I Have 6 Children And Here's Why Our House Is Always Clean

Jan 29, 2019 by apost team

"Girl, how do you do it? Your house is immaculate! But, with the kids, school, soccer, and everything else, I just don't see how you get it all done especially with six kids!"

The truth is that it's not always this clean. Sure, there are days when you can definitely tell that we have 8 people living here. But, I'm usually able to keep it tidy. That's one thing that makes me happy. To accomplish this, I have a few easy rules to follow.

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We play, paint, do puzzles, have fun outside, and do all the normal messy things that kids love to do. I don't have crazy restrictions on messy fun. We do what we want and then clean up. The toys have to be put back up. Dirty clothes need to go into the hamper and clean clothes need to be put up.

The kids know how to put trash in the garbage. They can dress themselves. They are able to put their clothes in the hamper and put them up when done. They put their shoes and backpacks up and they can make their own beds. It's not just a routine anymore. It's a habit they have learned. I don't treat them like slaves or servants. They have certain responsibilities and that includes their little jobs of helping out. And the great thing is that for the most part, they like doing it.

If you don't use it, get rid of it. For example, I only keep the pots and pans that I use on a regular basis. I have enough furniture but not too much. I only have enough blankets so that every person can use one at the same time. But, I don't hold on to junk that we don't use.

There isn't a reason to have seven sets of sheets. You'll never use them all at the same time. If you have have a set of Tupperware that's doing nothing but collecting dust, get rid of it. It doesn't matter who gave it to you, if you're not using it, you don't need it. If something is broken and it's sat there longer than 3 months waiting to be fix, throw it out. You're not getting around to it. It's not going to get fixed. It doesn't matter what the item is, even if it's a toy.

When you bring new items into your home, you need to get the old out. Keep clothes and other items folded. Keep things sorted out. Some examples of how we stay organized are: art box, dinosaur box, blanket closet, gift area, cleaning closet etc...

And if something isn't used, we throw it out. Every single item in your home should have it's own place. Organization is a must to staying tidy. We don't fill our drawers with a bunch of random objects. Although, we do have the famous "junk drawer" but I think every family our there has one of those. This is you place to put those few items that don't have a home such as: pens, popsicle sticks, random papers etc...

I never leave the house dirty when I leave for the school run. That is, unless something major is going on. The kids must tidy their rooms and have their beds made. If they make any other messes before school, they must clean that up as well. I make sure that the sink is empty and table is wiped down. This is how we do is and it works. It's usually completed by 7:15.

Every week, one time a week, we do a deep clean. I make sure that the floors, bedding, toilets, sinks, bathrooms, TVs, microwave, and tables are cleaned.

Don't make it too complicated. It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours total. there's no reason to do these things daily either; that will just heighten pressure on the cleaning process. Saturday mornings work well for my deep clean sweep but you may prefer a different day and that's fine. Blare your music and get started wiping things down. It'll go faster than you think.

That is, not every single time is vacuuming needed. Make sure you have a spray mop, and a broom with a dust pan. The spraying mop is great to wipe the floors and it'll also disinfect. It's one of my favorite cleaning tools. I've even named him "Spot". Spot does his job right after dinner or any time we have spills. Changing out the pad on the spray mop is much easier than the old school way of mopping with a bucket of water.

When you smell something sweet in the air, it automatically makes you feel like your walking into one of the cleanest places. Apples are a great scent to give off that fresh appeal. Find a scent that works for you and get your home filled with some inviting and fresh smells.

That's my process! It's easy to stay tidy just by staying on top of things. Don't stress all week about cleaning. Once you see a 2 hour gap, just get it done and over with. I promise it's not bad and after you do it a few times, it really does become habit.

How good are you at keeping things tidy? Let us know in the comments if you're going to try out any of these tips! Be sure to pass this article on to a friend who can't seem to get their mess under control!