My Mary Makeover, Step One

I referenced my new housekeeping plan in a post on my family blog, and I thought I'd share how I've started. I did a lot of searching online, and I decided Flylady.com was the most similar to what I had in mind. It doesn't really fit my lifestyle, however, so I did a lot of tweaking. I needed a routine that:

1) Was very flexible and allowed for days off - if we're invited to do something last-minute, I refuse to let something like chores make me turn down the offer
2) Focused on keeping things neat and organized, not just appearing to be neat and organized
3) Met me where I am, not where I hope to be - I have a long way to go to get my house to neat and tidy, and it's not reasonable for me to have to get it to perfect before I can use a system to maintain it
4) Takes very little time per day - can reasonably be accomplished during naptime and still give me time to workout and shower (okay, I had a hard time saying "workout" with a straight face, but I'm adding that to my goals)
5) Keeps my house looking good all the time eliminating my last-minute hours-long cleaning marathon before company is expected

So, with that in mind, I set to the planning phase. The first step was to determine the things that I need to do every day to keep up with the house. Here is my list:
1) Empty and reload the dishwasher
2) Wipe down the kitchen counters
3) Wipe down the kitchen table and high chair
4) Make the beds
5) Clean up baby toys
6) Use the dust mop to sweep wood floors, and run the Roomba in the kitchen

If you're going to jump in to this project too, start by making a short list of things you would like to accomplish every day.