Keeping a Clean Home

((This post is in response to a reader question.))

People who are uneasy about commenting publicly on my blog will sometimes reach out to me privately.

I love it when that happens because it helps me know who's reading, and allows me to become better acquainted with you!

Anyway, someone asked me if I would do a post on how I keep my house clean.

That is laughable to me because my house isn't very clean!

I'm afraid I don't have anything earth-shattering to share with you about it.

But I'll share three things that I do.

They are simple things that you probably do, too!

I've been in homes that are meticulously clean and spotless, and I've been in homes that are really cluttered and dirty. I don't feel as though my home is either.

SO, if you're in the middle like me, maybe you can relate to these house-cleaning habits...

Here we go...

1. Small amounts of daily work.

I do not have a cleaning day or a laundry day. 

Everyday is cleaning day and laundry day!

I have found that if small cleaning habits are incorporated into my daily routines, I can stay on top of things.

If I do one or two loads of laundry each day, then it never piles up!

And if I always stick the dishes in the dishwasher and wipe the counters down after every meal, then my kitchen never gets out of hand!

I have a lot to do in my home each day, so I move very quickly while I do these things.

I tell myself, this will only take a few minutes if I focus and move quickly.

And I have found that it does!

If I see a pile of my shoes by the back door I think, it'll only take a minute to run these upstairs to my closet and put them away... Or if I'm getting ready in the morning and I notice the sink and toilet aren't very clean I think, if I grab and rag and wipe this down it'll probably only take two minutes, then I can move on with my day.

If you're a young, new homemaker I would encourage you to stay in control of your home by doing small amounts of housework each day.

It's actually easier than if you leave it all to a designated cleaning day. You'll poop out quickly and maybe even become discouraged because of all the work you have to do in only one day.

2. Delegate jobs to the children.

In this photo I had asked Nola to take everything off of the bottom shelf of the pantry, wipe it down, and then put everything back in an organized way...

Children are capable of so much!

My children really help me, and I think they feel important and proud working around the house.

My children do things like... Sweep, dry Swiffer, take trash out, tidy/organize, put things away, switch laundry loads over, help bring grocery bags in, put stacks of clean laundry away, etc...

In this photo I had asked Roman to organize this cupboard...

Elsa, who just turned four, empties the dishwasher every morning.

The items that belong in the top cupboards she stacks and places on the counter and I put them away, since she can't reach. But everything else that she can reach, she puts away for me.

If I ask a child to do a job and they give me attitude about it, I simply look at them sternly and say, "We all live here! What makes you think you don't have to help?" 

That usually seems to straighten them out.

(Children need straightening out very often I've noticed, haha...)

3. An end-of-day house tidy.

I started doing this several years ago and it's really helpful!

Around 4:00 or 4:30 I will announce to the kids that it's time to do a house tidy.

The goal is to go room by room, only spending 5 minutes in each room, making it tidy for the night.

Sometimes we make it a game and set the timer. We see how much we can put away and how nice we can make the room look before the buzzer sound. Then we move on to the next room, reset the timer for another 5 minutes, and do it again.

If you only hit the main rooms of the house, (kitchen, dining room, living room, entry way and the main floor bathroom) it goes very quickly and you're done in plenty of time to set the table and get started on dinner. 

Plus, I always like to think of it from Micah's perspective. What a treat it must be to come home to a set table, dinner in the oven, and a fairly clean house!

I cannot do this every single day, but the times I have done it, I've noticed the atmosphere in our home for the evening is just so pleasant! 

Well, those are my three tips. 

As far as deep cleaning or seasonal jobs, I tend to wait until some motivation or urge strikes me, then I dive into it. 

I like doing it that way, (versus scheduling it for myself) because then the energy for the job is strong and there to move me along. Also, I can usually complete the job better if I feel joyous about doing it, instead of feeling as though it's drudgery.

Well friends, like I said, this wasn't going to be anything revolutionary.

But sometimes it's nice to hear how other mamas do things.

And sometimes it's nice to be reminded of things we already know!

I'd love to learn from you!

We can inspire and learn from each other!

What would you add to this list?

How do you stay on top of your housecleaning?

You're welcome to leave a comment and let me know!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by my blog today, friends!

I truly hope that you feel your time here is well-spent.

*smile

xo,

~ Courtney ~