Sunday Funday with the Odellsons

About two and a half years ago, Joel and I bought our first home. We decided to get a home we could grow into, so we ended up with a four bedroom, three bathroom house with about 2,200 sq ft. When we moved in I wasn't working, so keeping up with a house of this size was no problem for me to tackle on my own. I divided all the chores into six groups and tackled one group a day, leaving one day a week without any chores on the agenda. But now I am employed full time, spending an hour and a half at the gym five days a week, and trying to keep up with a busy social calendar, it has become too much for me to tackle on my own. Especially since I tend to be a bit OCD with my approach to cleaning. (Hey, acknowledgement is the first step to recovery, right!)

So about a month ago, I called Julie and Joel into the kitchen one Sunday afternoon and said, "Hey, do you guys want to participate in Sunday Funday with me?" Poor unsuspecting Joel said, "Ooohhh, this sounds like fun!" Julie was a bit more wary, but they both sat down and listened to what I had to say. I proposed that to keep the house clean, we set aside time on Sunday afternoons when all three of us are home and make a list of all the chores needing to be done around the house. Then we each get a pen and take turns writing our names next to the chore we want to be responsible for completing. Once every chore is assigned a person, we get up and tackle them at the same time.  Then the following week, we would sit down to a new list of chores to pick from and repeat the process. Everyone was game for giving this a try. It seems to be working out really well. If you get stuck with a chore don't particularly enjoy, you can pick something else next week.  If you really like doing a particular activity, you can keep picking that chore every week. We do our chores at the same time, so no one feels left out of the fun. Within an hour to an hour and half of picking chores, the house is spotless and sparking from top to bottom.

I love a clean kitchen!

Julie doing her homework and Jack watching TV from on of his favorite spots in a very clean living room.

You can still see the vacuum lines in the loft carpet! So clean!

Here was yesterday's Sunday Funday list:

• Kitchen (includes counter tops, stove top, dishes, floors, fridge, and cabinet faces) - Julie
• Kitchen Island (includes putting away things, wiping down the surface, pushing in the stools) - Jessie
• Living Room (includes picking up, folding blankets, clearing off the coffee table and end tables) - Julie
• Dinning Room (includes picking up shoes, swiffering the entry, pushing in chairs, clearing and wiping down the table, cleaning thee mirror) - Julie
• Downstairs Bathroom (includes cleaning the sink, toilet and mirror, dusting the window sill and picture frames, swiffering the floor) - Joel
• Master Bathroom (includes cleaning the sink and counter top, toilet, shower, tub, mirror, swiffering the floor) - Joel
• Office (includes cleaning up Joel and Jessie's desk, putting away papers, files, and electronics, taking out the shredding and recycling) - Joel
• Vacuum (includes living room, office, downstairs hallway, dinning room, staircase, upstairs hallway, and upstairs loft) - Julie
• Dusting (includes, living room, office, downstairs hallway, dinning room, staircase pictures, upstairs hallway, loft, guest room) - Jessie
• Loft (includes picking up the floor, folding blankets, putting things away) - Jessie
• Upstairs hallway (includes putting away things, picking up overflowing laundry, cleaning up the laundry room) - Jessie
• Watering Plants (includes watering plants inside and outside) - Joel

There is no way that I could get everything listed accomplished on my own, given all the other activities that eat up my free time. Sunday Funday has been a life saver and a peace keeper at my house.  It seems like we all enjoy it too. We know what to do and we all work together to make the space we share nice and clean. And the best of all, it is fast. Before we know it, the house looks great and we can relax on the couch.