How do you *keep* your house clean?

[RachamMama]

or is that an unrealistic expectation with five littles running (er, one scooting) around? :think

I can spend hours getting the house nice and it's destroyed in a matter of minutes. Literally. My kids are actually very helpful at housework and have chores that they do daily but it seems like our house is always messy. It affects my psyche and stresses me out. :shifty

I'm trying to seriously declutter and create a home for everything so stuff doesn't get left laying around. What am I missing?

[crunchymum]

i think with kids, to some degree it will always be a bit "kid messy"... getting rid of stuff is a good start. :yes if you have a place for everything and they are good at helping, you can have a few "pick up times" during the day to keep things maintained. i would also have some house rules - like, certain rooms are kept free of kid stuff: toys. crafts, etc. i get so stressed with how messy things get, too, but when i know there is at least a room or two with no kid messes, it feels much better. :yes


:hug the house is an ongoing battle here... and i only have 2! i can imagine with 5...

[Amber]

My first response was :haha Right now my 17mo old has a habit of following along behind me and undoing anying that I have just put away. I think he thinks it is a game :doh

I try to have a couple of pick up times during the day to keep the mess somewhat under control. I find that if I have all the toys and such picked up before nap time and before bedtime the house stays a lot cleaner during the day.

[GotMyHeartFull]

cleaning up messes as soon as they happen, putting things away as soon as your done with them and decluttering helps a lot

[RealLifeMama]

Honestly? Just make sure you have a clean mess. Tidy enough to clean, and then don't worry when it gets all taken out again.

[PaleBlue]

I struggle with this daily. I look at friends who have messier houses and friends who have immaculate houses (each with kids) and I see the difference in what they have and what they do. But it's so easy to see it than do it.

My friends with houses that are always ready for company without mad-dash cleanups? Well, they don't let their kids have as many toys....these friends tend to be very unattached to material things, and not sentimental about baby items, and I notice that they toss out old toys every time their kid gets a new one. I have a hard time with this.....DD's grandparents load her up with toys. I have a terrible time getting rid of outgrown baby toys and things she doesn't play with that are perfectly fine. Part of this is because I have another daughter on the way, and I knew from the start I wanted to save most of the toys for a new baby. I keep almost everything. My decluttered friends seem to get rid of things pretty quickly, and certainly don't keep outgrown toys or excess toys. But it's so hard for me to do what they do, which is toss toys that their kids still play with just to keep tidy, they make their kids weed out pretty regularly. I am really, really bad about holding onto things. Even after baby #2 comes and is finished, I still would be the one to want to hold onto them in case we change our minds and have a #3, etc.

Also I notice these same tidy friends don't have a lot of knick knacks around. They have a very FEW items of home decor that add to the appearance, and no little knick knacks. My house looked bad because it was the opposite- tons of knick knacks and not really any decor items. You know, a living room with a couch and couple of chairs, end tables and/or coffee table, surfaces such as the bookshelves and tv are clutter free and there would be maybe a large potted plant, one large vase, a wall hanging and that's it- in my house, every surface had little random knick knacks that didn't add anything to the decor, and then I didn't have major decor items if this makes sense....

Other than that, Tidy Friends just have a routine- clean certain things and do certain tasks on certain days, they usually hit the floors at least once a day to sweep or vacuum, and they seem to wipe down (dust, and wipe counters) one good run daily. Then they pick up toys a couple of times a day, one friend mkes her kids pick up their toys once before lunch and again before bed- another friend makes her kids put everything away the minute they are finished with it, all day long. Put the laundry away as soon as it's dry, etc.

Honestly, that's hard for me and I don't know why, to do all of that. It's like...I don't want to spend my entire day touching up the house, I'd rather have some down time. It looks so easy for my neat friends and they seem to have just as much free time as I do, but for me to do the same I feel like I'd be spending my entire day keeping clean. :shrug I still do try....I'm not as bothered by clutter as I am by things not being clean but here lately clutter has been stressing me. It's solved for now- we sold our house, have our stuff in storage and are living in a rental now for 5 months and it's like I am getting a fresh start.

Now, my messy friends, they just don't care. They make no apologies. :giggle

[crunchymum]

good post, paleblue. :yes

[Benjaminswife]

I think the rule that everything has a home to go to is a good one. Then you can tidy up everything because everything has a place.

[SouthPaw]

- toys stay in the bedrooms
- clean up as soon as you make a mess
- like PPs said, everything has a place

what exactly are the problem areas you have? :)

[Linnis]

I think de-cluttering would help. Less stuff to mess up.


I think the whole saying is true "Clean enough to be healthy, messy enough to be happy." sometimes with kids things will be less perfect than in a whole with less children or more space.

I have clutter. Three people in a home around 600 square feet. It's not dirty. I don't leave rotting food out or something.

[MarynMunchkins]

I de-clutter, and I do general cleaning a *lot*. I enlist my kids' help on the living room and their bathroom. I expect them to clean their rooms and the playroom.

And then once a month when everything falls apart, I ask dh for help and we spend a weekend cleaning and organizing. ;)

[Michelle-Lea]

My kids are 9, 3, 2 and 2. We don't keep a clean house. I keep a tidy house. They all take a nap at 2 (well, the 9 year old is in school, but everyone else does) and I do a quick sweep. Doing dishes, starting laundry, picking up in the living room and bathroom. When they get up again, it's destroyed. I do another sweep after they go to bed at night. People will just have to understand I have 4 kids, an immaculate house is just not on the agenda right now. :lol

[ArmsOfLove]

read the book "Too Much Stuff: Decluttering Your House and Home" :tu :tu

it's like the old advice to, before a fancy evening out, turn away from the mirror then turn back and the first thing you see take off--it was too much ;)

that's how I'm trying to look at my home now--if I clean it up and look around and this or that is still a mess--it needs to go (or find a home)

[RachamMama]

Thanks for the ideas..I think too much stuff in too little space is our main problem. There are seven of us in a house that's about 1100 sq ft. :/ We moved here in January from a *much* larger home, so it's been an adjustment.

Crystal, I'll see if the library has that book you mentioned..



what exactly are the problem areas you have? :)


Clothes and toys! This is a major thing for us.. The kids and I donated four, large trash bags of clothes to our church's ministry last week and I probably will take another 5-6 this week. We just don't have any room to put them away!

[Allison]

Oh, it's easy. Just follow the children around and pick up after them. Don't do anything else. Don't get online, don't do your schoolwork, don't dare go grocery shopping and leave daddy in charge for two hours. That will result in chaos untold. So, really it's simple. :shrug3

Bwah! :haha

:sigh Seriously, I'd love an answer to this question and I only have three little ones--one of whom is at school for six hours a day, 5 days a week.

[crunchymum]

Oh, it's easy. Just follow the children around and pick up after them. Don't do anything else. Don't get online, don't do your schoolwork, don't dare go grocery shopping and leave daddy in charge for two hours. That will result in chaos untold. So, really it's simple. :shrug3



:giggle that's about it... :rolleyes

[MrsLisaE]

I agree with not stressing over the cleaning..I used to run a daycare from my home and as long as it was sanitary and safe, I didn't worry about heavy cleaning but maybe once a week....If I had that many children I'd probably rise early to clean and stay up late to clean..The less clutter you have the better off you'll be