My 'First' List

At the first of every month I take care of these little housekeeping chores! It takes about an hour and a half to do everything unless the water filter is especially uncooperative! Here is my list:

• change furnace filter
• change water filter
• check for salt in softener; refill
• check all smoke and carbon monoxide detectors - change batteries as needed
• run the self-clean in the oven
• vacuum all window treatments and dust blinds
• dust baseboards and vacuum under refrigerator
• top up washer fluid level in the van
• check all lights on the van - the kids help with this!
• do a walk around the exterior of the house looking for loose shingles, siding, evestrough etc. and make a list of repairs
• dust ceiling fans and light fixtures, tops of bookcases (stuff the kids can't reach)
• flip the matresses - just end to end for the kids no-flip matresses and the full flip for the rest of the beds
• thoroughly clean out one closet (if I'm feeling energetic - two!)
• clean the filter in the dishwasher and put the greasy over the stove vent filters through the dishwasher

The Historian moves all of the furniture once a month so we can vacuum under everything, but it doesn't happen on a particular set date like my chore list. We may be accused of overkill with all the frequent filter changes but what we spend for filters is a small price to pay if we are preventing an asthma attack for The Dreamer. We are on a well that tends to be 'rusty' so unless we want Dreamer to be 'carroty blond' and everyone else brassy orange-brown, the water filters are required!

That's my list! It feels good to be organized for at least one day out of the month!