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Whether you are a parent, a partner of a parent, an older sibling, or even a nanny, you have likely experienced the struggle of keeping your house clean when so many different activities are taking place all the time. Just because you have the kids parked in front of the TV does not mean they will stay there! As the kids get bored, new toys come out to play and the cycle continues.
Cleaning seems to be a never ending task, one of the tradeoffs of having children in your home. There must be hacks, tips or tricks to getting a cleaning routine figured out. We are here to tell you there are and just how to go about them!
Looking at “cleaning” as an umbrella term will help to distinguish the different areas you can capitalize on to make longer lasting intervals between each cycle. These categories include: organizing, decluttering, and scrubbing, as well as phoning a friend (the children).
Organizing
Organizing anything that the children in your household are bound to touch, move, and potentially destroy, is going to save you a lot of time in the following categories, especially the last one–phone a friend.
The process and methods of organization are different for everyone, but the main principles are: have a specific location where things return to each day, implement organization boxes/creates/etc., and label (if necessary) so there is no confusion.
Every toy, cooking utensil, book, and clothing article should have a home. Their home should be organized, not just a pile of books and clothes. The only exception is toys, although it will make for less mess when the kids start to grab one toy out at a time, rather than dump the bucket all at once to find the one toy they are looking for.
Within a home (closet, drawer, etc.), there are ways to separate everything into categories. On a bookshelf, you might have educational books separated from chapter books. In a closet, you might have underwear separated from socks and shirts separated from pants. In a drawer, you might have a utensil divider to separate miscellaneous cords from pens, or markers from crayons.
Without labels, you might find that things start to create their own homes. The pens might mix with the markers, the socks with the underwear, etc. These specialized places will all be clear and permanent if you just tape a label on them for clear direction.
Decluttering
Upon organizing, you might come across a lot of “junk.” These are the things that just get in the way, have no specific home, end up scattered across the floor, and never get used for their actual purpose. Junk includes old mail, pieces of an incomplete board game, writing utensils that don’t function, cords that seemingly belong to nothing, and clothes that no longer fit. The list goes on, as you will discover for yourself.
The best way to organize, is to declutter as you go. Decluttering means throwing away, giving away, and putting away (organizing in their homes).
Decluttering will save you lots of time and money, in addition to keeping your house clean when you have kids. Once you declutter every drawer, closet, nook and cranny, you will discover what you have and what you don’t have, and where they reside all the time. You’ll never have to buy scissors again because you can’t find the other three pairs!
Scrubbing
Scrubbing is often viewed as the least fun. Come on, who seriously wants to scrub the toilet? But the longer the intervals of cleanliness, the less scrubbing is required. It may require teaching your son (and husband) to aim clear of the toilet seat. It might require a once-a-month dedicated chores day. It might even require you to hire a maid if cleaning doesn’t fit in your schedule!
There are many specialists ready to help you scrub away. Scottsdale carpet cleaning is one of those allies amongst many. Don’t be afraid to phone these allies, or you can always phone a friend.
Phone a Friend
There’s no better time for a human to learn the value of cleaning than as a child. Even three-year-olds can assist with putting toys into their bin if you show them.
As your kids get older, encouraging them to clean their rooms comes naturally for many parents, as they were either raised that way or are tired of seeing it as a mess all the time. Phone your friend, your child, by making cleaning into an imaginative story, a competition, or with a reward. As kids start to understand the concept of money, a penny will do. If they don’t care for money, perhaps candy or their favorite hobby will inspire them!
Get creative, it will make the request go much smoother.
Cleaning your house may be tedious and repetitive, but with these simple tips and tricks, you can make it easy, fun, and motivating!
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