So your probably wondering if its even possible to always have a clean house. I'm here to tell you, YES, it is!!! I will be doing a short mini series on how to always have a clean house!! Are you ready? Okay, lets begin! :)
First and foremost....does everything in your house have a place, a spot, a home? As you can imagine, if your house looks like it belongs on hoarders, we can't just organize that. Everything WILL need a place! If it doesn't have a place, get rid of it. Donate it. Toss it. Do what you need to do. If you can't live without it, get rid of something else that does have a place so you can put the item you can't live without in its place. I saw something somewhere one time that said to get rid of a trash bag of stuff every month. 1 trash bag. Thats it. Trust me, it works!! On that note....go organize!!
Are you organized yet? Yes? Awesome! Now we can get to the good stuff. :)
Now, this does require some work. You can't expect to keep your house perfect and put in zero effort. But, its SO much easier than letting your house get messy and then having to spend hours cleaning it up and praying the person who just pulled into the drive way is just turning around and not coming to the door. (been there, done that...no fun!!)
1. Never leave a mess. It seems like common sense to pick up after yourself, but so often we just plan to come back to it. If your done with that plate, don't put it in the sink, put it in the dishwasher. If your cooking and you spill something, clean it up RIGHT NOW, don't wait until dinner is over when its crusty and hard to get up. When you have a basket full of laundry, do it now. Don't wait until tomorrow. Don't just wash it either, dry it and put it away!! Its so important to just do what needs done now. Don't walk past a mess without cleaning it up.
2. If the kids can help, by golly, give them chores!! I have so often seen the chore charts (for moms) on pintrest. Monday, wash the laundry. Tuesday, vacuum. Wednesday, do the dishes....and so on. Here is the problem. Even though parts of the house are clean, it never really gets clean. However, I'm all for making chore charts for kids! Even though you are now the awesome mom who picks up as she goes along and the house is already pretty awesome, even if it doesn't really need done, still have them do it. For example, if its John's job to mop on Saturday, even if you had to mop on Friday, what is it going to hurt? So you now have an extra clean floor! Also, if the kids can keep their own toys picked up, have them do it! I love the only one toy out at a time rule. When your finished playing with that toy, then you can get out the other one when the first one is put away! Naturally, this whole paragraph is exempt for toddlers and babies. But for kids who are older, moms need this!!
3. The dishes. Never leave dishes in the sink...unless you don't have a dish washer. If you have a dishwasher, load it as the day goes on. Then run it as soon as its full and put them away right away so you can continue to load it again. If you don't have a dish washer, wash dishes often! As soon as one side gets about half full, you can wash, dry, and put away. Doing it throughout the day will make it so much quicker than waiting until the sink is over flowing and dishes are all over the counter before you do them and spending hours on them then! No thank you!!
4. The laundry. Designate one laundry basket for the house. When its full, run the washer! Then dry and put them away as soon as its done. Its not hard. It won't take long. I promise. :)
5. The toys. I will be doing a whole blog post on the toys. I think they need their own special attention. But the basic for right now, don't have too many, and make the kids help! Even toddlers can (well some of them) try to help.
6. The bathrooms. Obviously you don't have to clean the toilets every time you go potty, but as soon as you notice something in the bathroom needs done (or once a week or so)...do it! Husbands and boys in general are bad for splashing. Trust me, its SO much easier to clean a little up then scrubbing for hours because it has built up. Pee isn't always the easiest stuff to get off!! A cup of baking soda in the toilet water for as long as you can keep it in there (yeah, do the kids in your house all suddenly have to mysteriously pee when you put the cleaner in the toilet too?) will get the odor out. Oh how I love baking soda!!
7. Vacuuming/mopping etc. You will be able to see when it needs done. When it needs done, just do it!!
Seriously, just doing things when they need done will keep your house pristine! Don't walk past something that needs put away. It sounds hard, but its not. I have twotornado's toddlers who cannot help me clean up, and I can do it! Since taking this seriously, my 3 year old has been sensitive (over time) to the fact I like the house clean. He is willing to try to help when he's in the mood! Its amazing to see that transformation! (thats another blog post too. :)..)
For now, I'll let you get started!! After the initial through cleaning to keep things clean, its not so bad. A little determination and when the mystery car pulls into the drive way you will say "bring it on"! No more hiding in the closet hoping they don't knock for you anymore! :)
You can view part 2, toys, here!
First and foremost....does everything in your house have a place, a spot, a home? As you can imagine, if your house looks like it belongs on hoarders, we can't just organize that. Everything WILL need a place! If it doesn't have a place, get rid of it. Donate it. Toss it. Do what you need to do. If you can't live without it, get rid of something else that does have a place so you can put the item you can't live without in its place. I saw something somewhere one time that said to get rid of a trash bag of stuff every month. 1 trash bag. Thats it. Trust me, it works!! On that note....go organize!!
Are you organized yet? Yes? Awesome! Now we can get to the good stuff. :)
Now, this does require some work. You can't expect to keep your house perfect and put in zero effort. But, its SO much easier than letting your house get messy and then having to spend hours cleaning it up and praying the person who just pulled into the drive way is just turning around and not coming to the door. (been there, done that...no fun!!)
1. Never leave a mess. It seems like common sense to pick up after yourself, but so often we just plan to come back to it. If your done with that plate, don't put it in the sink, put it in the dishwasher. If your cooking and you spill something, clean it up RIGHT NOW, don't wait until dinner is over when its crusty and hard to get up. When you have a basket full of laundry, do it now. Don't wait until tomorrow. Don't just wash it either, dry it and put it away!! Its so important to just do what needs done now. Don't walk past a mess without cleaning it up.
2. If the kids can help, by golly, give them chores!! I have so often seen the chore charts (for moms) on pintrest. Monday, wash the laundry. Tuesday, vacuum. Wednesday, do the dishes....and so on. Here is the problem. Even though parts of the house are clean, it never really gets clean. However, I'm all for making chore charts for kids! Even though you are now the awesome mom who picks up as she goes along and the house is already pretty awesome, even if it doesn't really need done, still have them do it. For example, if its John's job to mop on Saturday, even if you had to mop on Friday, what is it going to hurt? So you now have an extra clean floor! Also, if the kids can keep their own toys picked up, have them do it! I love the only one toy out at a time rule. When your finished playing with that toy, then you can get out the other one when the first one is put away! Naturally, this whole paragraph is exempt for toddlers and babies. But for kids who are older, moms need this!!
3. The dishes. Never leave dishes in the sink...unless you don't have a dish washer. If you have a dishwasher, load it as the day goes on. Then run it as soon as its full and put them away right away so you can continue to load it again. If you don't have a dish washer, wash dishes often! As soon as one side gets about half full, you can wash, dry, and put away. Doing it throughout the day will make it so much quicker than waiting until the sink is over flowing and dishes are all over the counter before you do them and spending hours on them then! No thank you!!
4. The laundry. Designate one laundry basket for the house. When its full, run the washer! Then dry and put them away as soon as its done. Its not hard. It won't take long. I promise. :)
5. The toys. I will be doing a whole blog post on the toys. I think they need their own special attention. But the basic for right now, don't have too many, and make the kids help! Even toddlers can (well some of them) try to help.
6. The bathrooms. Obviously you don't have to clean the toilets every time you go potty, but as soon as you notice something in the bathroom needs done (or once a week or so)...do it! Husbands and boys in general are bad for splashing. Trust me, its SO much easier to clean a little up then scrubbing for hours because it has built up. Pee isn't always the easiest stuff to get off!! A cup of baking soda in the toilet water for as long as you can keep it in there (yeah, do the kids in your house all suddenly have to mysteriously pee when you put the cleaner in the toilet too?) will get the odor out. Oh how I love baking soda!!
7. Vacuuming/mopping etc. You will be able to see when it needs done. When it needs done, just do it!!
Seriously, just doing things when they need done will keep your house pristine! Don't walk past something that needs put away. It sounds hard, but its not. I have two
For now, I'll let you get started!! After the initial through cleaning to keep things clean, its not so bad. A little determination and when the mystery car pulls into the drive way you will say "bring it on"! No more hiding in the closet hoping they don't knock for you anymore! :)
You can view part 2, toys, here!
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