Tidy Mother

I will admit it...I am a Tidy Mother! Or at least I try to be, wanna be. I like things in their place, easier to find. My time is limited and I hate to waste time 'looking for things'. We live in a middle sized home with no basement. We also have an eat in kitchen (which I love) but little counter space and not many cabinets. Soooo not a lot of room. I have learned to use 'wall spaces' and 'vertical spaces up high'. Our ceilings are almost 10 feet.

Still ~ Tidy means more than just everything in it's place. Here are some tips:

Don’t let it sit for later (Clean ASAP) – a mess is much easier to clean up when it happens. Once food or dirt is allowed to dry or soak in, it’s going to take a lot more time and elbow grease to clean it later. I have learned this the hard way....clean it up when it happens...even dripped milk.

Don’t Put it off – this is probably my BIGGEST household tip! Clean as you go. You’ll be amazed that many things only take a few minutes to do if you clean as you go, rather than hours of cleaning if you put it all off to do at once. If you stay on top of these things daily your house will look nice and you will be more organized and relaxed. Some of the things I do daily are:

• make my bed
• wipe down the bathroom after I have gotten ready – I keep Clorox wipes and a cloth diaper under the bathroom sink – and I give the bathroom a quick wipe down daily.
• clear the dinner table AND do dishes as soon as we finish eating.
• load the dishwasher any time there’s a dirty dish – it really only take a few seconds, instead of having a sink or counter piled with dirty dishes.
• wipe off the counters and table. Get kids to help....this is key to large families...it becomes a habit to them too.
• sort mail, throw out junk.
• do at least one load of laundry a day if children are small. I do mine all on Monday.
• fold and put away laundry as it comes out of the dryer ~ you'll be sorry if you don't.
• We home school. When my children were younger we had 15 minutes after breakfast before school for 'chores'. Different things each day. Trash, clean sinks, put things away, collect laundry etc. It was just automatic once learned. At the end of the day, we did the same thing. 15 minutes of everyone doing 'something' to help keep things running smooth.

By doing these things daily you can reduce stress and have a visually cleaner home.

Set a Timer for Quick Clean Ups- Many days I will give myself 15 minutes and run thru a few rooms and just pick up stray times, fluff and straighten the room. You’ll be surprised how often this will motivate you to keep going. Get the kids to help – make it a game!

Dust While on the Phone – often if I’m on the phone with someone, instead of sitting on the couch, I will get up and dust a room while we chat! Multi tasking is my friend

Don’t walk to another room empty handed - there’s almost ALWAYS something in a room that belongs some where else – don’t pass it up, grab it on your way – even if you just open a door and toss it in!

Clean up as you cook - I have a small kitchen, so I really get stressed if I have no room to cook or bake. Like wise, if you’re waiting on dinner in the oven, clean up the mess while it cooks.

I LOVE to come home to a Clean House- I try and pad my “to go time” by 15-30 minutes and do a quick run thru before I leave, put dirty dishes in the dish washer, wipe off counters, pick up stray items, even vacuum if I have time. I especially do this before travels, that way I could walk in to a clean house and start dinner with out the stress of a messy house to pick up as well.

Hope this gives you some ideas.....make it work! Doing a little now, pays big time later!

Thankful Heart Here, Sherry Lynette