Parenting in itself is hard, but managing a household while parenting is even harder! Do you have trouble keeping your house clean? I struggled for years to find a way to keep my house clean and organized while still taking care of my kids. Throughout my struggles and trial and error, I finally found a good system that works for me! Here is how I have learned to keep my house organized and clean with kids.
With that said, my house is not always perfectly clean. Actually, it’s rarely perfectly clean… I mean we do still live here, and I do still have three kids that are under the age of seven. However, my house is usually mostly clean and organized.
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Here are some tips on how to keep your house clean and organized with kids.
- Wash, dry, and fold 1 load of laundry every day.
- Before you stress out, I didn’t say that I wash, fold, and dry the same load every day… in fact on weekdays, it’s quite the opposite…
- The load I fold today was the one I washed and dried yesterday.
- I keep that cycle going so that laundry doesn’t pile up for the weekends… the more I can keep the house clean during the week, the more time I have to enjoy my days off.
- When I get home from work (or when I wake up on the weekends) I start a load of laundry. Then I throw it in the drier as soon as it is done washing (usually).
- Before you stress out, I didn’t say that I wash, fold, and dry the same load every day… in fact on weekdays, it’s quite the opposite…
- I have a cleaning schedule.
- I use this to help me keep organized, to make sure I stay on track to get it all done, and to break it up into smaller more manageable tasks.
- For my weekly cleaning schedule I:
- Vacuum (Saturdays)
- Sweep and mop (Thursdays)
- Dust (Saturday or Sunday)
- Clean the bathrooms (we have 3)- (mornings before I leave for work)
- Each bathroom takes me about 10-15 minutes to clean (minus the shower… I do those less frequently). I try to get up about 15 minutes earlier than I need to so I can clean 1 bathroom each morning. If I sleep in or I just don’t get it done, I will finish what I don’t get done on my days off of work.
- I do sometimes split this task up if I am running short on time… like I will wash the mirror quick before work and then after work or the next day, I will wipe the counter off. Then the next day do the toilet, etc.
- Here is how to quickly clean the shower.
- I also occasionally clean the bathroom while my kids are taking a bath. Then I can get some cleaning done while they play in the tub.
- I have a Roomba that I move to different levels of the house. So I only have to vacuum the stairs. That takes me about 5-10 minutes, which I usually do on Saturdays.
- Sweeping and mopping usually takes me about a half-hour.
- When I worked full-time, I had Thursdays off. So I would sweep and mop on Thursdays when the kids were napping.
- The stuff that falls on the floor between then usually the Roomba gets or I will just take a couple of minutes to sweep up a bad spot as needed.
- I got this mop and bucket a couple years ago and I love it! I no longer have trouble with streaks across my floor after I mop. It’s easy to use and it’s held up well so far!
- Dusting takes me about a half-hour as well. I usually will do this on Saturdays or Sundays during nap.
- This is another task I will often break up into smaller sections.
- I often work on it for 5-10 minutes as I have time. It doesn’t seem like such a daunting task when it’s broken up.
- Roomba-
- Getting a Roomba was a game-changer for me! I love this thing…. yes, it occasionally gets stuck, but it takes seconds to free it and it saves me so much time. Dirty floors give make me anxious, and this has helped improve that majorly!
- I run my Roomba daily! I move it to different levels of my house and just let it go and do its thing. I run it more frequently on the main level of our house where our kitchen is located.
- Click here to see the Roomba that I have.
- Shower Cleaning-
- I am going to start by saying, I do not clean my showers (we have 2) as much as I should… I clean them about every 2-4 weeks. Mostly because I hate cleaning showers!
- Thanks to the recommendation of my mom, I found a cleaner called My Bar Keepers Friend. That makes shower cleaning SO much easier!
- Check out my post for how to clean your shower in 10 minutes. This makes cleaning my shower a little more bearable for me.
- Pick up around the house every day-
- This is important… it seems like once you get behind, it’s hard to get caught back up, which gives me anxiety. Doing at least a little something each day can help tremendously.
- Have your kids help you do this each day. They can start learning this from a young age. I tend to set the timer for 5 minutes and tell everyone to clean as fast as they can for 5 minutes.
- I like to break this into 5-minute sessions so it doesn’t seem so overwhelming. I like to set a timer… it seems like I move faster when I am working against the time!
- Start the dishwasher every evening-
- Then the dishes are clean in the morning. I usually put some of the dishes away while I prepare my breakfast and lunch. My husband typically does the same, and between the two of us, we can unload it in no time!
- Even young kids can help put many dishes away. My 2-year-old helps put pots, pans, plastic containers, and silverware (minus the knives… I grab those and put them away as soon as I open the dishwasher).
- A total side note, but did you know that dishwasher pods clean your dishes better than liquid soap?! I was having trouble with my dishes not coming clean in the dishwasher, even after I cleaned the dishwasher. I contacted a friend of ours that services appliances and he recommended using good quality dishwasher pods. I switched to these Platinum Cascade Dishwasher Pods and the difference is amazing! I rarely have dishes come out dirty now. Before the pods, every load had some dishes that were still dirty! I wanted to pass along that knowledge that I recently discovered to hopefully help someone else who is frustrated with their dishwasher!
- Do some extra organization/deeper cleaning each week–
- On my days off (Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays) I try to do an extra 15 minutes of deep cleaning or organizing around the house. It doesn’t happen every day off depending on what we are doing, but if we are home I try to take the extra time to do it (either while the kids are napping or while my husband watches the kids).
- I have a room each month that I work on deep cleaning and organizing. Then I can rotate through each room and each room gets at least something done. I have a schedule for my “room of the month”. Check out this post for a great deep cleaning schedule for your home.
- Have your kids help–
- You might be amazed as to how much they can do at a young age and I think it is good for them to learn these skills.
- They might whine and complain, but the earlier you set these expectations, the less they seem to whine about it. For example, we set the rule this summer that no one can turn the TV on until everyone’s room is cleaned and the toys are picked up. We hide the remote until this is done. The first few days we enforced this rule, oh my the whining! But after a few days, they knew the expectations and now they just start doing it (they have even started working together to get this done) without me even having to tell them.
- My 2-year-old helps pick up toys.
- They started putting their own clothes away at 3 years old. It might not be perfect, but hey I don’t have to do it! Once you get over the fact that it doesn’t have to be perfect, it works out great. Now only my oldest can reach to hang clothes in her closet, but they can put their clothes that go in the dresser away.
- There is no reason that kids can’t help keep your house clean.
On my days off, I usually spend about an hour cleaning between my weekly cleaning list, laundry, dishes, and some deep cleaning. On work days, it’s less than that. Of course some days and weeks this goes better than others, but I try my best to stick to it.
I think sticking to a cleaning schedule, can help reduce stress and in the long run saves time… it’s hard work to get things back to where they should be if you have fallen behind with the cleaning. I also really believe in breaking cleaning and organizing tasks into smaller chunks to help keep motivation and keep things more manageable.
What tips or tricks do you have to help keep your house clean with kids at home?
If you enjoyed this post, check out my post on tips and trick for moms on a budget.
I adore this piece! I am actually working on one similar. We have four kids in the home and friends are always asking my how I keep my home in order, so I’ve decided to give some insights. Loved your portion on asking your children to assist. The house cleaning task does not have to always fall on the parents. All parties contribute to the mess so all parties should contribute to the cleanup!
Thank you! I agree… even if the kids only pick up a little of the mess, it makes cleaning so much easier. Plus it’s a great skill to teach the kids from early on. I would love to read your post once you finish.