I have not dusted since 2005 I think. so I am the last person to talk about it. but then again, my mom was just here and she is extremely critical and she did not notice the house was dirty. so I must be doing something right.
here is what I do
first, I installed those extremely nice 3M Hepa filters on my air intake vents so that all the air is filtered before it recirculates in the air. they are the bomb, i change them every 3 or 4 months, about $25 each and worth every penny
secondly I run the exhaust fan when I cook, when I shower, and it keeps stuff from running all over the house, making a sticky mess.
I removed all the carpet downstairs which creates the dust in the first place IMO. we have all tile and I vacuum about once a week, and I mop religiously about every other month. seriously with this many kids, you would think that I would have to mop more, but they leave the shoes at the door and we have very few problems with dirty floors.
the next thing is that we have FLYLADY the whole house. I can not begin to tell you what a blessing that is. it took YEARS to finally get all the hot spots done, but they are and now it is just maintenance. go to flylady.com and just read and learn and you would be amazed at how much happier you are. without the clutter, I can have the house, the ENTIRE house mother-in-law ready in 1 - 2 hours.
now granted there are some things about house keeping that I simply do not do, do not find that they are necessary and I highly recommend that people follow my exampled, but few do.
LINENS. do not need to be folded. stuffed in the appropriate closet or cupboard is good enough. clothing does not need to be folded, ironed, or anything else, what goes up on the hangers is great, the rest in the drawer in a wad is fine. as long as it is clean, I sincerely do not care if it has wrinkles.
I have cleaned out all the areas of the house periodically, about annually to make sure that I do not have 'stuff' that I no longer need or want taking up valuable real estate. it is liberating to know that everything is accessible and that I do not have 'stashes' and 'hordes' of stuff in places.
as for dividing up the chores, everyone here has a list, and they all know it and I do not tolerate distention in the ranks.
5 year old empties all the trash in all the waste baskets in the house twice a week
5 year old makes his bed and picks up his toys daily.
5 year old picks up all the dirty laundry from all over the house and deposits it in the laundry room
7 year old empties the dishwasher every other day
7 year old loads the dishwasher every other day
7 year old makes his bed and picks up his toys daily.
7 year old picks puts all the clean laundry for him and his brother
21 year old mows and edges the lawn
21 year old picks up as needed when she is home, just her part of helping out
21 year old is my personal assistant and helps with the business
husband does 50% of the grocery shopping
husband does 90% of the laundry washing & drying
husband does 90% of the cooking breakfast/lunch/dinner
husband does 50% of the vacuuming
husband does 90% of the family budget
husband does 80% of the trash to the curb each week
wife does 50% of the grocery shopping
wife does 10% of the laundry washing & drying
wife does 10% of the cooking breakfast/lunch/dinner
wife does 50% of the vacuuming
wife does 20% of the trash to the curb each week
wife busts her butt to spend all of husbands paycheck. ;)
wife does 100% of the volunteering at the school
wife does 100% of the bed making / bathroom cleaning
wife does 100% of putting laundry away
wife does 100% of cleaning the kitchen (sink/stove/refrigerator)
