Keeping Your House Clean?

[Cat Herder]

I have a morning routine that includes washing/folding 2 loads of laundry, vacuuming, mopping, unloading the dishwasher, preparing breakfast and taking out trash before opening. 1.5 hours, tops, while having morning coffee/listening to the news.

(*Super easy/fast with machine washable O-Cedar mop heads and shark.)

During nap, I put laundry away and make dinner. I also prepare the next days lunch in advance. On Tuesdays and Fridays I also change/wash bed sheets.

My family and I eat as soon as the DCK's leave, then we load/run dishwasher before my DH and I head out for our evening walk. I am then "off duty" until 5:30 am, again. happyface

The daycare/bathroom cleaning takes place throughout the day and as needed.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

I feel like I'm not keeping my head above water lately. It's the little clutter that's eating me alive. If I have enough time to thoroughly clean my house (not just the part used by clients) then I definitely don't have time to deal with the little clutter piles. I'll be watching this thread. Wish I had it more together...it was easier when my teenager lived in the home. Now I only have 1 child here (2.5yo) and 11 clients each day.

[TwinKristi]

Ugh- I used to feel like I had a grip on this but lately it's been a race to catch up. I've accumulated so much stuff and REALLY need to start a toy rotation in both the living room and play room. Having a 4yr old as well makes it so hard. He wants me attention all night long and it's like working 24hrs a day sometimes. He rarely plays in the playroom now so j use it as a daycare catch all at the end of the day/week.
But cleaning as I go works best. But I have to catch up to do that

[momneedscoffee]

Ugh- I used to feel like I had a grip on this but lately it's been a race to catch up. I've accumulated so much stuff and REALLY need to start a toy rotation in both the living room and play room. Having a 4yr old as well makes it so hard. He wants me attention all night long and it's like working 24hrs a day sometimes. He rarely plays in the playroom now so j use it as a daycare catch all at the end of the day/week.
But cleaning as I go works best. But I have to catch up to do that

Yes. I feel you. My spare room/laundry room/office is usually shoved full of random stuff and laundry to help the rest of the house seem presentable haha. That room stays shut and locked!

[Controlled Chaos]

dust? What?! ::

My house could use a serious dusting, I only do it when I notice and by then its pretty bad... But dcps aren't in my main living area. I clean constantly in the dc area. I throw a load of laundry first thing every morning, I switch it right before nap and fold while dinner cooks or after kids go to bed, though sometimes I forget this step and watch TV and drink wine instead.

I clean my bathroom while my kids take baths. I can chat with them and its a pretty quick clean since I do it 2-3 times a week. I vacuum the living room in the morning if my oldest dd won't wake up

Its super challenging keeping up :hug:

[Cat Herder]

I vacuum the living room in the morning if my oldest dd won't wake up

:::: I hear you.

My 6:30am vacuuming is part of my motivational "go to work, earn a paycheck and get your own apartment or move back to the dorm" plan.

School bus leaves at 6:20, here.

[Thriftylady]

I find it impossible to keep up. I feel like I am ALWAYS cleaning. I have recently had the kids start helping with little things. Say dusting. They love helping, they ask me for jobs. I have a jar and I give them my spare change when they do jobs. We are putting it in a jar and saving up to do something fun with it. They love it when I don't have any change so I "buy" some with a bill to pull out to pay them. The are loving watching it add up to bills. I don't know what we will do. Maybe go to McDonalds or something. I hope they take pride in earning it!

[Unregistered]

I Clean as I go - basically throughout the day. Both personal and child care space.

I have two dedicated child care rooms. The child care kids don't use my personal living area at all. We pick up before we go outside. We stay outside till 5:00 during nice weather. During colder months everything is picked up by 5:00 and table toys come out. I close the door and forget about it at the end of the day.

I've never in my life spent a whole day cleaning (like every Saturday is cleaning day). It's not in my DNA!

2-3 times each week before the kids come I clean the child care bathroom more thoroughly.

I'd say laundry is the hardest thing to keep up on.

I vacuum child room each morning before they come. Yep, still have carpet.

[MunchkinWrangler]

Ha! Clean? I'm also a germaphobe so everything to me always seems like it's crawling with germs. I'm honestly getting burned out with all the cleaning!

[Thriftylady]

Right now my kitchen is in there calling out "just rent a bulldozer".

[Lovisa]

I try to keep things picked up during the day. I do dishes while kiddos eat lunch. I try to do at least one load of laundry per day. As soon as the last day care kid leaves, I clean the playroom, vacuum the house, and do any spot mopping I need to. The weekends are usually when I do more of a deep cleaning (dusting, thorough mopping, etc).

[MunchkinWrangler]

Right now my kitchen is in there calling out "just rent a bulldozer".

LOL! My kitchen is yelling that too! I have no idea how it got like that

[MrsSteinel'sHouse]

I have dedicated childcare room/ breakfast nook. Bathroom and kitchen are attached to that area. My personnal space is kid free. I get up at least an hour before 1st kid (6:15) So I am up by 5:15 at the latest. I vacuum in the mornings (childcare room) and set up for the day. Appropriate highchairs out, pnp's etc. My dinningroom does have pnp for infant naps that get put away when infants are done for the week. I keep out limited toys and rotate them- especially right now while I have 2 that are 11 mo and can dump like crazy. I am looking forward to we are outside from 3:30- pickup days
So my daycare part stays fairly cleaned picked up. I do at least one load of laundry a day. I do use my Saturday (or thursday evening) to clean my side of the house. I also clean my childcare carpets on Friday evening once a month so they will be dry by Monday.
I will admit between Christmas and now life has been a little bit choatic. I have laundry baskets of clean clothes in my bedroom to be put away. Christmas is all in my dd's bedroom (she moved out this past fall) I need a couple weekends home to get things done. But, I did have friends over last Saturday and the house was "fairly clean"- dusted, vaccumed, clean bathroom, etc which is all I strive for.

I need time to work on "daycare" stuff. Organizing, planning activities etc.

[emili30]

My home is always neat and tidy

How do you guys keep up with cleaning your house? I feel like I am thrown to the wolves every day. I really don't like spending what little free time I have cleaning and I only have 5 kids total. Laundry, dishes, dust, dirty floors... it never ends and piles up fast!! Words of wisdom, please

I too don't like to spend my free time on cleaning. I just hate to clean the bathroom,window and almost everything. I don't have enough time too as I am a working mom. So, I have hired a cleaning maid to do those jobs
She used to come on every evening. If you are from Canada, Try 'Sunrise Cleaning Services',professional cleaning service in Canada. I hired from there. happyface

[Play Care]

Lately I'm feeling the same way!

I've hired cleaning people on and off. Generally I find that to be MORE work, because they are here to CLEAN, not PICK UP (my husband doesn't know the difference )

I also have the Home Routines App (and followed Fly Lady previously) but generally feel like I am cleaning something all.the.time.

I do have a DC assistant/sub who comes in, but this year I started allergy shots so instead of cleaning while she's here, I've had to do those. My last "build up" shot will be Friday so hopefully that will help.

My house looks tidy, but only if you look quickly. The walls are in desperate need of washing, as are windows, doors, cabinets, etc. The basement needs decluttering, again. Our guest room which was where the dck's used to be authorized to sleep has now become a "junk" room.

I try to remember that this is just a "season" in life. Already with my own kids getting older and able to help out it's getting better. In the evenings after work, it's not as if they have toys and such out. At some point I'll be putting out feelers to work outside the home and then my home will most definitely be clean and tidy.