6 Amazing Tips on How to Keep Your House Spotless Even With Kids Around
Keeping a house neat and clean with toddlers around can seem like an impossible task. Just when you think you have managed to clean everything, the second your kids return from kindergarten, everything becomes messy all over again. From the messiness, spills, clothes, and toys lying around, such a chaotic room and untidy space can make you feel anxious and stressed. Keeping a house clean, maintaining a steady cleaning regime, and at the same time maintaining your sanity is not an easy task at all. However, you can easily keep your home germ-free and keep your family’s hygiene on top level by only following these tips. Read on.
1. Clear out the clutter
First things first, before you commence with the heavy-duty cleaning, you must clear out the clutter. Start by reducing the general amount of things in a space, and let’s face it, with kids there’ll be a lot. Throw out any toys your kids are no longer playing with, recycle old drawings and part projects, and donate your kids’ old clothes to charity. You will immediately have a clear insight into what things need an urgent cleaning job. Clearing out the clutter and minimizing the space you are about to clean will make the home feel bigger and more open, and when you do start with the cleaning process, it will go smoothly and fast.
2. Follow a cleaning checklist
Good organization is half of the work, especially if you are a busy parent. Sit down together and create a checklist for your daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning tasks and subtasks. On a daily basis, you should make the bed, vacuum parts of the room if necessary, dust, clean the bathroom, and do the wash up in the kitchen. On a weekly basis tackle the tedious cleaning tasks such as swapping the floors, deep-cleaning the bathroom, doing laundry, vacuuming, and ironing. And on a monthly basis, you can do the nasty cleaning stuff such as cleaning the windows, watching curtains and rugs, and doing outdoor chores. When you follow a steady checklist of tasks and subtasks, you will be able to manage everything with ease.
3. Delegate chores
Teaching your kids to clean up after themselves when they finish eating, to make the bed the second they wake up, and to wake up should be every parent’s duty. Unfortunately, it’s never that easy. Living in Perth can make your lifestyle busier than expected, and delegating chores and duties to your kids might save you a heck load of time and stress. No matter if some kids tend to be more energetic than others, if you were to sign up your kids at Joondalup childcare center they would learn how to develop their physical and learning skills, including tidying up the toys, and many more. Attending a quality and professional early learning center will save you loads of time and energy teaching and nagging on how to clean and pick up things after themselves. So it’s a great piece of advice to think of.
4. Tidy as you go
Sometimes tackling little things at a time can make a huge difference. Therefore, don’t do the deep cleaning every day, but rather keeping up with small tasks throughout the day can prevent messes from piling up. It’s all about steady and adequate maintenance. For instance, you can make this a family routine and have the kids put away laundry right after you’ve folded it (instead of leaving it to sit in a basket for days), wipe down kitchen counters the moment the cooking is done, and engage every family member to pitch in with tidying up the room 10 minutes before bedtime.
5. Opt to use low-maintenance fabrics
Kids tend to touch everything and let’s face it, there will always be some inevitable spills, crumbs, and other mishaps. To keep the house looking neat and clean, it’s a wise option to choose furniture and fabrics that are durable and easy to clean. It’s practical to clean leather or faux leather sofas by just wiping them down with a damp cloth, or you can get slipcovers and put them over the dining chair and later just take them off and wash them. Also, it might be useful to choose dark-colored rugs and upholstery that may hide dirt and stains, in that way, you won’t have to worry if your house is not clean when the guests arrive unplanned.
6. Make cleaning a playtime activity
Engage your kids in a fun way and instead of making cleaning a must-do chore, why not turn it into a playtime activity? Toddlers especially love playing, and they can help you wipe down surfaces with a damp cloth, organize the toys by shape and color, or take out trash. Play some riveting music and create a dancing competition or turn cleaning a scavenger hunt. If you were to ask kids to collect and find all red toys or perhaps sweep up crumbs using a handheld broom, they’ll have loads of fun and clean the room without knowing it.
All in all, keeping the house spotless with kids around is undoubtedly a challenge. By setting reasonable expectations, creating a system, and involving the whole family in simple and short daily cleaning routines, you can surely maintain a home that feels (and looks) clean and organized without losing your sanity. Remember, it’s all in doing small but notable changes!