Winning the Cleaning Battle

Winning the Cleaning Battle

A clean house just might be everybody’s favorite thing. As for me and my house, I have a lot to work on when it comes to everyday pick-up habits and teaching good cleaning habits to my kids. But I also think I have some good things going for me when it comes to keeping my house clean. Here are a few pointers when it comes to two highly important categories: mealtime and daily chores.

Mealtime Strategies

There’s already enough to worry about when it comes to cleaning, so a bib like Bumkins Nixi bibs, one that can catch food as well as keep food off clothing, is a great place to start. My two-year-old is mostly over the idea of bibs, but every once in a while, he’ll still allow me to put one on him and boy, how it makes a difference when it comes to mealtime clean up.
 
Bumkins Nixi Junior Bib

 

Back when he was in a highchair, I used to put a beach towel on the ground underneath his seat for the inevitable food throwing or accidental spillage. However, one day last summer, while at the beach, I noticed quite a few baby food stains on my towel while laying in the sun. Needless to say, it was then that I decided to stop using my nice household items for something that is bound to diminish their quality. Instead, a wonderful item to use would be a Gathre mat, perfect for this occasion and so easy to clean!

 Gathre Midi Leather Mat - Gray
I think while I’m here, it’s appropriate to bring up playtime activities such as arts and crafts. I have a mediocre-quality rug under my kitchen table. It definitely shows some wear and tear from the two years it’s been there, but it manages to still look decent…except for one spot: the playdoh stain. For the most part, playdoh is a breeze to clean up, and any fallen pieces can just be swept or vacuumed after it’s dried up! Easy. Unless it’s stepped and pressed into the rug, leaving a quarter-sized pink stain on the tan material… Another great occasion for a Gathre mat: not just under a highchair, but also under the entire table!
 Gathre Square Maxi Leather Mat - Mint

Okay back to mealtime. Actually, this still applies to arts and crafts too! EZPZ has taken the market by storm with their amazing new products. These plates/bowls/play mats suction to the table to lessen the chance of spills and each have a built-in placemat to catch dropped food! Coolest invention ever. Paint, soup, or crumbs; it doesn’t matter! These are bound to help out with messes!

 EZPZ Flower Play Mat

Daily Routines

I happen to have the world’s greatest husband. One of the many reasons for this title is because, in our five years of marriage, I have only ever done the dishes a handful of times. And most of those times were because he was out of town. Every night, he starts the dishwasher. Every morning, I empty it. Staying on top of the dishes is a sure way of staying on top of the entire kitchen! I heard once that sitting up straight is the easiest way to make it look like you’ve lost 5 pounds. I associate this same thing to making the bed. Making the bed is the easiest way to make it look like you’ve got a clean room. Because of this, I try to make our bed and our son’s bed every single day. For some reason, it is an automatic way of making it look like I’ve been very productive! I’ve never been one to worry too much about having a spotless kitchen floor, so for that reason I only ever worry about sweeping directly under the bar or highchair daily, but usually don’t get around to sweeping the entire kitchen until Saturdays. Same with vacuuming--I vacuum places that need it when they need it but don’t worry about the rest until chore time. Laundry: should it be a daily thing or a weekly thing? I keep going back and forth about this. When I have a newborn (any day now) or the last little bit while I’ve been attempting to potty train my toddler, I am all about doing a load of laundry every day. I do typically save one load for Mondays; like delicates or items that need special attention such as Goumikids mitts or boots that use a protective laundry bag. The downside of this is I am folding laundry every single day. So when I don’t have to start a load of laundry, I don’t. I designate Mondays to washing, folding, and putting away ALL of the laundry in the house. It takes all day but then I’m done for a whole week!

 Petit Pehr Medium Storage Drum - Alphabet

The last thing I do daily is what we call “pick-up 15”. If I’ve done a decent job at keeping the house clean throughout the day, this becomes a deeper clean or organization in certain areas of the house. My favorite part about this is we don’t usually actually count, and instead, we end up cleaning the whole house. But then there are nights where we don’t feel like cleaning much, but since we’re forced to pick up at least 15 things each, we stay on top of cleaning up toys and clutter around the house. Also, my two-year-old loves to sing about cleaning up but is not often too much help when it comes to this part of the day! Putting his larger toys in bins or cupboards is about the extent of his cleaning skills; this is something I definitely need to work on teaching him!

Hopefully some of these ideas sparked something or motivated you in some way. Now, I’m curious to hear some of your strategies! What do you do to keep mealtime less messy and what are some of your daily clean up routines? Please share!

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