blog, person or habit helped you change? I’m going to gather all the information I receive, do all my research and choose my plan of attack. I’ll report back here in the next couple months with my cleaning and organizing routine for this year and if you have the same desires too, we can do it together. You in?