After a long pregnancy-induced break from my housekeeping binder and the regular cleaning that went with it, Jason and I decided enough was enough regarding our dirty house. A couple weeks ago I drew up a weekly cleaning schedule (two or three simple tasks per day) and enlisted Jason’s help. Being home is a lot more pleasant all of a sudden.
I’m no slob. I like tidying and organizing, and I generally clean up after myself. But I frequently look around my mother-in-law’s house and think, How in the world does she get everything so CLEAN?! Everything sparkles! I spotted a cobweb in her house once and felt like I’d seen the Loch Ness Monster. But I digress.
Maybe you shouldn’t take housekeeping tips from a woman who sometimes doesn’t remember to scrub her kitchen sink until it changes colors, but here are some of the ways I’ve made our house feel cleaner without spending all day at it:
1. The obvious: stick to my weekly cleaning schedule. Cleaning is much easier when you’re doing a little bit frequently.
2. Do a load or two of laundry each day. I don’t know about you, but laundry piles just scream messy to me.
3. Pick up toys and other detritus at least once a day. I usually do this before Simone goes to bed, and at least try to enlist her help.
4. When in doubt, deal with “hot spots”: dishes, kitchen counters (I’m forever piling stuff on the counters), wherever you throw your clothes when you take them off, etc.
5. Strive for good smells! I’m trying to get away from scented candles, so yesterday I made some of these cute air fresheners with baking soda and essential oil. (I used lavender and tangerine, not together). I even made one for my car!
How do you keep your house clean? Especially if you have little kids?
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I hear you with the good smells. I cannot stand the sink smell after the dirty dishes have been done. How do you like the homemade air fresheners? I’d like to give that a go, too.
Saturday is family cleaning day. I do most the little things (two or so loads of laundry, dishes, sweeping, vacuuming, etc) every day, but Saturday we all deep clean. Our two year-old isn’t super helpful, but she does take pride in specific small tasks to contribute. Her favorite is getting all the books together and giving them to whichever sister is organizing the bookshelf. My oldest loves to organize so she tackles that in their craft area and our middle daughter has difficulty staying on task, so we give her several small tasks that lead to something larger (i.e., get all the small stuffed animals, then the wood toys, then the legos, and put them in their bins). My husband cleans the bathrooms and I declutter. It has taken a lot of the pressure off me and is very helpful in preventing me from getting overwhelmed and, ahem, sharing my frustration with everyone else.
I like them pretty well! I had to add bigger holes for the scent to come through (used a hole-punch) and I’ve had to add more essential oils than she did, but they smell good and don’t have toxic ingredients. I also added a couple drops to my unscented Shaklee cleaners so that I can smell them when I clean, too.
First of all, I LOVE those air fresheners! My 8yo daughter and I both decided we’re making them ASAP. Thanks!
As for cleaning, I struggle with staying on top of things as well, even though I can never really relax when I’m at home unless we maintain a certain baseline of cleanliness and order. My standards aren’t terribly high, but it just feels so much better to walk into a room and not immediately be assaulted by clutter and grime. My one tip is hooks! I’ve found it’s so much easier (especially for my kids) to put things away if there’s a hook for them to hang them on. Towels, backpacks, jackets, pajamas to be worn again, etc. all have a hook. No folding required–just hang it on the hook. I use them for as many things as a I can, and it really keeps the mess under control.
I’m the same way. I get stressed out when I see a big mess, but it’s hard to manage cleaning with little kids running around. And we loooove hooks around here. I use them to keep track of towels, coats, bags, baby carriers, whatever.
Oh, man! Trying to keep the house clean with kids is like running on a treadmill. You are always doing something, yet somehow you are always in the place!
Like you, I’ve found that keeping on top of it is the best way to handle things. I also try to think of cleaning as part of living an active lifestyle and count it towards my exercise for the day. It totally motivates me when I look at it that way!
If I am baking something in the oven or letting something simmer on the stove I clean my kitchen while I do that, so that the kitchen is basically all cleaned up by the time we sit down to eat, meaning afterwards I just need to pot the dishes in the dishwasher. I also have found that my kids are more motivated to clean up if I make it a game “how many ponies can you count as we put them in the bin?” or “You get all the green legos, you get all the red legos and mommy will get the rest”. It takes longer when they help me, but I want them to take responsibility for their mess and if counting excites them to do, then so be it!
If we need to do a major cleaning of the whole house (usually twice per year) I take the upstairs and my husband takes the basement. We blare our favorite songs, open the windows and let the kids dance around in the big open spaces.
YES. It’s so hard to pick up and then see your kid dump everything out again! Simone’s also been going though a big “I don’t want to help pick up” phase.
Housework is just a never ending job, and more so when you have children.
I like the air freshner you made. I make a carpet freshner with baking soda and drops of essential oil, put it into a large bowl and mix by squeezing the baking soda with your hands, then sprinkle on your carpet and vaccum it up. It truly does freshen up carpet and leaves a nice scent. Hugs. Juli
That sounds wonderful! I wish I’d tried something like that before we got rid of our carpet…it probably would have helped a lot. I should try that on our area rugs.
Keeping a house clean when you have kids is impossible. I think if you are not a candidate for those hoarder shows then you are doing good. I have found doing a little each day instead of one big clean a week is better for me and my sanity. On the other hand if my son wants to do something then whatever was on schedule will be pushed back. They are only kids for a short time.
Hahaha, I don’t think I’m quite a candidate for Hoarders.
Doing a little each day is easier for me, too. I prefer to do one big clean and get it over with, but I can’t manage that with little kids. Thankfully Simone is at a stage where she loves to help clean!