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It’s no secret that kids can be slobs. With trails of Cheerios leading to the kitchen table, dirty socks kicked off in the entryway and wet towels thrown in the bathroom floor, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when it comes to keeping your house clean. And nothing adds to the chaos like housework and homeschooling!
When the kids are home with you every single day, it’s hard to fit time into your schedule to get the house cleaned. But with a few simple tricks, your house can be “company ready” in only a few minutes a day!
In fact, my house goes from compete chaos to “presentable” in the 10 minutes before my husband gets home from work EVERY DAY! 🙂
Enlist the Youngsters:
I’m amazed at how many homeschool moms complain about being stressed but then go on to admit that their children do NOTHING around the house! What does this teach our kids if we continue to do all of the work for them, instead of teaching them to be a team player? The most simple way to keep your house clean is to get the kiddos on board. They are not too young to help out! From the time they can walk, they are able to empty the dryer into a laundry basket, help pick up their toys and even mop! Take a week to train the kids on how to do a thorough job while cleaning. Teach them exactly what you expect when they clean the bathroom. If needed, make a checklist and let them mark it off as they go. After a few days, they’ll have it mastered and will be completing their chores in no time!
Mix it up:
My kids HATE having the same chores all the time. Instead of assigning each child a certain chore, I pick the two hardest chores (for instance, the living room and kitchen) and let one child pick the chore they want. The other chore automatically goes to the other child. Next, I pick the smaller chores (like the bathrooms and laundry) and let the other kid pick first. They each get a turn to pick what they want to clean and it’s rarely the same. They like to switch it up by choosing the opposite of what they did the day before. 
Divide and Conquer:
My kids love cleaning next to me but to avoid being in each others’ way, we divide the room and we each clean our area. Draw an imaginary line down the center and let them each clean a side or let one of them clean the surfaces (Countertops, TV stand, computer desk, etc.) and the other clean the floors. Delegate the chore of “washing” to one kid and have them wash the countertops, mop, etc. The kids will love cleaning next to each other, especially when you turn on your current audiobook. {For a handy tip on how to make your house look cleaner in just a few minutes, check out this easy tip from Annie and Everything!}
♫ Let it Go! ♫:
Does it matter if your laundry isn’t folded EXACTLY how you like it? Take a second to understand that those clothes will end up in the laundry again next week. By letting go of our high expectations, we show our kids that homemaking is a skill that they will develop with practice, not something they are born with. Let them master their homemaking skills on their own, with your gentle guidance.
Declutter:
Everything has a place and there’s a place for everything! If you don’t have a specific place for you items, you probably need to do some paring down. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a music room to keep my kids’ electric keyboard, but I do have a space in my closet that I can tuck it away into when it’s not in use. By finding a place for everything, you can quickly and effortlessly pick up stray items around the house and put them where they belong. No more stacks of books, piles of papers or stacks of board games.
Tackle the Top Three:
Make a list of things that need accomplished and rank them in order of most important to least important. Some days you will have a long to-do list and other days you’ll only need to do laundry. Instead of trying to tackle it all at once, only concentrate on the 3 most important items on your list. After they’ve been completed, you can move on or just save the rest of your list for tomorrow. By concentrating on the most vital tasks, you ensure that something gets done, even when you feel overwhelmed.
Pile It Up:
If you are anything like me, your living room becomes a dumping ground for everyone in the family. From Legos to stray shoes, hair brushes to paintbrushes, you just never know what you’ll find in our living room. Instead of making twenty trips to each room, we push everything to the middle of the floor and sort it out. Each bedroom has pile, the kitchen gets a pile, the bathroom stuff goes into its own pile and we have a dirty laundry pile. Once everything is in its designated pile, we start putting it away. Each child is responsible for their own bedroom pile and one other pile. The only rule is that the kids cannot just throw the piles of stuff into the rooms, but instead must put the items away. {This is also why it’s very important for each item to have a place, so the kids know exactly where to put it!}
2 Song Clean-Up:
Once a day, we turn on some tunes and get to work. The faster the music, the faster we tend to move! Find some great music and get busy. The only rule is that everyone must be cleaning until the song is over. We can get our house picked up really well in the time it takes to get through 2 songs. Not only does this make cleaning fun, but we usually end up laughing and having a good time with each other.
Utilize the tools you already have to keep your house cleaned up!
Remember someday your house will be spotless but then, it will also be kid-less.
Enjoy these days, messes and memories for they will be gone far too soon.
