Tag Archives: cleaning tips

How to Clean a Child’s Bedroom Without Losing Your Mind

January 5, 2016Homemakingchild training, cleaning tips, large family, preschoolers, teens, toddlers, tweensMelissa

The never ending chore of keeping the bedrooms clean can cause a fair amount of tension if we choose to let it. I’m not a mother who requires that bedrooms get picked up every day, because imaginary play often goes on from one day to the next, and I hate to squelch it. That said, there are plenty of things that can be handled consistently to help keep a bedroom under control. But eventually, it all needs to get cleaned up so we can vacuum or sweep… at least once or twice a year! :blushing: This task can be overwhelming for a child, and we need to be understanding about that. Considering the number of decisions required to put away 9,743 objects in an hour, we should have some compassion. Here are a few tips to help it be a manageable – and hopefully successful – task!

Make it clean-able. Sometimes there’s just too much stuff to even be able to have it put away. Maybe it’s a small bedroom or there aren’t enough places to put things. Fix that! Declutter, pass on some toys, buy storage solutions, etc. A room full of things with no place to belong will be a constant frustration for you and your child.
Have one container for “all the little things that feel like they should get thrown away but your child sees value in them.” Yeah. Those things that you want to pitch while they’re not watching? Chances are good that they’ll notice. (Ask me how I know.) We use an under-bed container for these things: random flashlight, receipt, Chick Fil A toy, etc. Anything that isn’t a group deserving of its own storage goes in this miscellaneous container, and it’s so appropriate to tuck it under the bed! Most of this stuff lives on the floor, so it’s really easy to put it away here. 🙂
Pick up everything and put it in one pile. This is hands down, my best tip. Pick up everything – EveRYthInG – and put it into one pile. On the bed, center of the floor, or wherever you choose. (We choose center of the floor because we can sweep it there easily!) It automatically eliminates the visual clutter that can be overwhelming to children, especially younger ones.
After everything is in one pile, we pull stuff from that pile in categories. (Make a list of the order in which you suggest they do things if you are teaching them to do this independently.) Shoes are easy to start with because they usually all go in the same place, so it’s easy and quick success. Clothes next because they are a big part of the pile. Then the pile is usually manageable after those two categories. After that, just take one item at a time.
Don’t rant while they’re cleaning or you’re cleaning with them. (How would I know this is a temptation?) It will make only serve to make the experience miserable for you both and make them feel like a failure. Turn on some music to keep the mood light if you need some help. 🙂
Be willing to help while they clean. This may look like picking up and putting away while they work alongside you. Maybe it’s in the form of company and reading aloud while they work. Maybe it’s frequent checking in and encouraging. There are a lot of ways to help, and the younger the child is, the more involved you will likely need to be. But regardless of the age of the child, encouragement will go a long way!

You can do this, Busy Mom!

Do you have tips to share that simplify this task at your house?

Keeping Up with Housework – 7 Practical Tips to Apply Today

October 20, 2015Homemakingcleaning tips, large family, organization, time managementMelissa

We are constantly being asked around The Busy Mom how we get “it” all done. Well first, we don’t, no matter how you define “it.” I am in a season where I have little margin and I have to choose to use every minute wisely. When I don’t, my house is what pays the price. Now I’m not setting expectations of having a spotless or sterile environment – believe me, I’m not shooting for the stars! I’m talking about a healthy, clean living environment, stewarding well what I have to manage. I wish I could say this busy-bess would end soon, but it likely won’t, so I have to apply a few tips to keep my sanity and manage my home well. I have given up on getting it all done, but there are a few things I do at my house to keep it livable!

Own less stuff.

Truly, go through and relentlessly purge your belongings (or schedule or responsibilities). This is the best first step. The less you have, the less there is to manage. And if you are frustrated that you can’t keep a reasonably clean house, that just may mean that you have too much to manage in your current set of circumstances. Right? If you could manage it, you wouldn’t be reading this!

You may have too much stuff to manage, or just too much stuff to manage with 3 small kids and a part time job, or just too much stuff to manage with a traveling soccer schedule, or just too much stuff to manage with a husband who works 65 hours a week, or too much stuff to manage with a chronic health problem, etc. If you truly can’t get it done, there’s too much “stuff” of some sort. I’m not criticizing any of those things, just pointing out that your set of circumstances is the reality in which you need to function well. I homeschool two kids, work part time and have a husband who has long work hours and chronic health problems, meaning he has little left to offer in the cooking and cleaning department. That is my reality, and I have determined what I needed to do to live well in it. But I can assure you, if you just have more belongings than your space will allow, it’s time to pack stuff up and move it out.

Make a list and post it.

Waking up with an expectation of what is to be done will set your mind in that direction first thing as opposed to waiting until you think about it. If you’re like me, I don’t think about it until I’m dragging already and that never works out well! Or worse, busy days go by and I don’t think about it at all. But if I have a list and stick to it, then when something comes up one day that prevents me from accomplishing whatever is on the list for that day, it doesn’t matter because I’m generally on track and can miss a day here and there.

When I’m successful, it’s because I make a list of what needs to be done weekly (like bathrooms, floors, etc.) and divide the list into chores assigned to certain days, adjusting for seasonal sports, Bible study and homeschool coop schedules. Then I purpose to obey my schedule because I’m a nerd and things like that work for me. I have no need to waste my limited brain power reinventing the list every day and no need to spend money on a beautiful notebook in which to write the same things over and over. Type it up, print it off and tape it to the frig. or put it on your bulletin board.

Use your non homeschooling or non working days to catch up.

If I spend some chunks on Saturdays or Sunday afternoons cleaning, I can rest during the week when I’m trying to work around schooling the kids. Using those weekend “rest” days to manage my house actually allows me to better handle the busier weekdays, so my general level of rest is much more consistent as it is spread a bit over each day. Since Jesus isn’t legalistic, I think this is okay with Him. If I use 60 minutes on Sunday cleaning, then I have ten minutes 6 other days to spend in the word, so my day of rest is spent “resting” with Him in the season in which He has placed me using my time to manage my home well.

Streamline your system.

It takes time to get cleaning supplies out and put them away. Wrapping up the vacuum cord and kicking stuff out of the way to get it in the hall closet takes a few minutes each time. Eliminate chore transitions to save time. Clean all the bathrooms on the same day while you have the supplies out, vacuum everything on the same day to eliminate that take-out and put-away time, round up all the sheets to wash and grab your hubby or child to help you put them all back on at the same time.

Work yourself out of a job.

Most children are much more capable than we give them credit for. Look at your chore list and turn chores over to them. Kids should be doing all that they are capable of doing! They don’t learn anything responsible by creating the tornado with no obligation to help clean it up.

Just do it.

Don’t spend ten minutes every hour killing time on your phone or computer. (Yes, I’m talking to myself!) That can add up to 2 entire hours of lost productivity over the course of a day! When you’re tempted to sit down and veg, make the choice to keep moving. You can sit now or you can sit once the kids go to bed, but if you are a homeschooling mom and want to stay on top of your house, chances are good you can’t sit both times.

Know the difference between clean and picked up, and set your expectations wisely.

“Clean” means I’ve vacuumed, wiped, scrubbed or sprayed something. “Picked up” means all things are put in their place. I have children. I don’t strive for “picked up” constantly, or maybe ever. I don’t believe it’s realistic in a homeschooling home.
I regularly push toys out of the way with the running vacuum cleaner, because legos or hot wheels look a whole lot nicer on my floor when they’re not mixed with dust bunnies! A pile of mail doesn’t seem nearly as offensive when the counter on which it sits isn’t scattered with bread crumbs. Socks, shoes, flashlights and all manner of random child paraphernalia on the side of my staircase are much less bothersome when the stairs are freshly vacuumed. That’s the difference between clean and picked up. My goal is clean. I gave up on picked up as soon as my second tornado child could move. I’ll raise my bar when she moves out.

If keeping up with your house is a struggle for you, I’d encourage you to pick just one of these and start today. I need to get my list updated for this new season and get it on the frig. Which of these is the most applicable for you today? Let’s start together!

Homemade Citrus Dusting Spray

June 11, 2014Homemakingcleaning tips, family health, frugal living, managing homeCandace Crabtree

Over the weekend I realized I was out of my favorite lemony smelling dusting spray. I really, really hate running to the store for one thing like that…and I really wanted to get my living room clean right.that.moment. {Do you have manic cleaning sessions, too? Where all of a sudden your house looks disgusting and you.must.clean.it?}

So, where else to turn but Pinterest to find a recipe for your own dusting spray!? Voila! Of course, being the tweaker that I am, I had to tweak the recipe just a bit to get it how I liked it. But, so far, so good on the citrusy smelling, clean living room! I love making my own cleaners and hygiene products, you might remember I shared a citrus all purpose cleaner here at The Busy Mom, but I have a few other recipes on my blog, too!

Homemade Citrus Dusting Spray

You need:

empty spray bottle
2 cups water
3/4 cup white vinegar
3-4 T olive oil
10 drops lemon essential oil
10 drops orange essential oil {I love the combo of lemon AND orange but you could use any combination of oils or scents that you love!}

I usually use warm water when mixing things like this, but not hot, for the benefit of the oils. Also, I shook mine a few times to get the oil mixed a little better. Just shake as you use.

So, the only negative to this homemade spray is that now I have no excuse not to dust. 🙂 Good thing I have several children that are old enough for this chore now!

Happy dusting, busy moms!

Homemade All-Purpose Citrus Spray

March 14, 2014Homemaking, Recipescleaning tips, family health, frugal livingCandace Crabtree

I can’t believe I’ve been using this cleaner for years and never had the idea to blog about it! I guess because it is so SIMPLE that I don’t usually think people will be interested…but maybe BECAUSE it is simple some of you will appreciate the idea.

My secret ingredients??

White Vinegar + Citrus Peels

Do you already use white vinegar in your home? It is so useful in so many ways! Some of my favorite ways to use white vinegar are: all purpose spray, laundry, cleaning the coffee pot, cleaning any appliance, homemade mopping solution, deodorizing the garbage disposal, cleaning the microwave, and more!

Citrus peels!?!? Yes! Not only do citrus peels have powerful dissolvent in them, they also make any room just smell so fresh and clean! I noticed a difference in my cleaner when I started adding citrus peels to it – it actually cleans better!

How I Make My All Purpose Citrus Spray

Fill jar with citrus peels
Pour white vinegar over the peels and fill up jar, close with lid
Let the citrus and vinegar sit on a shelf somewhere for several weeks
Pour into spray bottle and begin cleaning! (If the scent is too strong for you, dilute the cleaner with a bit of water)

It really is that simple! I have a lot of peel at my house because I love fresh lemon in my water daily and I’ve also been juicing for over a month now. So, I save all the peels from my clementines, navels, oranges and lemons to use in my cleaners!

More Notes

To clean your microwave, place a small bowl of white vinegar inside and run it for a minute. Take out the vinegar and simply WIPE CLEAN the insides! It all just wipes out so easily after that vinegar has been heated!
If you want to make more of a “scouring” cleaner, take your white vinegar and add BAKING SODA to it! Not only it is a fun science experiment for the kids to watch, but it’s a great, non-toxic cleaner! (There seem to be conflicting reports online about combining these 2 items, but I’ve had good luck with it, so just try it out and see if it works for you!)
If you’d like to read more of my frugal ideas, I’d love for you to visit my little place on the web where you can read about our chickens, saving money on groceries without coupons and more!

How Many Sweaters Does One Woman Need?

October 11, 2013Homemakingcleaning tips, organizationDana White

I am awesome at living on auto-pilot.

Sometimes it’s the good kind (emptying the dishwasher as soon as I get up in the morning), and sometimes . . . not so much.

Like when I’m standing in my closet and something soft and fuzzy falls on my head. I look up (after recovering from my small heart attack) to see that the teetering stack/pile of sweaters has finally tipped and fallen.

I think, “Where did I get all those sweaters?”

And I really don’t know the answer to my question.

Some were gifts, some were bargains, and some were hand-me-downs from well-meaning friends who lost or gained weight.

And then there are some that I’m pretty sure just appeared.

Really, I don’t understand how I collect so many sweaters. (Or sauce pans. Or children’s books. Or wooden spoons.)

So I look for natural bumps in my road.

Changing seasons are wonderful bumps. There’s nothing like walking out the door in short sleeves on the first chilly day of fall to help me break out of my auto-pilot reverie.

I love the motivation of a seasonal clothing changeover to help me declutter my closet.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t love it in a yay-oh-yay-another-excuse-to-ORGANIZE-something way. More of a how-in-the-world-did-I-end-up-with-all-these-sweaters way.

I have a few tricks I’ve come up with over the years that help me break through the angst that happens whenever it’s time to decide which sweaters stay and which ones go.

1. Only Keep What Fits . . . in the Drawer

This is such a simple concept, but it’s one that took me a long time to truly grasp.

I need limits. A drawer is a natural limit.

I fill the drawers with my favorites first. Once the drawer is full, my decision is made. It’s so much easier to part with the ones that won’t fit into the drawer because I have already prioritized them.

2. Only Keep What Fits . . . Me

I’m going to blame it on the years of pregnancies, but I tend to keep things that I’m pretty sure I might fit into again.

Someday.

When I’m at a weight that doesn’t feel like me, it’s hard to part with an item of clothing in the size I think I should be. But heading into a new season means that even if (IF) I started working out and eating right today, I probably wouldn’t fit back into it before the weather changed again.

And if it has already been a year or two since I wore it . . . it likely won’t be in style next fall.

3. Only Keep What Fits . . . My Personality

I lived for many years as the Dream Friend for people who wanted to clean out their homes.

Don’t need that fishing pole? Give it to Dana. Replaced your curtains? Give the old ones to Dana.

Right. I saw the “beauty” and “potential” in every random item other people didn’t want.

But as their homes cleared out, mine became more and more cluttered. As I switch out clothing for the new season, I pay extra attention to each item that I didn’t personally buy.

Do I love it? Do I actually wear it?

I used to keep hand-me-downs out of guilt. My friend had entrusted me with something that she wanted to have a good home!

Except that she didn’t want it in her home, so it couldn’t have been that special. I only have room (and mental energy) for the things that I love and can use in my home.

Do you use the changing season as an opportunity to declutter your wardrobe?

Organizing your Laundry {Blog Hop}

September 3, 2013Homemakingcleaning tips, organization, time managementHeidi St. John

laundry

Laundry gotcha down? Say the word and even seasoned moms like me cringe. It’s just.so.daily.

Or not! Unfortunately, when I don’t do laundry every day, it piles up. I was in fall-decorating/school prep mode this week and so the laundry was sorely neglected. We paid for that today when all the piles of clean laundry were dumped out on the family room floor to be folded and put away. The upside: five people folding and putting way makes short work of Mount Never Rest.

Families are all different, and different methods work during different seasons of life. Here are a few quick tips I’ve learned for beating the laundry blues!

Don’t leave your laundry to chance. Develop a system! I wrote about our system in my book: The Guide to Daylight
1. I’m a fan of chore charts. Here’s a printable chore chart with many suggestions.
2. Get your children involved in doing laundry. In our house, everyone is responsible for running their own laundry through if they are eight years old or older. One person is assigned to make sure the hampers are being run through and then the clean laundry is given to it’s owner to fold and put away.
Organize your laundry room
1. Use hampers to sort clothes. In our house, each bedroom has it’s own hamper. We keep a wicker hamper in the kitchen for kitchen laundry and two in the laundry room for towels and clothes I find strewn around the house. 🙂
2. Put laundry detergent within easy reach.
3. Use laundry baskets for individuals or for particular rooms (we have a basket per each bedroom).
4. Install a hanging rack if at all possible. We found one that I love two years ago. Now clothes to be hung up can be hung up straight out of the dryer.
Choose a regular day for washing sheets. Children can strip their own beds and put clean sheets on with some help. We chose Thursdays—since Friday is errand day and we generate the most laundry over the weekends.
Try to be consistent with the schedule you come up with. We do laundry every day at our house, but there are 10 of us here on a regular basis. Remember, everyone has bad days/weeks. Sometimes, it just piles up because more pressing things need to be done.
Let go of perfectionism. That’s all I have to say about that. You can have your perfect laundry scenario back when the kids are grown. (We’ll miss this too, I’m told.)

I have never come up with a system that I love for socks. I’ve tried them all—and right now we just put the mismatched socks in a big basket. We dump it when it gets full and try to match socks. About twice a year, I throw the others out. (I know I can save them for all sorts of Pinterest projects, I just know that I won’t ever do them.)

I’d love to hear your ideas!

Scrub-a-dub,

Read all of the posts “Organizing Your Laundry” posts on these blogs! And read all about the Blog Hop going on HERE!

Git ‘er Done: 5 Tips for Easier Laundry

October 26, 2012Homemakingchild training, chores, cleaning tips, large familyHeidi St. John

Ahh, the joys of laundry … or not.

“My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint.” – Erma Bombeck

Does the thought of all the laundry you have to do overwhelm and discourage you? If so, you’re not alone. Laundry is one of those things we tend either love or hate!

I used to hate it—but in all honesty, I don’t anymore. I love the smell of clean laundry. And I REALLY like grabbing shirts and dresses out of the dryer before they need to be ironed! Mmmm. Lavender fabric softener is my new guilty pleasure. 🙂 But I won’t tell if you won’t!

No matter how you feel about this age old chore, it’s always good to feel like you’ve got the best of it instead of the other way around. No, really! You can! It’s important. And you don’t need a laundry “room” to be really great at getting a handle of doing laundry. In fact, I devoted a huge part of a chapter to laundry in “The Busy Homeschool Mom’s Guide to Daylight” because I honestly believe that if we had a better system, laundry would not be such a chore.

So without further adieu, here are FIVE of my favorite laundry tips! Let me know what your favorite tips are – if they make my next article, I’ll send you a free copy of my book.

{one}

Train your children to do laundry. I’m not kidding! If your child is just three years old he is not too little to start training. A three year old can put laundry in the hamper. She can help you put the clothes into the washing machine.

So often, moms find themselves overwhelmed when a quick glance around the room reveals a much bigger issue: children who could and should be helping simply are not.

Start when they are little. By the age of eight, my kids can run both the washer and the dryer, and they can measure the detergent too. Teens can do their own laundry. Tweens should be helping by folding the baby’s laundry. You get the idea. Put your kids to work! Yes it’s more work for mom initially but the payoff is worth it, and believe me when they move out they will thank you for training them to take care of themselves and others.

{two}

Early and often. Fly Lady says, “A load a day keeps the chaos away”, and I could not agree more.

Around our house, the first load is started first thing in the morning. We often run three loads a day but two for our household of 10 is about average. Two loads a day. Kitchen towels pile up and we do them twice a week. My point is—we are doing a lot of little loads to avoid the massive laundry “day” that is sure to pile up if we don’t.

{three}

Use a system. This cannot be over-emphasized. 🙂 Systems work! And usually, any system is better than no system!

I wrote about our system at length in my book but I can simplify it by saying that in our house, each BEDROOM has it’s own laundry basket. Here’s how it works:

1. Child fills up his or her laundry hamper.

2. Mom or children start a load and run it through.

3. When laundry comes out of the dryer, it is immediately sorted into the basket that corresponds to the room the child is in.

This makes the CHILD responsible for his or her own laundry. It works. BONUS: It forces the child to think about the amount of clothes they throw in the wash each day. 🙂 And I’m ALL for that!

{four}

Think before you buy! In other words—if you have a lot of people in your house, if it wrinkles easily or if it will require extra care, maybe it’s something you should just leave in the store. Yeah. Just say “no” to more work in the laundry room!

{five)

Get caught up. Have a laundry-folding party! In our house, when we get behind (and believe me, it happens) then my solution is to gather the troops, dump all the clothes out on the floor and have a FOLD-FEST.

The last time we needed to do this was … mmmm… two days ago. 🙂 I had been gone and we had about eight loads of laundry that needed to be folded and put away. With my kids helping, we got it all done in just over an hour!

hint: if you need to have a fold-fest, take a washcloth, get it wet and throw it into the dryer with the clothes that are too wrinkly to wear. Give it about ten minutes on medium heat. Voila! No ironing!

Ready to Git ‘er done? Train your kids to help, get a system and get moving! You’ll be glad you did!