One of my most frequently asked questions is how I find time to clean my house. With three little ones, a husband, a blog, social media channels to update, kid’s activities, and a house, finding time to keep everything clean is a major challenge. It’s a daily struggle. I like things clean and orderly, but since having kids my standards have been lowered big time. I’m the type of person who cannot concentrate on anything if my house is a mess. Dirt and clutter directly impact my ability to focus…I hate that feeling, and I’m trying to let it go. And sometimes I can. But for the most part I try and stay on top of cleaning as much as I can. And here’s how I manage it:
Things I do every day: wipe down the kitchen counters and sink and stove, run our roomba vacuum, one load of laundry (and put away). I try and do the dishes every night so that my kitchen is clean when we wake up in the morning. And we usually have the kids do a quick clean up of toys before bedtime…but not always. One night a week I’ll clean our master bathroom while the big kids take a shower. It only takes me a few minutes…and then I’ll clean the shower while I’m in it showering. I try and tackle one extra cleaning “job” per day….usually it’s something I can do in 20 minutes or less.
On Mondays I do a quick sweep of the kid’s rooms (dust if needed, put toys away) and set the roomba to vacuum their rooms and the upstairs playroom. We mess up the playroom daily, so I don’t usually clean it.
On Tuesdays, in preparation for trash day on Wednesday, I empty all of the trash cans in our house, including the diaper pails, re-stock diapers and wipes in the girl’s rooms and my downstairs stash, throw out old food in the fridge, wipe down the refrigerator shelves, and do a quick tidy up of the pantry. I try and wipe out the microwave too if I have time. But usually I forget.
On Wednesdays Hudson and Sadie get involved in the cleaning! I love to include my kids in cleaning the house…it’s teaching them a great lesson for later. Plus right now they love to help!
Hudson’s job is to “dust the lines” which means he dusts all of the baseboards downstairs.
Sadie’s job is to wipe things down. I just hand her a spray bottle of water and a sponge and set her to work. Hudson is in charge of making sure she doesn’t spray too much water and make a mess. Does she end up really cleaning anything? Not usually. But she did wipe down the kid’s table pretty well! Plus she’s learning, and that’s what really matters. While they clean I dust the living room, dining room, hallway, and master bedroom.
On Thursdays I quickly clean the downstairs bathroom and the kid’s bathroom.
On Fridays we clean the floors. Hudson usually helps vacuum the rug and then gets “too tired”…so I end up quickly vacuuming the rest of the downstairs. I try and vacuum the stairs too. But usually I don’t have time. Thankfully Hudson LOVES to mop our floors. Even though our floors look like hardwood, they are actually laminate and I LOVE them! They are super easy to maintain, great for pets and kids, and look amazing! The best part is they are easy to clean. I use the Bona Premium mop along with Bona Stone, Tile, & Laminate Cleaner to clean them, and it’s super fast and easy. So easy that my five year old can do it!
I don’t usually clean on the weekends unless something got forgotten during the week. My one exception is the mudroom. I usually wipe down our cubbies, make sure coats and gloves are put away in the proper place, and vacuum.
And that’s it! It sounds like a lot, but really I only spend a few minutes here and there throughout the day cleaning. It’s an advantage of being a work from home mom. The fact that we are home all day to mess up the house even more is the major disadvantage!
But back to my Bona mop, because I love it so much. Bona is the premium floor care expert for all surfaces! The same level of premium care Bona provides your hardwood floors is available in a formula designed specifically for your other hard surface floors, such as stone, tile, laminate and luxury vinyl.
Bona Stone, Tile & Laminate Floor Cleaner is designed to be safe and effective for use on hard surface floors. The specially designed degreasing formulation effectively removes dust, dirt and grime leaving your floors clean and beautiful. It’s so easy too. Just spray and mop. The solution is fast drying and leaves no residue behind. It’s also safe for my family, which is of upmost importance to me. Bona products have the GREENGUARD GOLD certification which confirms it’s safe for use in your home and around your family.
It’s so nice that you have “helpers” in training…… Please send Hudson and his mop to my house!