Housekeeping!

{Is that line from Tommy Boy in your head now?  He he he}

I simply can't believe that our little monkey is almost 10 months old!  Time is flying by so quickly that it makes my head spin.  Our life with him is so wonderful and it's so amazing to me to be able watch him grow into his own little, independent man and learn new all sorts of new things every week!  I'm really enjoying my time home with him

I'm not {by any means!!} one of those people who has to have a perfect, spic-n-span house at all times.  I've come to accept over the years of our marriage that hubby and I are both a little on the clutter-ish side ... but as long as we keep the chaos to a controllable minimum - as in the house can be presentable in 45 minutes or so - I'm happy!  Before this little munchkin came along, we didn't have much of a housework routine.  We both were working full time jobs, so just took care of little things as they popped up during the week, and generally spent an hour or two tidying up on the weekends.

That all went out the window with Aiden, as you can imagine.  Most days, I've been lucky to get the dishes from the previous night done in time for dinner and I can manage the occasional load of laundry.  A couple of weeks ago, however, I came across this House Cleaning List on pinterest.

Hubby and I decided to give it a shot and I have to say that it's really working out well.  I started out with a chore'o'the day, but that derailed rather quickly.  Instead, we keep a reasonable list of chores for the week underneath the family calendar.  I can usually manage one during the day, depending on nap schedules (or Aiden's willingness to play or bounce in his chair without me in his direct line of vision).  Hubby pitches in in the evenings, and I can usually get a noisier chore {vacuuming} or task {like bathrooms} done that require me being out of the room while he and the little guy have their manly play time after dinner.

It's been going so smoothly, in fact, that I don't even feel guilty over spending naptime or evenings after bedtime with a good book or my sewing machine, because the housework is getting done too!  I know we have lots to learn and adapt as Aiden gets bigger and as our family grows, but it's nice to feel like I've found a nice balance that fits our life right now.  Do you have any tricks or secrets that help keep motherhood, homemaking, and crafting in balance?