Question of the Day
Lately I've been struggling with the state of my house. Things had been fairly under control and then...school got out.
Since that time our days have been consumed with gymnastics for both Aiden and Mackenzie, swim lessons, time at the pool, park and outside. All this activity has left little time for any housework except the bare necessities. Dinners have become much simpler. Apparently, spending time with the kids is a messy business.
Even when I do get the chance to clean while the kids are napping, the minute they awake it goes back downhill fast. And although I try very hard to just accept this stage of my life, I find it hard to deal with it all.
I know lots of moms who manage to have a clean house at all times. Through the blog I've also met lots of moms with more kids than me who also home school their kids. I'm just wondering if any of you more experienced moms out there have any suggestions for keeping a neat house while you’re raising messy kids.
posted by Amy Parris @ 9:51 PM
5 Comments:
I'm not an experienced mother...But as the oldest of six (which we are all homeschooled)..So I guess the I am eligable to give some tips...
Try plying clean-up games...like See how many things you can pick up in 5 mins. or hide some pennies and see if the kids can find all of them while cleaning up...things like that!!!! (If you need any more suggestions just ask!!!) Good luck and God bless!
:-)
I have a maid who comes every Tuesday and cleans the bathrooms, kitchen, dusts and vacuums.
There's a limit to my superpowers! And here's what my husband has to say about my domestic capabilities: the bare truth
Seriously, I do use a maid, but on Wed - Mon, things would fall apart if we didn't have routines, make the kids somewhat responsible for at least their toys and rooms and dirty clothes, and minimize clutter (including toy clutter). I try to make it so that everything has a place, the kids know where that place is, and most things (especially toys) are inaccessable most of the time. For toys, I store them in closets in snap-lid boxes and rotate the ones that are open and down low so that the mess is limited. I'll get another box down only if the first mess is cleaned up.
I like michelle's idea. Here's mine though: We have upstairs and downstairs, and upstairs is kids zone. NO toys are allowed downstairs. That helps a lot with messes. Secondly, I spent one day organizing all of their toys, each category has it's own place, i.e. batman stuff goes here, airplanes here, dinosaurs here, etc...I have the plastic bins on a shelf in their room. All toys have to be put away before bed every night.
I tell the kids to put away whatever they are using before getting out something new. Even when we eat, I make them take their dishes to the sink. Basically, if they are able to help, then they have to. I have been doing it this way for so long now, that they automatically know they better do it.
It's hard at first, but I think it is important to teach them how to clean up while they are young so it's second nature to them after a while and they keep doing it.
Yep, I even make them wipe the toilet if they sprinkle when they tinkle.
Be a minimalist!!! I let my kids only have toys I know they play with on a regular basis. This means that I throw away or give a lot of stuff to goodwill. I have all their stuff in containers and if they don't pick toys up when asked they get taken away. I even keep a minimal amount of clothing for them to. That way laundry doesn't pile up and the limited dresser space I have in each room stays fairly neat. (Ofcourse it also helps that I have a husband that come home and pick up everything after work. But you know all about that.)
Have a great day, Heather
All very good ideas. I'll give them a shot.
Right now my biggest problem is that we've outgrown this house. The kids do not have a play area or even their own rooms. I love the container idea for the toys but now I'm wondering where I'd put that container.
I will do my best to declutter and minimalize one area at a time. Hopefully that will help.
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