Organize Your Life Day 6: Cleaning

Dishes and laundry and bathrooms, oh my! The household cleaning list never ends. Keeping everything clean can seem overwhelming, but letting the house slip into filth is stressful too. Gratefully, a little organization and a lot of routine can keep a full home clean.

Welcome to Organize Your Life Day 6: Cleaning

This is part of a mini-series on overcoming parenting (and life!) overwhelm and stress by organizing your life. Click here to see the introduction and links to other days.

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Oh, How I Love Routine

Routine can be your best friend when raising Littles. Routine doesn’t mean that everything in life is perfectly planned to a tee and there is no room for flexibility or spontaneity. It does mean that there are set “norms” for behavior and schedules. Almost everyone appreciates some routine in life, and children thrive with the right balance. When we know what is expected of us and how to accomplish it, we are set-up for success. On the other hand, if everyday is a battle to figure out what I am supposed to do, life can get pretty exhausting very fast.

Today’s goal is to organize cleaning routines for you and your family that are feasible and meet your personal and family needs.

A Big Shock

It is not unusual for people’s jaws to drop when they hear that we have five kids and hope to have a sixth. Often, I watch their eyes get big and hear their gut reaction, “How do you do it all!” The idea of running a household that large without a nanny or housecleaner looms foreboding.

Then I lay the shocker on them, “I don’t do it all.”

More kids in the family may mean more mouths to feed, more messes to clean, and more laundry to wash, but it also means more people to help with all of that. My kids are sincerely good helpers around this home, for which I am very grateful. I believe that is super beneficial for me, but, more importantly, it is valuable for them.

I see a large part of my parenting role as preparing my children to be functioning adults and contributing citizens. My job is to teach them, not just clean-up after them. For practical application, while after-school sports teach valuable life skills, if that happens at the expense of learning how to clean a bathroom, I am not necessarily doing my job. If your children are too busy with homework and activities to contribute to the family, then in my opinion, they are too busy.

There’s a lot of information about raising happy helpers here.

Something beautiful happens inside children when they realize that their contributions to the family are important and appreciated. That moment may not come if we allow them to live self-centered lives and do not give them the opportunity to contribute in meaningful ways.

Pull out your Workbook or journal now. Open to your page for Day 6: Cleaning. Answer the question, “How helpful are your children in keeping the house clean?” Follow that by answering, “Are you content with their contributions? If not, what changes would you like to see?”

Why We’re Starting Here

I’m starting with the kids’ contributions because, let’s be honest, managing a home of one is a completely different story. In college, I think my husband owned one pan, one plate, one fork, and one spoon. It’s pretty hard to make a big mess out of that. 😉

Also, I see this as an area where many families would benefit from change. Sometimes as parents we are happy to try to do it all alone because we feel like that is our job. And in some seasons, that will be our job. Newborns are not really that helpful even under the best of circumstances. However, newborns are relatively easy in that regard as well. They don’t know how to leave clothes on the bathroom floor or spill cheerios in the bedroom. As the kids grow-up, their capacity to make messes increases, alongside their ability to clean them up.

We will all benefit when we live by the adage, “Whoever makes the mess has a role in cleaning it.”

We will come back later to specific systems or routines for implementing those changes you would like to see with your kids helpfulness in the home, but for now brainstorm how you can influence that behavior. Next to each change you listed, write what you can do to better teach, encourage, or enforce your expectations.

General Cleaning Tips

In general, the easiest way to keep a house clean is to set-aside time for deep cleaning and spiffy-up as you go.

Your deep-cleaning will happen during your Home Management block. Your children will also be responsible for different tasks.

Everyone should try to clean as they go. If you play with a toy, put it away before getting out the next one. When you get home from school or empty the car, put everything away before doing something else. If you eat a meal, wash the dishes before they stack for days. This habit saves time and keeps the general state of affairs quite calm.

However, sometimes this doesn’t work out. I am a realist. Some mornings you need to rush out the door before doing the breakfast dishes or plans change and toys don’t get picked up. When you can’t clean, try to consolidate. Move the dishes into the sink and wipe the table clean. Put the toys in the playroom even if they’re not away completely. It is mentally uplifting to come home to one dirty space instead of a house full of them.

I am not even opposed to doing the dishes the next day, finishing the laundry later, or letting the playroom stay messy one night. However, there are some messes that are totally worth cleaning up right away no matter what.

Always Clean Right Away:

• Broken glass or anything dangerous.
• Spilled milk. Left to sit, the smell is terrible!
• Diaper blow-outs. The sooner you spray and soak those little outfits, the easier they are to clean. Here’s my favorite stain remover.
• Blood stains. Cold water removes blood right away if the stain has not set yet.
• Fridge spills. Wiping that juice, jam, or whatever it may be before it hardens to the glass and in those awkward crevices will save you a lot of time and elbow grease.

Cleaning Supplies

In general, you really do not need a ton of cleaning supplies. The real tip is to have enough of your cleaning supplies that you can place them conveniently. For example, keep disinfecting wipes right next to your garbage bags. If a bag leaks into your garbage can, you can wipe it out quickly before putting the new bag in. Keep bathroom cleaning supplies in each bathroom and you can do a quick wipe-down while you brush your teeth. Put dirty clothes hampers in every bedroom (no excuses for missing).

Please keep safety in mind when deciding where to store your cleaning supplies. Kids can get into the cupboards far too quickly! Consider storing anything dangerous in high shelving out of reach of small Littles whenever possible.

Specific Cleaning Tips and Routines

We are turning now to specific cleaning tasks. There are many ways to complete each job. I’ll share tips and our routines to give you some ideas. Decide and write down how you would ideally take care of each job. Choose who will be responsible for what and when. If you already have a routine that works for your family, keep it. Remember also what you decided on Day 3 about how much time you are willing to give to cleaning during this stage of life.

Picking-up

• This includes picking up toys, backpacks, bedroom floors, books, and anything else that strays from its place.
• Our Routine: We are all responsible for cleaning these as we go. If everyone is busy playing in the evening, I will call for a five minute clean-up while I finish getting dinner on the table. I also usually do a really quick check before I go to bed, especially for toddler items, as I love to wake-up to a fresh start.

Laundry

• Spray stains right away. Even if you don’t scrub and fully wash, the spray will help. Kids can learn to spray quite young. Have a place in the laundry room for sprayed clothes.
• Cut down on laundry significantly by only washing dirty clothes. Sounds obvious, I know. However, jeans don’t need to be washed every wear if they don’t get dirty. Have everyone use their own color coordinated bath towel and hang it to dry so you wash them once a week instead of every use. Do you have a child that will throw clothes into the hamper after trying them on instead of the “work” of putting it away? I did. 😉 When I gave the kids laundry responsibilities, that cut down on the washing of clean clothes.
• Our Routine: Thursday morning everyone brings their dirty laundry baskets to the basement. Thursday I wash the clothes (average 3-4 loads per week). Friday I sort the clothes. Friday or Saturday we all fold and put away our own clothes. Here’s a whole post about our laundry routine.

Dishes and Kitchen

• Vinegar and baking soda works wonders in a kitchen. If you don’t like the smell, add some lemon. Use it for stove tops, floors, and sinks. Plain vinegar works equally well if you don’t need the extra friction for scrubbing. Heat a bowl of vinegar in the microwave and let the steam sit a minute. The easiness of wiping out afterward is “amazing!” (according to my ten-year-old).
• Our Routine: Everyone takes their own dish to the sink and is in charge of generally picking-up after themselves. I am responsible for dishes and deep cleaning the kitchen. Some days (especially Sundays when we are all home) kids will help with the dishes too.

Garbage and Recycling

• Please don’t consider this a real job or make a bigger deal of it than it actually is. That was my downfall. My garbage used to sit overfull. I’d push it down to squeeze a little more in. Until I realized taking out the garbage takes all of about two minutes. The fresh air usually feels good anyway.
• Our routine: When the garbage or recycling box is full, I take it out or ask one of the kids to do so. Whoever is around Sunday evening (i.e. if I remember before the kids go to bed) helps gather the household garbages and take the bin to the street.

Floors

• Invest in a vacuum that actually works or suggest it for a holiday gift (thanks Mom and Dad!) That makes all the difference.
• Our Routine: The kids are in charge of deep cleaning (vacuuming under and around, sweeping and mopping, etc.) once a week. One of us will do a quick sweep under the table almost every night. If someone spills, no big deal, they just wipe it up.

Bathrooms

• Again, keep those cleaning supplies handy in each bathroom!
• I have found this to be a great cleanser for soap scum in the tub and shower.
• Our Routine: The kids are responsible for deep cleaning the bathrooms (floors included) once a week. I do frequent quick and easy wipe downs, (especially when one of the boys is toilet training. 🙂 )

Dusting

• Yeah, we pretty much don’t dust. Okay, maybe once a month one of us will do it as a helper job. Ironing fits into that category as well. (Sorry Hubby!)

Any Other Tasks That Are Important to You

• There might be a space specific to your home or needs that you want to think about. This also includes cleaning that you do less frequently such as wiping down blinds, vacuuming upholstery, or any other job you notice.
• Our Routine: I include these types of jobs in my Home Management block. Also, one of our weekly jobs is “Mommy’s Helper,” which means I choose the jobs. I include these infrequent tasks there, and the kids usually enjoy the variety.

Introducing Your Family to New Routines

Now that you have decided how you want each task to be completed, choose a system for keeping everyone on the same page. This can be as simple as a list of responsibilities or weekly checklists for each person in the family. I prefer rotating jobs for the kids each week so they have a little variety. Here are some ideas about what makes a chore system work. You can also see the simple chore chart we are currently using.

After choosing and making your cleaning system, you can introduce your family to the new routine in three steps.

1.) Teach the expectations clearly.

• Hold a family council and explain clearly why you are making changes and what those changes are. Answer questions, and if you’re very brave, ask for feedback. 😉 This Berenstein Bear book is a fun way to introduce the topic to younger kids.
• Work alongside your Littles, until they are able to proceed independently.

2.) Hold everyone accountable.

• Our simple accountability system is that weekly cleaning responsibilities need to be completed before any play happens on Saturday.

3.) Follow-up.

• Follow-through on any accountability measures you have set. Thank your kids for a job well done. Appreciate their sincere contributions to the smooth running of your household.

If you want more information about raising happy helpers, read The Five E’s of Teaching Kids to Work.

The Key to Making Your Routines Work

I am often asked, “How do you get your kids to…” complete their homework, practice the piano, help around the house, and so on. I have come to the conclusion that the key is consistency.

“That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed but that our power to do has increased” (attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson). In this quote we could easily replace “persist in doing” with “consistently do.”

When we are starting new routines, we need to be consistent. If we consistently have the same expectation, consistently hold individuals accountable, and consistently thank for and encourage that behavior, our power to do the routine increases.

Those first few weeks of implementing chore routines might be a battle, but if we persist, the fight will calm. That’s not to say we won’t have a backslide or grumpy day ever again. No, we will still be human, but the chore does become remarkably easier. With that, the house stays incredibly cleaner, without the stress.

Take the time now to update your Home Management Living List with any needed cleaning tasks. Also record any thoughts, take-aways, or future action items you have from Day 6.

Do you have further questions or challenges with keeping your house clean? Let me know in the comments or by email.

So far we have done some amazing organization in our heads and Workbooks. Tomorrow we will shift to more “doing” in your home. I hope you’re ready for Organize Your Life Day 7: Clothes.

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