Tuesday Tune-Up: Cleaning Routine

How does your typical cleaning week go? Do you get frustrated and panicked when company is on the way and your house is not exactly company-ready? Do you get overwhelmed by trying to everything in the house at the same time? If you are answering, "Yes!" then let me share with you a few things to change in your cleaning schedule that will help you take off the stress.

I love to keep a clean house. Now, I understand that when you add kids to the mix, this job becomes much more difficult. During the day while little man plays, there are toys scattered all over the living room and kitchen, but there are definitely ways to manage how many toys escape from the toy box and how to keep the house from looking like a war zone.

Here's how I manage to keep my house clean (relatively) on a day-to-day basis.

1. Plan of Attack:

Establishing a routine cleaning schedule saved my life after little man was born. Instead of trying to clean everything in one day during nap time (and becoming unnecessarily frustrated because you can't finish in time) just pick one or two things that you know you will be able to tackle and finish. 

I've shown this before, but it's been a while so let me share it again. I love this cleaning schedule that I found at moneysavingmom.com. To download it for yourself, click HERE! This list covers what you will do daily and when you will do it during the day. Not a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom)? The customize it to fit your schedule! Of course all of our schedules will be different, but you must find out what works for you and stick with it!

Here are some more that I love to use: 

Home Management Sheets

2. Be Consistent:

Be as on schedule and as consistent as you possibly can be with your cleaning schedule. You will quickly get into the habit of your routine, and accomplishing your daily cleaning tasks will become faster and more efficient as you go along. If you know that you are going to miss a day's cleaning, schedule it in to other days of the week, but plan it out so that it gets done. 

3. Quick Pick-Up:

I have a few times during the day that I do a "quick pick-up." The first time is naptime. I LOVE NAPTIME! It gives me just enough time to accomplish much needed tasks around the house. At the beginning of naptime, I make sure all of little man's toys are picked up and put away (yes, we are starting to train him to clean up, but it would take an hour for him to do it all right now). This means that when it's time to play again, he has to start over with destroying the house instead of adding to the chaos he created earlier (slight exaggeration there). Actually, you can greatly minimize toy pick up by training your child to play with one toy at a time instead of free reign in the toy box. If you have older kids, have them participate in the quick clean up before lunch or nap. (We won't get into chore charts right now). 

My next quick pick-up is right before hubby gets home. I want him to come home to a house that at least seems to be in order. This means cleaning up the toys, straightening up, and vacuuming if needed. It's nice if you can remember to light a few candles and make everything smell good too! 

My final pick up is right before little man's bedtime. We get everything put back in its place before we sit to enjoy a little quiet to relax. And trust me, relaxing is so much better when the house is clean.