Keeping Things Clean...

...is the bane of my existence.  I feel like I'm just not good at it...or I'm just lazy.  But, it seems like everything I clean gets dirty again in a matter of minutes (sometimes seconds), and I'm just fighting a losing battle.  With Bean's immunosuppression, I have been really good about keeping the kitchen clean.  I got antibacterial cleanser that I use on the counter tops constantly.  But, now, Bean is starting to get to the stage of crawling and this really terrifies me.
I just don't see a world where I can keep up with keeping the floors clean.  We have a dog who goes in and out from the backyard and she brings in dirt, etc.  And the carpets in our rental weren't that clean to begin with.  I have a Bissell Pet Hair Eraser, but its still a carpet and I don't vacuum EVERY day...although, I will probably need to.  I have some area rugs I was thinking about using because they have a lower pile and will be easier to clean, but I don't know if that will really solve the problem or not.  I swept and mopped the kitchen and dining room floor today and they were disgustingly dirty.  But, I haven't swept or mopped for a couple of weeks.  I just need to stay more on top of things than I do.
I also let things pile up too much.  I am really trying to clear things out in the living areas so we don't have to deal with moving things constantly, etc.  But, I haven't finished unpacking yet and we have so much stuff its hard to find a place for everything.  But, that is truly the secret - a place for everything and everything in its place.  Its just easier said than done...
We were used to the hand-washing and antibacterial hand gel because Bean was a preemie and came home during flu season.  So, we have antibacterial soap and antibacterial hand gel at every sink.  We also have a roll of paper towels at every sink because germs can live in towels.  It seems a little less green to use the paper towels, but it definitely makes me feel safer.  And keeping her room clean at this point is relatively easy.  She doesn't do much in her room and I am good about putting her dirty clothes out in the laundry and cleaning up whatever medical debris is left after her daily medications and heparin in the Broviac.  I would like to get her a rug (ladybug if possible, as that is the theme in her room) so if she does play up there she has something other than the carpet to lay on as I don't think the carpet was totally clean to start with.
But, the living room is an issue.  She has the bulk of her toys, swing, bouncy chair, and bassinet in addition to the usual living room clutter - pictures, dvds, cds, etc.  And the bar between the living room and kitchen is the catch-all area for stuff coming in from the outside.  Again, much of this would be solved by a place for everything and everything in its place, but it sometimes is a bit overwhelming.
So, I plan to try to stick to a weekly chore schedule where the floors get cleaned at least once a week - then I can do spot cleaning on other days, but it won't be as overwhelming as things won't build up.  With the daily schedule of medications, we already have a built-in daily routine, but we definitely don't use this to our advantage in other areas.  I also will have to finish unpacking and really work at finding a place for everything, then forcing myself and my hubby to put everything back in its place.  Again, easier said than done, but something we can work towards.
I have one more day off in my Thankgiving "vacation".  I put that in quotation marks because I was working in North Carolina until Tuesday, flew back straight to San Francisco so I could go to the hospital, where Bean was due to some loss of weight and throwing up last Sunday and Monday, got discharged on Wednesday, went to my sister's in Davis where we stayed on Wednesday night and had Thanksgiving on Thursday with her, her husband and my parents and returned here on Thursday night.  So, I really only had three days of vacation at home.  And I really needed the whole week. I am behind in grading, need to finish unpacking the garage, need to clean up the house, and need to organize the walk-in closet of hell in the guest room, where I have literally piled every office, scrapbooking and random item as I have unpacked.  It isn't pretty!  Tomorrow, I will focus on cleaning and grading.  I think I will use the Crisis Cleaning system from Flylady, but instead of just cleaning, I'll include 15 minutes of grading in every hour's cycle.  We'll see how that works...
I did a search online for "cleaning for immunosuppressed child" and didn't find anything much that was helpful. If any of you who are reading this have suggestions, please put them in the comments to help parents who come looking for ideas to make their new regimens a little easier in any way possible!