Please share your cleaning routine. I cannot seem to get organized and keep my home clean anymore. - Page 2

[MaddieMay]

I agree that the first thing you need to do is simplify.  But do a general sweep first-if you KNOW it needs to go, get rid of it.  The minor things (going through and examining every single item in a drawer, etc.) can wait until after the first big sweep.

One thing that helps us is that we spend most of our day downstairs in our house, so while the living area gets messy it's easily contained.  The upstairs is mostly bedrooms, so we just stay out of that.  I also gated off the kitchen (DS is 1 and gets into EVERYTHING). 

I do a load of laundry every day and it helps a ton.  Toss in during breakfast, put in dryer during breakfast clean up and I fold while DS is playing and set it on the stairs.  When it's nap time, I carry it upstairs and put it away.  Totally manageable.

I also don't get too particular about where toys go.  We have a bucket for the Legos and a basket for all the other toys.  So when it's clean up time, we just toss.

As far as eating goes, I've had to cut back my time in the kitchen. :(  It was hard at first, but our lives are so much easier.  I just do simple, simple meals and they can still be healthy! 

I also hired someone to come and do yard work.  It's a homeschool kid in our neighborhood who was looking to earn extra cash.  He gives us a fair deal and it is the BEST money we have spent.  I can not tell you how much stress has been relieved from both DH and I (we used to share the yard work).  And the kid is THRILLED with the extra money, so it's a win-win for all of us.

As far as the daily stuff goes, we do it after DS is in bed for the night. It really doesn't take long-maybe 15-30 minutes.  We do a quick clean up (mail, etc.), trash goes out, floors get swept/vacummed (downstairs only, I do the upstairs once a week as it doesn't get dirty), counters get wiped, etc.  On weekends, anything else that needs to be done (more detailed cleaning) one of us will do while the other watches DS. 

I don't keep a spotless house and that's okay by me! 

[starbuckmom]

I used to have a chore list broken up by days but I found I didn't follow that after a week or so.

Now, I tidy up each day and if I have a few minutes where the kids are playing nicely and aren't getting into things they shouldn't, I take that few minutes and clean something like the bathroom.  It's small and I can get the sink, toilet and mirrors w/in 5 minutes.  I also sweep if I have time.

Our home isn't big.  Something like 1100sq ft. 

Each afternoon, I take the time to clean up the living room for my dh.  I make sure the top of the only cabinet in the room is cleared off except for the mail and toys are picked up and blankets put back.  I run the vacuum cleaner more for myself than for him as he doesn't care about how the floor looks, but a room isn't cleaned completely unless the rug is vacuumed.  I can't stand a messy rug.  I will also try and sweep the floor.

The floors get swept when I can, at least once a week sometimes more, and mopped once a week to every other week.

The kitchen gets cleaned daily but a deep clean when the clutter on the counters drives me nuts!! 

The kids rooms don't have toys in them b/c all they do is sleep in their room so cleaning their rooms is only a tidy up once a week or so.  Older ds can clean his own room by putting dirty clothes in his hamper, getting all his blankets off the floor and put back on his bed and removing any toys that he puts in there.  The twins help by putting their blankets and pillow pets back in their cribs almost daily.  They can help put dirty clothes in the hamper too!

There are 2 rooms in the house that don't get cleaned but once a month and thats the bonus room and the basement.  The bonus room is the computer room and the homeschooling room.  We aren't homeschooling right now so we just use that room as a dumping ground for things I don't know where to put them.  The basement has a ton of clutter and most of the toys.  Dh plays down there the most with the kids so he is responsible for cleaning up the toys.  I am responsible for the laundry room.

Dusting gets done once a month or so. I don't have very many surfaces that need to be dusted.  Only one dresser in each of the kids rooms but our room has 2 dressers, 2 bedside tables and a head board to be dusted.

Hope you find a routine that works for your family!

[MariesMama]

I like Motivated Moms too - and there's an iPhone app for it now!  It seems like such a huge list of stuff to do, but the entire day's list rarely takes more than an hour altogether.