Hellobee Boards

One thing I do is keep clorox wipes in the bathroom, kitchen and laundry room. It makes it easy to just grab a wipe and do a quick wipe down wherever I'm at. Sometimes I do the bathroom counters while I'm brushing my teeth, the toilet while the kids are bathing, etc.

I'm usually so tired by the end of the day but I try to dedicate just 15 minutes to cleaning. It can be running the vacuum, folding some laundry, picking up the toys. I've found that helps me stay on top of the clutter a little bit.

Also, a cordless vacuum. I splurged on a Dyson when I was pregnant with #2 and it gets used daily. Even my 6 year old can use it!

@cyoung: It is so worth the cost. DH was skeptical about spending so much on a vacuum. But I've used it daily for just about 2 years. Plus we have a really small house with no storage, I hated how much room our normal vacuum took up in the closet. Now this one lives in the corner in the kitchen (or charging in my room) and I hardly notice it.

@cyoung: well the good news is that your oldest is almost at the age where they can actually help with small tasks. Can you do the laundry washing and have your husband fold?

@erinbaderin: I'm hoping to manage a cleaner back into my budget. I just do not want to clean the bathrooms aside from small every day cleaning. Hey - do you have a roomba? I can't figure out how to get mine into the routine. Do you pick up EVERYTHING off of the floor before you turn it on?

@cyoung: Oh I know, when it's bad I just move the chore down the list. And I learned sometimes it's just gonna have to be okay. And I literally will follow them and try to clean up as we go along b/c I find that it is less time consuming to clean up at the end of the night vs just leaving the mess.

@cyoung: I have unending wood floors also! The need to vaccum is constant. I don't sweep inside. (I sweep rollie pollies off my back patio all the time, but that's a different issue. ) You seem to have a good attitude about it. I'm trying to have a good attitude, too! Turn on a little music to have playing in the background. It really does help!

@smuckers: yes! Someone here recommended this to me and actually sent me her book and it has made a huge difference. Now I listen to her podcast lol

The Roomba has saved me SO much time. We have the high end one and the cheaper one from Costco. I actually like the one from Costco better because it is quieter.

I keep on top of dishes, laundry, and general toy pick up first (mainly because I feel anxious if these are behind). Everything else just happens eventually, which is probably not the best plan.

Make sure your kids are welcome to help. You can take a section out of your Swiffer to make it child sized (my kids LOVE it). I allow them to clean surfaces with baby wipes whenever they want. My daughter started learning to fold at two, and even the one year old likes to move laundry to the dryer and put clothes into the dresser drawers.

The Slob Comes Clean book was life changing for me. Really. My house was always messy, even before kids (though kids turned it from messy to gross). I thought I would never be able to make a lasting change. But I have! It’s not like I’m a neat freak now—but if you gave me 15 minutes notice, I could have company over. So definitely check out the book or podcast!

Here’s the the thing about laundry. There’s a high chance you have too many clothes. You and your family are probably only wearing a small percentage of what you own. I really think that no person needs more than one or two weeks worth of outfits. Here’s a post that talks about the merits of a minimalist wardrobe:

https://www.younghouselove.com/minimal-closet-wardrobe/

So my advice would be to separate all the clothes by person, choose maybe ten outfits, and store the rest in trash bags. Just keep those few outfits for a 30 day trial, to see if you run out or clothes or if there is some item you’re missing that you’d like to take back out. Then, if it turns out you really did have too many clothes and you don’t need the extras, donate them (or store them if you want to save them for a sibling). I know going through all the clothes one by one sounds exhausting, but it doesn’t even take as long as folding and putting them away really. Tell yourself, “Tonight after the kids are in bed, I’m getting rid of this laundry problem. I’m stopping this revolving door.” I feel like unless you reduce the number of clothes, you are always going to be trying to bail yourself out of a sinking boat. At least, that was the case with my family, and while I still hate laundry, it’s made things a lot simpler.

@Hypatia: to this laundry/ too many clothes thing- won’t you just have to do laundry more often then? Like, for my kids I pretty much have to wash everything they wear (unlike me who will rewear a pair of jeans 20 times before washing). So whether they are wearing the same ten outfits every time, or 20 outfits over the course of 20 days, I’m still washing and folding one outfit per day. I would just have to do it every week instead of having a little leeway to stretch it to two weeks. (Exaggerating these numbers for easy math). That would help with storage but not with laundry itself. I do try and do their laundry once a week at least but it’s nice to have enough clothes that i don’t absolutely have to.

I can see more for adults- I have trouble storing all most clothes and definitely wear one tenth of my clothes. But my laundry isn’t the problem, it’s never ending kid laundry.

@Foodnerd81: I am going to try washing the clothes by family member...right now, I do a few loads a week all mixed, and it's a jumble to get them folded and put away. I am thinking I could literally just either go in my son's room or mine to fold and put away.