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Changing the Smoke Detectors Batteries

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Suzie Ridler)

Now that some of us have sprung ahead an hour, it’s time to change the smoke detector batteries.

I was reminded of this fact during my son’s field trip to the fire department. Since the recommendation for smoke detectors is replacing the batteries twice a year, the fire department personnel suggests changing the batteries as we set our clocks forward and back during Daylight Savings.

Having set our clocks ahead an hour, I am due to get more batteries, so hubby can update our batteries in our smoke detectors.

Will you be joining us in changing your smoke detector batteries? Do you perform any other maintenance on your home around Daylight Savings time?

Maintaining: Kitchen Cleanup – Part 1 of 3

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When my kitchen is a mess, I cannot cook or prepare a meal until the mess is cleaned up. There is something about a messy kitchen that drives me nuts. (Yeah, I know . . . I’m probably nuts already, but I get worse when my kitchen is a disaster.) To help me stay on top of the food, dishes, and stuff placed on my countertops, I follow a different cleaning routine after breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In each part of this three part series, I will share one of my three different routines for keeping my kitchen clean. I’ll begin with my breakfast routine.

Breakfast Routine:

  1. Clear off the table. After being excused from the table, my two older children carry their dishes to the counter by the sink. Paul and I usually clear off the rest of the table.
  2. Wipe down the table.
  3. Put away any leftover foods.
  4. Rinse each item and place it in the left-hand side of the sink.
  5. Clean all the countertops.

At the conclusion of this routine, I have a clean table, countertops, and right-hand side of the sink. Spending time cleaning up saves me time and energy. My time is saved at lunchtime from having to cleanup from breakfast. I can just start lunch preparations without working around a mess. I also save energy since I don’t need to scrub off dried on food. For me this system helps me to spend my time wisely.

Though I have a routine in place, there are days when this routine does not get finished. Some of those days are when I’m running late, the baby needs assistance eating, a spill needs to be cleaned up, or I just choose to leave the dishes until lunchtime. On those days, I attempt to get the dirty dishes rinsed. This one task saves me the most time.

Remember this breakfast routine works for ME, but it may or may not work for you. These are just my tips for helping me stay organized. Next week, I’ll share my lunch routine.

Maintaining: Kitchen Cleanup – Part 2 of 3

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Photograph Credit: Free Range Stock (Adamophoto)

With the first week of summer complete, my kitchen has stayed relatively clean. This past week has been busy with mornings and afternoons away from home, but I have not felt overwhelmed.

Using time wisely to keep the kitchen cleaned up, laundry washed, and a general pickup of the house each day helps me stay organized. My house may not be perfectly clean, but it is picked up and organized.

Last week in Part 1 of this series, I shared my after breakfast routine for keeping my kitchen manageable. Today, I’ll share my after lunch routine which is slightly different from my after breakfast cleanup.

Lunch Routine:

  1. Clear off the table. My two older children ask to be excused and then take their dishes to the kitchen. I have a designated spot for their dirty dishes: on the counter by the sink. My children will then help clear off chips, dips, serving dishes, etc. I will then clear off the rest of the table.
  2. Wipe down the table.
  3. Put away any leftover food.
  4. Rinse each dirty item and place it in the left-hand side of the sink.
  5. Unload the dishwasher. If the dishes are clean, then I will put away the clean dishes.
  6. Load the dishwasher. Add all the rinsed-off dirty dishes from the left-hand side of the sink into the dishwasher. If the dishwasher is full, then run the dishwasher.
  7. Clean all the countertops.
  8. Spray the kitchen sink and wipe it clean.

At the conclusion of this routine, I have a clean table, countertops, and sink. Spending time cleaning after lunch saves me time and energy. My time is saved during the late afternoon from having to cleanup from breakfast and lunch. I am able to begin dinner preparations without working around a mess. My energy is also conserved since I don’t need to scrub off dried on food. For me, this system helps me to spend my time wisely and stay organized.

Though this routine works for me, it may not work for you. If you also work outside of your home or keep other children in your home, then this routine probably won’t work for you. I share my routine to inspire you to find a system that meets your needs where you are.

By finding a routine and sticking to it, you can arrive home or enter your kitchen without being met with a To-Do pile of dirty dishes. My routine did not develop in a day. By trial and error, I found a system that works for me. If you struggle with a messy kitchen, then start by adjusting one part of your current routine until you find a system that helps you stay organized as you spend your time wisely.

Come back next week for the final post in this series as I share my after dinner routine. In the meantime, I wish you an organized routine for keeping your kitchen cleaned up.

Maintaining: Kitchen Cleanup – Part 3 of 3

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Photograph Credit: Free Range Stock (Adamophoto)

Keeping the kitchen clean is an on-going task. Having a routine in place after each meal helps to keep me organized. I go on auto-pilot as I complete the routine and end with clean surfaces and rinsed-off dishes.

The after-breakfast routine was covered in Part 1, with the after-lunch routine shared in Part 2, and today, I will complete this 3-part series with my after-dinner routine. By the end of the dinner routine, my goal is to have a clean kitchen which will await me at breakfast the next morning.

Dinner Routine:

  1. Clear off the table. My two older children ask to be excused and then take their dishes to the kitchen. I have a designated spot for their dirty dishes: on the counter by the sink. My children will then help clear off easy items while Paul and I clear off the rest of the table.
  2. Wipe down the table.
  3. Put away any leftover food.
  4. Rinse each dirty item and place it in the left-hand side of the sink.
  5. Unload the dishwasher. If the dishes are clean, then put away the clean dishes.
  6. Load the dishwasher. Add all the rinsed-off dirty dishes from the left-hand side of the sink into the dishwasher. If the dishwasher is full, then run the dishwasher.
  7. Clean all the countertops.
  8. Spray the kitchen sink and wipe it clean.

The routine is basically the same as my after lunch routine. Having similar routines keeps me on-task and helps me to use my time wisely. Though this routine works for me, it may not work for you. I share my routine to inspire you to find a system that meets your needs where you are. By finding a routine and sticking to it, you can arrive home or enter your kitchen without being met with a To-Do pile of dirty dishes. If you struggle with a messy kitchen, then try adjusting one part of your current routine until you find a system that helps you stay organized as you spend your time wisely. Wishing you time spent wisely creating a kitchen routine that fits your schedule.

Maintaining: Lawnmower

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Photograph Credit: MorgueFile (Pambenn)

My husband Paul keeps up our yard. I remember when our old lawnmower quit about 5 years ago, and we began shopping for a new one. After looking and researching the features needed to keep our property maintained, we purchased a push lawnmower from Wal-mart for around $175.

During the summer months, Paul mows the yard about once a week. With a little maintenance each spring and fall, our 5-year-old lawnmower operates correctly and cuts the grass in one pass.

I was reminded this morning, while watching my neighbor mow his yard, that routine maintenance on a lawnmower really helps to save time. With his lawnmower, my neighbor was making several passes before all the blades of grass were cut. Going over the same area numerous times was wasting his time.

Remember that routine maintenance will require investing time and money. You might need a Saturday morning to change the oil, fill up the gas, and sharpen the blades. But using your time wisely to maintain your lawnmower should save you money (for a new one), energy (numerous passes over one area) and time (one pass around the yard).

How has maintaining your lawn equipment saved you money, energy, and time?