Cleaning Tips for Busy Moms

I am good at a lot of things, but sadly, cleaning is not one of them. Well, let me rephrase that. I am good at cleaning – it’s keeping up on it that I am not good about. When I was younger, my mother cleaned houses professionally. So, that meant that in the summers my brother and I were the lucky ones who got to go with her.

Therefore, I KNOW how to clean. My husband gets irritated with me because when I say I’m going to clean, I mean that I’m going to clean. I will spend an entire day cleaning because I’m the type of person that can’t do something half-way. If I’m going to clean, I’m going to clean. The only problem with my cleaning method is that I tend to put off the cleaning and save it all for one day…and who likes to spend an entire day cleaning?

The truth is that I’m busy. I’ve got a 5 year old boy – who is constantly on the go and I’ve also got an almost 1-year old who is into everything! It’s easy to put the cleaning on back-burner! I doubt I’m the only one out there with this problem, so I’ve compiled a list of cleaning tips for busy moms to help us get it under control!

• Give the Kids Responsibilities – This one is hard for me because I am able to do jobs faster than my 5-year old. However, I have found a few jobs that he can do that helps out a lot. Simple things like emptying the trashes, folding towels, picking up toys, unloading the dishwasher (silverware) and vacuuming his room. Of course as he gets older, the tasks will get bigger. I can’t wait for the day when he can clean his own bathroom!  By giving kids responsibilities, we are raising quality kids
  
• Do Something Every Day – In addition to the normal daily activities I do, I am trying to do one thing every day in respect to cleaning. For example, I usually clean the kitchen every night because I can’t go to bed knowing the kitchen is dirty. In addition to that, I am trying to add one extra cleaning chore to the list. I may dust the living room, mop the bathroom floors or do a load of laundry before I head to bed. Doing something every day should keep the house in order and reduce the workload on my scheduled “cleaning day.”
• Multi-task – I know, moms are generally masters at multi-tasking, right? I know that I do a lot of multi-tasking throughout the day. However, most of my multi-tasking doesn’t involve cleaning. It generally involves something with the kids. One of the ways you can stay on top of your cleaning is to make it a habit to multi-task while you are on the phone. For example, whenever you get on the phone to chat with a friend, pick up a rag and start dusting. If I can make it a habit to clean every time I get on the phone, my house won’t have time to get dirty!