clementine / 935 posts
Get rid of things. I find that the mess piles up when things don't have a set home with plenty of room to get them in and out. I put laundry away faster when I know there are plenty of hangers available and the drawer has space. Picking up toys is easy when everything has a set place.
Between that and putting things away/cleaning up immediately (wipe that spill now, dishes straight into the dishwasher, clothes in the hamper when I take them off), it's pretty manageable.
I try to vacuum every weekend and wipe down the bathrooms.
My other trick is to invite friends over. I'm more likely to clean for them than us!
clementine / 874 posts
We are not 'clean' people. I've only mopped my whole kitchen floor once in the last 5 months. I don't think we've cleaned the master shower yet. But I try to not have lots of clutter around and have clean counters and table. Oh and we vacuum, a TON.
My 3 and 1 yr olds are not really able to help much. If I nag DS enough, he'll help put things away, but sometimes he cleans up and then dumps it back out to play...
My current method is to let the kids run wild when we all get home, have dinner, think about cleaning up dinner, decide we'll just have cereal the next night anyway and leave the mess for the next night. Then when the kids are wrapping up, I do a general pickup of toys or laundry sorting.
Saturday is our catchup day and any day we have people over.
Since DH and I are both, 'set the mail wherever' type people, I've tried to limit the places we have to dump. We have one designated messy zone in the kitchen.
Lastly, I'll say that it can be really hard doing it all at once, I'll frequently just walk from room to room putting things away, but if I really wanted to be efficient, I'd just do one room at a time and make a pile of stuff to go elsewhere. I now have a little dollar store basket for that or I toss it in the hallway
nectarine / 2400 posts
@Hypatia: I really wanted to thank you for this rec - I’ve been working my way through the blog and it’s really resonating with me. I’ve been looking for the books but my library doesn’t have them. Going to search for the podcast now
blogger / pear / 1509 posts
Another method: Become a foster parent. With social workers in your house weekly, early head start home services weekly, CPS worker monthly, adoptions worker monthly and CASA weekly or so, there just aren't too many days where you can let it get really bad!
nectarine / 2821 posts
@Mrs. Turtle: that's like the "have people over" suggestion to the max!
kiwi / 500 posts
@gotkimchi: I think I might have donated the book, but let me check the attic this coming weekend. If it's up there, I can mail it to you if you'd like. I'll post back here on Friday if I find it!
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