It is much easier to "clean" a house that is already picked up. Weekday cleaning doesn't have to take a lot of time. But if you wait til the weekend to catch up sometimes it feels overwhelming. Week day tips...
- A damp cloth can accomplish a lot wiping down counters, fixtures, or other hard surfaces. You usually have one near you at the kitchen or bathroom counters...before leaving bathroom in morning give em a quick wipe down and the sink. Nothing is worse then crustified toothpaste in the sink. The boys now play a game to see who can rinse enough water in their mouth to then spit it out and get the globs off the sink...Hey, whatever works.
- making sure dishes are washed before going to bed at least drying or in dishwasher to be put away while kids eat morning breakfast. I hate waking up to dirty dishes in the sink that have food stuck to the plates etc...
- Having antibacterial wipes sitting in a pretty basket on the back of the toilets are great. I can wipe up the lid and underneath and around until I have time to really clean and bleach it. With boys that is a very useful product to have in the bathroom!
- Laundry-this is an every other day task in this house and depending on sport season could be every night. But collecting it at night after kids are in bed and throwing in a basket into the laundry room takes a couple minutes, if you're kids know where to put their dirty clothes! They all have laundry baskets in their rooms and before showering at night need to put dirty stuff in their basket or the one in the laundry room if they come inside the house dirty after playing. Unless, I have something very specific to wash, I usually just wash everything in cold water. If you have a frontload machine it can hold a lot! So I don't really sort it unless I have a lot of whites to wash it all gets washed together. So far Charlie does not have pink khaki pants yet! Saves time and water! I also have bins from a Thirty -One party for them with their names on them above the machines. This is were all their clean clothes go. They cannot carry a big basket but the square totes from that company work great and they have handles for them to carry up to their rooms, when they are full they know to take them up or if they can't find something they want, they know its time to take up their baskets.
- Before I leave the house to go anywhere the beds have to be made. I think I got this from my mother. During the school year, our morning routine is: wake up boys, they get dressed (instead of fighting with them in morning, they have to lay out clothes before bed), come down I put breakfast in front of them and while they are eating breakfast, I will go and make their beds and come down and get myself dressed and sometimes they have even brushed their teeth by then. Their lunches and bag were packed the night before and we are off....and the only thing I might have to do when I get home is wash the dishes.
- I swiffer the floors two-three times a day and just sweep it all up into the same pile in the same spot and eventually will vacuum it up. But this way I don't feel like I am walking on crumbs and dirt...and your floor looks clean. We also don't allow kids to come in with shoes, that will limit the dirtiness of the floors.
- I have baskets pretty much in every room, if I see something on the floor, I will throw it in the basket...the boys have learned if it goes in that basket they might not be able to find it again so by fault they have learned to pick things up. That is a win-win, its picked up as you go by and thrown in basket but if they catch on, they have also learned a lesson to pick it up themselves. Also, the baskets in our house work because most of the stuff has to go back upstairs and easier to carry that way and so I don't take it back to their rooms or the toy room until it is overflowing.
- Have a mail station and drop off station for mail and kids clutter of schoolwork:
- right inside the door we have a mail holder/key ring holder, which works wonders. Whatever isn't junk mail that I haven't tossed on my walk back from mailbox goes in there for Charlie to deal with.
- The boys have a nook inside the entryway on the way to hang up their backpacks where they know where to put/find their schoolwork and where to put papers after they complete their homework so it goes back in their backpacks for next day or anything else they want in their backpacks for next day must go there too. Also we have in that area extra pencils,erasers, hand sani, paper clips, etc...school items they might to replenish or take in car when we are on way to an event.
- Showers: if you have a glass door on your shower or glass surround, keep a squeegee like you would use on a car window in your shower...you can find them in your auto section in Walmart or target, I think I got ours in Walmart. Wiping down those helps keep the water stains to minimum and they really look clean. Start at the top and work all the way down.
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