New Household Routines Part 1 - How we're disinfecting stuff
Lynley Jones
When I was a stay-at-home mom, I discovered that routines are the key to everything.
Want your kids to behave better? Routines!
Want to actually keep your house clean? Routines!
Want to eat better food? Routines!
Want to save money? Routines!
I really resisted this at first, since I’ve always been a seat-of-the-pants type of person. But the school of hard knocks has taught me otherwise, so I now use routines all the time.
And it turns out that they are not actually a rigid set of must-dos that suck the fun out of every corner of our lives. Who knew? They are actually a flexible tool for getting what you want.
The flexible part is key. My routines are constantly adapting and evolving. When it’s summer vacation, things need to change. At the beginning of the school year, things need to change. In my business, during farmers market season or summer camp or holiday shopping season, things need to change.
And right now, clearly, things have been changing.
I’ve been setting out routines for my family to follow during this outbreak/quarantine period (some more successful than others), and I’ll share more about that in future posts, but for today I’m going to share my morning sanitizing routine.
Okay, the fact that I just wrote the words “morning sanitizing routine” without even a smidge of irony means we are definitely living through unprecendented times. And I bet you just read those words and thought to yourself, “hmm, that sounds like useful information.” Right?
Moving right along -
Viruses are wily little buggers, hitching a ride whenever they can get one, always on the lookout for a new host. And since they’re invisible, they’re extra sneaky.
(“VIRUSES!” she exclaims through clenched teeth.)
So yes, morning sanitizing routine. And like everything else, it’s sort of still coming together as we work out the kinks. But here’s the initial plan -
Each morning, we wipe the following with sanitizing wipes:
Cellphones, laptops/keyboards/tablets/touch screens (4 wipes)
Wipe down all remote controls, gaming controls (1 wipe)
In the bathrooms: wipe down toilets, sinks, faucets and handles (2 wipes per bathroom)
In the kitchen: wipe down faucet and sink (1 wipe) + countertops (2 wipes)
Around the house: wipe down all doorknobs and light switches (1 wipe for upstairs + 1 wipe for downstairs)
Total wipes per day: 14 (for my 4-person family in my small 2-bathroom house)
Note that for the most part, this is the only time each day that we are sanitizing around the house. The CDC website recommends cleaning and disinfecting surfaces “regularly” but it doesn’t define how frequent that is. So this is a judgment call. No one is currently sick here, so I’m balancing the scarcity of wipes with the need for “regular” sanitizing and the best information on how long this coronavirus lives on surfaces.
If everyone washes their hands as soon as they come in the house and all the other times they should, I’m thinking and hoping this is the right balance. At this rate I’m hoping a typical container of wipes will last a couple of weeks, which feels about right. But I’ll keep my eye on this.
I’m the first one up (and the naggiest about cleaning these days), so I’m putting myself in charge of making sure all of this gets done. This means I’m doing most of it myself in the mornings, before anyone else is up. For the rest, I’m instructing/watching/confirming that everyone else does whatever they have to do. So for example, since the kids keep their laptops in their bedrooms, their getting-started routine for schoolwork needs to start with wiping them down.
You can check out the CDC housecleaning guidance for yourself here.
Happy cleaning!
PS - What is your sanitizing/disinfecting strategy? Please share in the comments!
Dinner: Sumac & Sage Roasted Potatoes
Potatoes tossed in olive oil with our Sumac and Sage Seasoning blend, all roasty-toasty in the Adventure Kitchen.
I made the BEST roast chicken thighs the other night, brushed with olive oil, then sprinkled with salt, pepper, paprika and minced fresh rosemary. To keep the side dish simple, I tossed potatoes in olive oil with our Sumac and Sage Seasoning blend, and roasted them. Yum.
(PS - If you’re new around here, welcome! Adventure Kitchen is a local, small-batch maker of original spice blends and prepared foods, and I’m the founder and chief creator. Separately, I send a weekly email with recipes and cooking suggestions. If you’d like to follow along with that, you can sign up on this page. And if you’d like to support my small business, you can buy our spices online. We ship everywhere of course, and we deliver locally for free!)