okay. it's hard for me to have a nice looking home every day with 3 boys so i've picked up a few tricks along the way. this is what i do to set myself up for success:
1) don't go to bed with a dirty kitchen. waking up to a new day is so much brighter in that kitchen if it's clean.
2) do a quick sweep of the the major room before bed. that would be my living room. i have beautiful baskets from target and pottery barn and i use them faithfully. throw the toys in a toy basket, make the pillows look nice on the sectional, the dog toys go in the dog basket and all the throws and blankets go in their baskets. takes 5 minutes. no vacuuming or dusting at 11 at night. just a basic fast pickup.
3) in the morning, before i leave my bedroom there are 2 things that get attention. first, i make my bed. there's something about that to me. all day long, when i walk in my bedroom and see that bed made all pretty, it does something for my mood. the second is my master bathroom. i have a pack of windex wipes and a small bottle of pine-sol under the sink. the mirror, the sink and the toilet get wiped down. maybe a minute here. nothing serious, no moving stuff around and cleaning under it, just a wipe down so that all day long when i step in that bathroom it shines and it smells good. if i'm really rushed the same wipe that cleans the mirror can wipe down the sink, counter and toilet also.
4) the kid's bathroom--i do the same thing. same supplies under their sink. i don't have time to carry supplies around in the morning so every bathroom has it's own supplies. now when i'm in here i find myself doing a couple more things, like hanging towels, closing the shower curtain, all those things that boys forget. i won't be in this bathroom anymore that day, but if someone comes by that's the bathroom they'll use so it's already tidy. and, of course, my kids need a tidy bathroom every day too :)
5) blake is 10 and makes his bed every day, even on a school day before he leaves. it's a habit i got him in years ago and he does it without even thinking. the little one's beds i do nothing to haha. liam is 3 and when he's 5 he will learn to make his bed each morning.
You are an amazing woman and mother. I really think i need to try harder to implement some of these things myselk..
ReplyDeletelove ya girl!
awe you made my night :))) ty hon :)))
ReplyDeleteI picked up a couple of habits from you from years of knowing you and how you keep house. Having the clorox wipes in the bathroom is a #1 thing for me, I keep a package in each bathroom. I don't wipe everything down every day. I am the only one that uses my bathroom, so I feel pretty good about not having nasties in my bathroom. However, any time I am feeling the room needs refreeshing, I start with the mirror, then the sink with one wipe. I use another wipe on the toilet and if I feel the need, will use another wipe on my tile walls! I know Pine Sol is your smell of clean. Clorox is mine! Although, I do have to admit, I loved Lemon Lysol when I did use it, but love the wipes so much and can't find them in lemon.
ReplyDeleteI like the wet swiffer for my hard wood floors and will use that to damp mop the floor whenever I think it needs it, but for serious clean, I have my Shark Steam Mop. I use one pad per room and with only 5 pads, well, you know I have plans for making more pads for it, just haven't had time to sit and sew the last two months.
I wish I was better about keeping the kitchen clean, but with only one person, it seems kind of a waste to get a sink of soapy water to do dishes every day when I might only have 4 pieces of stuff to wash. I do make a habit of rinsing stuff out when I put it in the sink, though, so that keeps the kitchen from smelling terrible!
I am looking for better ways to clean up my gas stove top and gas oven... Heard salt was a good thing to use, a bit abrasive, but not caustic... I hate caustic!!!