How Do You NOT Clean the House All Day???

I used to leave the house. My kids thought they had such a great childhood. Mom, you remember how you used to take us to the park everyday? :)

See if they are not home they can't mess it up. If they spill their drink in the park it soaks into the dirt. Spill food the woodland creatures pick it up.

Oh I forgot the added bonus, it wears them out so they go to bed earlier. This means less time awake messing up the house and more time to clean what little needed to be cleaned.

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Pretend you are a man and ignore it.

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I used to live in an 880 sf condo until my kids were 7, 5 and 3. I stressed too much about cleaning. It was helpful, though, to have the kids pick up their stuff at the end of the day. You can make a game of it.
Also I regularly went through our stuff so it didn't accumulate too much. I still do that. Be careful not to toss your treasures, though!
If you rotate toys, you can keep the mess down. Put most toys high up in a closet. Pull a few out for a while. They'll enjoy those only. Then, you can rotate in some new ones. This way they aren't bored with something and pulling out the next thing.

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Buckets, baskets, and anything that puts the toys into groups. Every child in my house from the youngest to the oldest learns that we play with one bucket or basket at a time. When we get bored, we pick it up and get something else out. Keeping the toys picked up helps. Having them play on a rug or on the couch or at a table helps too. They can be in a bedroom, at my feet when I sit in a chair, whatever...but they can't drag their toys around the house.

The big people in the house HAVE to follow the same rules...make a sandwich, put the stuff away BEFORE you eat it. The bathroom...clean part of it every time you go in there. The counters...wash them over and over all day long...dishes, keep the sink full of hot soapy water all day so that you can do them and clean stuff anytime it needs it.

It seems like I am always cleaning or sweeping something. But I sit for hours too and my house is always clean...put away the shoes, hang things up, have a place for your purse, buckets for bills with lids, clean out those closets... It works.

Commercial paper towel racks are awesome. It gets one thing off the counter and I have to bring paper towels in less often. Rolling toy carts with multiple baskets works wonders too.

Make those beds, keep the laundry going through everyday so it doesn't pile up.

Who said we shouldn't be cleaning most of the day at least some? I would say 15 minutes of work, 15 minutes of childcare, and 30 minutes of whatever else I want is how each of my hours break up all day and all night. I'm tired when I go to bed and sleep pretty darn well, even though I get up too often to use the potty.

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Well, I pretty much do pick up all day long. With all the picking up and other stuff I don't have much time for ACTUAL cleaning, there in lies the problem! ;) I do make my kids clean up things before they move on, or at the very least if that doesn't necessarily happen, then before they destroy a second room in the house! Ha! My kids are almost 4 and almost 2 and even the little one will help as long as we show him what to do. I also got rid of a bunch of toys. We used few of them and they were always out, so I weeded a ton out. Also, put super messy toys (like blocks or legos, games, play doh, etc.) high up so they have to ask for them and therefore you can monitor it easier.

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simple, stop letting your kids destroy your house. make them clean up their own messes, only give them a couple of toys at a time, give them consequences....the list really does go on and on as to how to avoid this. my oldes is 2 1/2 and i have 9 month old twins. my house is nowhere near perfect, but i'll be darned if i'm going to spend my day cleaning up messes my kids make. make rules and enforce them. easy.

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Answer: A big laundry basket to toss the toys into quickly and easily.

That, plus have your 3 yr old learn to put some toys away before getting out others. For me, that doesn't work ALL the time, but if he wants his legos, he needs to put up the board game first. If he wants his board game, he needs to put up the construction toys first. And he always cleans up before going to bed.

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Easy. Toss about 3/4 of the toys. Children that age don't NEED a ton of toys, and as you've seen, nothing holds their interest for long when they know they have a million toys to play with, so it just ends up everywhere. Get rid of most of it. I promise they won't be bored. They will make do with what they have! ;)

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I only pick up toys twice a day - before nap time and before bed time and the kids help do that. We have a limited number of toys and I rotate them in and out.

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One major plus to joining a playgroup...you are gone and they cannot make a mess at home. Another plus, you keep your sanity because you are not cleaning all day long. You get to talk to other moms and socialize and your kids get to play with other kids too. You get to go to other moms' homes and get advice on what to do in your own home. See all the advantages of joining a playgroup. You also get to go to fun and inexpensive places and have a good time away from the same old same old everyday routine at home.

Go to meetup.com and type in your zip code and playgroups or mommy groups and find a local group near you. Believe me, you will say to yourself later, why didn't I do this sooner? My life changed so much that I felt like a new person.

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I teach 5 kids preschool in my home and also have a messy hubby and a 10 year old. I'm ALWAYS cleaning! I save a lot of it for when they are asleep though and they help clean up the toys before nap. I guess I have no answer for you but just know that you're not alone.

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I try and keep the "straightening" until right before my husband gets home...just let it go and clean it all up just once for the night. I am talking about the toys. Then I put on a movie for the kids and go fix dinner. They have tv time, the toys are put away and I get dinner cooked and of course the dishwasher loaded (usually have to unload it first).

Laundry is always cycling, so I do one to two loads a day...so it doesn't pile up.

I understand where you are coming from...I remember several days where I did nothing but pick up stuff and put it away all day long. It is maddening.

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Well, there's the dad on this site who said taking care of his 7 kids while his wife was away was the easiest job he ever had. I wonder how HE cleaned the house.

Personally, I cleaned at night after they went to bed. When I got home from work I would do laundry and after dinner I'd get all the next day's stuff ready to put in the car. The weekend was for vacuuming and all that. At some point I got a service to come in every other week. Thank God for that.

I came to the understanding that with 2 high energy boys, my house would never be perfect. It has good "bones", so to speak, so it can look really nice when I work really hard. But it's not the most important thing in the world to me.

Meanwhile, I'm slowly tackling my son's room, now that he is off at college. Not the same as dealing with loads of Legos, but still lots of work!

Have fun!
D.

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Try to start teaching your 3yr old about cleaning up. Make it fun. Something that the two of you do together. Maybe when the 11mo. old is napping? It's hard at that age but you have to at least try for your own sanity. I am still always on the go with cleaning and I have a very helpful husband who is also a neat freak and three kids - ages 7, 9 and 9...so, obvisously the kids are at an age that they clean up after themselves however, I still jump in and help. I am more of the organizer in their rooms... :)

Maybe make days to do certain "gotta do" chores like laundry etc... and spread out your household cleaning throughout the week while keeping up with your kids toys daily. Set two clean ups with your kiddos...one before lunch and one before bed. What is left...you can tackle when they are in bed. Don't make yourself crazy about it though. They are kids, there will be a mess. Just try to do your best! I started early and now my girls love to help out.

There is nothing like a clean and tidy house...everything has it's place... :)

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In any house with kids... it will never be neat and tidy, constantly.
So it is, everyday, maintenance and "upkeep."
Even after a Mom does tidy up, within 10 minutes, it is messy again.
Ongoing.

My kids are 4 and 8. Sure they pick up too. But still, it is then again, a few moments later, messy again.

Just realize, neatness is not static or permanent.
It will never be like a museum.

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I have 3 tornadoes and a dog. I have started buying plastic containers and saving only the toys that go to "sets". i take out a few sets at a time and rotate. The rest of the toys are locked in a closet and only mommy and daddy can unlock it. I feel your pain and i would be thrown in a very bad mood if someone popped in. My house is 1800 sq ft. so i have more places to stack and store.

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Declutter the toys, put most up in a closet or something. Only bring out a bucket of toys at a time. When they are done with those, they can help put them away, then get out books. Once story time is over, put books away and do an activity. Then, maybe get out the large leggos or blocks and thy can play with those for a while before snack time.

Really, having that many toys, the kids don't know how to play with them and don't focus on any one thing. If oyu remove a bulk of the toys, they will actually have interest in sitting and doing something for a longer duration. I would get rid of most of them.

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A friend with an 18-month old told me, "Learning is messy." I try to remember that! :)

I hope this doesn't seem wierd, but my 3-year old likes cleaning so sometimes I'll give her a wipe and let her wipe up her place at the table or spills in the kitchen. It's one less thing I have to do, it's like playing for her, it's teaching her about teamwork and it's teaching her responsibility.

I also try to have her pick up her own toys, especially in between things--you know, trying to keep an eye on when she goes to get something new to play with and ask her to put away the stuff she's done with first. I don't have a second child and a puppy so it's a lot easier for me, but maybe it's something to shoot for.

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I have 2 boys under 3 and one on the way. I have a combination of ways to keep it under control (although it has been really tough lately with being nauseous 24/7!)

They have a lot of toys, but all toys have a "place" whether it is bins or boxes or on a shelf. I try to encourage them to put them in their place. It also helps when they are looking for something later.

I rotate toys in and out so there are only about 1/2 to 2/3 out at one time. The others get batteries taken out, wiped down, thrown in a plastic garbage bag with a label and thrown in the back of a closet, or more likely, the garage. Later, when they are a little burnt out on the "current" toys, I just switch em out for "new" ones from the garage/closets. They are more busy and there is less clutter. It is win-win.

I make them eat all snacks and drink non-water drinks only in the kitchen.

I vacuum every other day. My 3 year old has to pick up toys he doesn't want thrown away, so he cleans the whole house the days I vacuum. I "taught" him to believe me by throwing away a cheap McDonald's toy I couldn't stand when he refused to start picking up. I know, I'm SOOO mean. :)

I pick up most nights after they are in bed to have a fresh start in the morning.

The most important thing I think is to be consistent with the everything has a place rule. If you teach em young and often and stay on them expecting them to pick up a mess (even if it is not the whole mess), they will learn what is expected and start doing it naturally. My mom did this with me and my 3 siblings and all of us are not neat freaks, but definitely neat and orderly people-my brothers know how to clean!

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get some plastic toy bins or laundry baskets and just throw the toys in there for a quick clean up and then when you have time(when they are in bed) take a basket and put it away. It also helps if you trim down your toys- if you are feeling overwhelmed with toys everywhere- there might be too many. Get rid of some. Or just put a box or two of toys up in the closet that you rotate(get them down in a month or two and put some others up in their place) But the laundry baskets have helped me a LOT! I use one for clothes that get everywhere(my kids seem to shed) and one for toys. And then when it's clean up time, it's easier to take that basket to put away then it is to make a dozen trips putting away everything on the floor.
We also do "basket ball" with toys- I toss the toys into the basket with my kids and see who can make the most toys in the basket.
~C.

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You do have a small home for I am guessing a family of 4 and a puppy so it is somewhat harder for you. The 3 year old is capable to picking up after himself and understanding that there are rules. My son has 3 different Thomas train sets and he can only have one out at a time. The 11 month old can not clean up after herself but does she really make that much of a mess? The puppy, well good luck on that one!!

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We used plastic totes. We took a few totes and put toys in there that went together such as little people in one and kitchen stuff in another. I used different colors so that the kids knew which was in what but you could label them too. Then they would decide what they wanted to play with and I would open the tote. If they changed their mind they had to help pick up all the things from that tote and put them back in before I would open another one. It allows you to keep the toys but cut down on the amount of them out at one time. It is also very helpful for things like playdough or markers and at that age they have a bit of difficulty getting them open so they need to follow the rules to get the other toys. If they were upset about cleaning up I would put on a cleaning song like they do at many preschools. The totes come in different sizes, stack well, and look better than the mess plus they can be reused for other toys or storage as they grow so they are a good investment. Good Luck!

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That's really hard. I'm sorry!

One thing you could do would be to get rid of toys. Box up and toss the ones that are broken or worthless. Bag up the ones you don't need anymore and give them to charity. Put any that your older child has outgrown that your younger child is still too young for in a big tub and store them for later. You could also take a bunch of toys and put them in a tub and set them aside, then in a week or two, bring them back out and put away the toys that had been out. I did that, and it made the toys more interesting to my kids.

Another is have a place for everything. I mean EVERYTHING. I had a skinny bookshelf in my kitchen with a little space at the bottom, so I bought a cheap basket from Ikea, slid it under there, and filled it with happy meal toys and birthday goodie bag toys. The kids would dump it out, play with them right there, and then we'd all put the toys back in the basket. Every toy we had had a place where it belonged, and the kids got used to that, and learned to help put things back.

Your 11 month old can't help, but the three year old definitely can. Put the baby in a playpen that you keep set up downstairs (ours was in our dining room), with some fun toys in it, and then you and the 3 year old can clean up the toys he has been playing with.

If the kids learn that cleaning up is expected and will always happen, they will come to expect that, too, and will participate.

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I have the same issue and I started getting rid of stuff. I went through each room and got rid of anything I didn't need. Then I went through their toys. After I had gotten rid of the majority of them, I left one tote in the living room for them to play with in there and the rest went to their room. It seems to help. They can't make a mess of stuff they don't have. I have gotten rid of tons of stuff and my house stays so much cleaner. Plus they actually sit and play with the toys now. My littlest ones are 2 and 3.

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If you immediately pick up what they've done, it takes away their sense of importance..."It doesn't matter what I do, mommy is just going to undo it..." but that really only applies to babies and toddlers.

I do two rounds of pick ups...one during naptime, and one after bedtime. I put everything completely away, and my little one (16 months) just starts over, and that's okay.

Now, if it's something like blocks, etc that have been dumped all over and she's done with them, I pick them up right away because they hurt to step on. :)

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Only solutions are get rid of some of the toys. Make your kids clean up their own mess before getting out another toy....they are 3 and one, if they can get it out themselves, they can put it away....but you will have to enforce it. And get more easily accessible toy storage....we had a big toy box, which was fast for putting away, but hard o find little pieces/organize afterward....we switched to the style of many smaller bin/boxes on a shelf, and now each type of thing has a separate bin home, and they can take the box they want out and play and put it all back and on the shelf as one unit....easier by far. But 3 and almost 1 year old is old enough to start the picking up habit - if you don't make them start now, you will be doing this following after them picking up for them thing till they move out.

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I take 10-15 min out of every hour to do something and I get him involved with it. If it's an instant mess like a spill or something that needs immediate attention it gets that but as an overall I do it during the 15min time each hour. So if we get our day started at 8 then 8:45-9 is clean up time ... clean up our breakfast dishes if we have not already, do the dishwasher if it needs to be done, make sure all clothes have been put in the hamper correctly etc. My son has a habit of tossing the clothes down the basement stairs and not going all the way to the hamper so that is when we do the full step if needed. Basically we try to clean as we go but sometimes it's more fun to just let the day take you; so on those days esp the once an hour works well for us - it creates a nice transition too.

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Teach them to put the toys back, even the 11 mo old can put his/her toys back, my granddaughter did it better at that age then at 3. I guess I didn't clean house all day and let things get a bit messy because I realized kids are only going to be small a short time and had to enjoy them while I can. Now I have grandkids and won't do house work with them here because they aren't here all the time and they have my undivided attention but I can do that cuz I am grandma :-)

i make my 3yo pick up her toys if she makes a mess with them. cuts down on the messes most of the time, if she knows she has to pick it all up herself.

Toys that find their way to the other rooms of the house go in time out. Toys live in the bedroom and no where else. I fought that battle for a year and hated tripping over them every minute of the day.

A gate also helps. If they are stuck playing in one area then the rest of the house stays presentable. They have a lot of access to parts of the house, their rooms, the hallway, and they play and have fun and don't wander and mess the rest of the house.

Just kick the stuff out of the way until they're old enough to pick up their own things. Your three year old should start learning soon. It's more work to teach them to clean up after themselves, but the lessons last a lifetime, and you don't end up playing the servant or the martyr----like the person who admitted she was about to start cleaning up after her son that just went off to college. That's just pitiful.