The 9 Secrets of Tidy Families {you kinda wanna know this stuff}
9 thoughts on “The 9 Secrets of Tidy Families {you kinda wanna know this stuff}”
Is it wrong that I don’t have kids, only two of us live in our house and I can see myself already doing nearly ALL of the above? I’m always cleaning as I go, I have massive clear outs all the time to make space for things I undoubtedly don’t need, and can’t go a Sunday without changing the beds?! Crap baskets sounds like a great idea too, I might have to give that a go!
I’m the same. Its a struggle even with 2 people (and pets, the cat/dog hair does NOT help!) I don’t know how ill do it with kids too. I hope i can keep the ‘stuff’ to a minimum
Same here – two adults but I am pretty vigilant about cleaning/tidying as I go as my husband is a one-man mess machine and if I slacked off we’d be living in a tip within days. I don’t know how he does it. What a gift. humph.
We are a family of 5 (3 primary school kids) . After many years of frustration I have recently started the 1/2 hour clean rule. (similar to the 1/2 our of power listed above). The half hour rule in our house is that on the weekend everyone must give 1/2 hour of their time to do house cleaning of communal areas all at the same time. We start the timer and the kids come to me asking for which job they should do, dad usually gets vacuuming etc…. I figure collectively that is 2.5 hours of cleaning that I would have otherwise done all by myself! It’s been a real break through. Now I need to resolve how we tackle their bedrooms on a regular and consistent basis. I am thinking the first secret listed above will be the key. Thanks for the share. Love getting new ideas on how to tackle this dreaded task……
My best tip to keep the house tidy is to send the kids to Nannas!!!! Bloody mess machines they are.
My 10 months old baby has forced me to clean up lots of stuff which she can now reach to or mess up. At first I was annoyed, but I now very much enjoy the spacious view in our small home (no clutter!) and it is so much easier to clean! I hate cleaning.
We have the 7/7 in my house I have the kids for 7 days then they’re at their dads for 7..
So 6 out of those 7 days I don’t care how the bedrooms look “but!” by on the 7th, rooms must be spotless. Beds stripped and laundry basket full.
Kitchen rule I cook one washes one drys and puts away.
Iron and board do not exist lol. I Wash fold and pile but kids must put away..
The rest I take my time while they’re at dads..
It’s an easy ship to captain when your crew are older ??
The most effective cleaning time I ever have is the half hour before guests are expected – lol! It totally focuses our tidying and I’m always amazed at what we can achieve in this half hour! The kids all know that they are expected to have tidy rooms before they are allowed to ask friends over. Whenever they suddenly start tidying their rooms I know a friend request is about to happen!
What helps me the most is the “clean as you go” idea. So if I am in the living space and I am going into the laundry room I will grab everything that needs to go into the laundry room. Then vise versa. Bam! Always putting stuff where it needs to go therefore saving my sanity 😉
Is it wrong that I don’t have kids, only two of us live in our house and I can see myself already doing nearly ALL of the above? I’m always cleaning as I go, I have massive clear outs all the time to make space for things I undoubtedly don’t need, and can’t go a Sunday without changing the beds?! Crap baskets sounds like a great idea too, I might have to give that a go!
Sarah 🙂
Saloca in Wonderland
I’m the same. Its a struggle even with 2 people (and pets, the cat/dog hair does NOT help!) I don’t know how ill do it with kids too. I hope i can keep the ‘stuff’ to a minimum
Same here – two adults but I am pretty vigilant about cleaning/tidying as I go as my husband is a one-man mess machine and if I slacked off we’d be living in a tip within days. I don’t know how he does it. What a gift. humph.
We are a family of 5 (3 primary school kids) . After many years of frustration I have recently started the 1/2 hour clean rule. (similar to the 1/2 our of power listed above). The half hour rule in our house is that on the weekend everyone must give 1/2 hour of their time to do house cleaning of communal areas all at the same time. We start the timer and the kids come to me asking for which job they should do, dad usually gets vacuuming etc…. I figure collectively that is 2.5 hours of cleaning that I would have otherwise done all by myself! It’s been a real break through. Now I need to resolve how we tackle their bedrooms on a regular and consistent basis. I am thinking the first secret listed above will be the key. Thanks for the share. Love getting new ideas on how to tackle this dreaded task……
My best tip to keep the house tidy is to send the kids to Nannas!!!! Bloody mess machines they are.
My 10 months old baby has forced me to clean up lots of stuff which she can now reach to or mess up. At first I was annoyed, but I now very much enjoy the spacious view in our small home (no clutter!) and it is so much easier to clean! I hate cleaning.
We have the 7/7 in my house I have the kids for 7 days then they’re at their dads for 7..
So 6 out of those 7 days I don’t care how the bedrooms look “but!” by on the 7th, rooms must be spotless. Beds stripped and laundry basket full.
Kitchen rule I cook one washes one drys and puts away.
Iron and board do not exist lol. I Wash fold and pile but kids must put away..
The rest I take my time while they’re at dads..
It’s an easy ship to captain when your crew are older ??
The most effective cleaning time I ever have is the half hour before guests are expected – lol! It totally focuses our tidying and I’m always amazed at what we can achieve in this half hour! The kids all know that they are expected to have tidy rooms before they are allowed to ask friends over. Whenever they suddenly start tidying their rooms I know a friend request is about to happen!
What helps me the most is the “clean as you go” idea. So if I am in the living space and I am going into the laundry room I will grab everything that needs to go into the laundry room. Then vise versa. Bam! Always putting stuff where it needs to go therefore saving my sanity 😉