Alright, let me introduce you to my VERY best friends, when it comes to a clean house:
"10 MINUTE CLEAN UP"
Just before sending the kids up to get ready for bed I announce, "10 MINUTE CLEAN UP". Everyone scatters. We go from room to room each person participating. Everyone is picking up the things that are out of place, wiping down counters, sweeping floors, etc. Sometimes it take less time and sometimes more. However, it is a rule that EVERYONE participates. We can turn on music or whatever it takes to set the energy level high. We try to make it a positive so the kids are willing to really help out. It is important for us to set the tone for this. Be high energy about it and you will get MUCH more out of your time from everyone!
When everyone is done, the house is TOTALLY picked up. The kids are off to bed and you are left with time to yourself! No more spending the next hour or two trying to recover from the day and NO MORE waking up the next day already behind!
"3 WIPES IN LESS THAN 3 MINUTES"
Go to Costco or your nearest store. Pick up a big can of Clorox wipes for each bathroom in your house. Each night, during 10 Minute Clean Up, pull 3 wipes from the container.
Wipe #1- Wipe down the door handles and light switches. Now run that wipe along the baseboards.
Wipe #2- Wipe down the sink and counter-top.
Wipe #3- The toilet. I hit the handle first, then the top of the tank, lid, then work your way down.
This is great for 2 things. I LOVE that I know that the bathroom is always clean. The second is that once per week, when I do my thorough cleaning, it significantly cuts the time spent in there down! I HATE cleaning the bathroom, but really, this makes it darn near bearable! :)
"KITCHEN SINK CLEAN-UP"
One thing I hate, probably more than anything else, is waking up to previous day dishes! Along time ago I read something about how you should clean your Kitchen sink every night before bed. I started doing that. I LOVE IT! I haven't been 100% since then, but I certainly LOVE the days I wake up and it is clean from the night before!
I have a white sink. I spray bleach in it, let it sit, grab paper towel and then wipe it all out! I shine up the faucet with a little Windex and VIOLA! In just a few minutes my sink is perfectly clean!
Why the sink? Well, in my opinion, the sink is the last thing I clean when I am done with the kitchen. That means everything else is done and I get to wake up to see my lovely "morning face" in my faucet the next morning! Lucky me!
While we are on the Kitchen....
Another quick little secret of mine. Each week, usually when I bring home groceries that need to find a place in my Kitchen, I do a quick clean-up in my fridge. You know how you hear about someone taking a huge amount of time to "finally" clean out their fridge? Well, I have learned that if I just slide things to a side then wipe down the shelves and re-organize, it takes about 5 min. and my fridge is always clean! LOVE THAT!
Alright, I think that is enough for today. Tomorrow is Laundry. Then I will let you have a few days to get yourself in the habit of doing a few of these things.
Next Wednesday we will talk about getting the family on board. Really, if you get help from them, everyone becomes more aware of their surroundings in the house and it becomes a team effort. This is the secret! This is how you go from occasionally feeling like a maid, to spending about 15-30 min. TOPS cleaning and STILL you live in a clean house! Doesn't that sound dreamy?! :) It is amazing how much time in the day you have to do the stuff you REALLY want to do when this shift happens. I will give you a great object lesson, show you the secret to job charts, etc.
Are you excited?!
Then on Thursday we will talk about de-cluttering and "everything in it's place" and make a step by step schedule that will help get your house totally de-junked with clean walls and windows too in a super short amount of time!
On Friday, we will put it all together in a schedule! We will take everything we have learned and make it all happen! You will be amazed at how much this will SIMPLIFY your life!
We are going to pound this baby out! We are dedicating (outside of Monday and Tuesday's post) the next week to getting our family to work as a team and getting our houses clean....and keeping them that way! YAY!
Wipe #1- Wipe down the door handles and light switches. Now run that wipe along the baseboards.
Wipe #2- Wipe down the sink and counter-top.
Wipe #3- The toilet. I hit the handle first, then the top of the tank, lid, then work your way down.
This is great for 2 things. I LOVE that I know that the bathroom is always clean. The second is that once per week, when I do my thorough cleaning, it significantly cuts the time spent in there down! I HATE cleaning the bathroom, but really, this makes it darn near bearable! :)
"KITCHEN SINK CLEAN-UP"
One thing I hate, probably more than anything else, is waking up to previous day dishes! Along time ago I read something about how you should clean your Kitchen sink every night before bed. I started doing that. I LOVE IT! I haven't been 100% since then, but I certainly LOVE the days I wake up and it is clean from the night before!
I have a white sink. I spray bleach in it, let it sit, grab paper towel and then wipe it all out! I shine up the faucet with a little Windex and VIOLA! In just a few minutes my sink is perfectly clean!
Why the sink? Well, in my opinion, the sink is the last thing I clean when I am done with the kitchen. That means everything else is done and I get to wake up to see my lovely "morning face" in my faucet the next morning! Lucky me!
While we are on the Kitchen....
Another quick little secret of mine. Each week, usually when I bring home groceries that need to find a place in my Kitchen, I do a quick clean-up in my fridge. You know how you hear about someone taking a huge amount of time to "finally" clean out their fridge? Well, I have learned that if I just slide things to a side then wipe down the shelves and re-organize, it takes about 5 min. and my fridge is always clean! LOVE THAT!
Alright, I think that is enough for today. Tomorrow is Laundry. Then I will let you have a few days to get yourself in the habit of doing a few of these things.
Next Wednesday we will talk about getting the family on board. Really, if you get help from them, everyone becomes more aware of their surroundings in the house and it becomes a team effort. This is the secret! This is how you go from occasionally feeling like a maid, to spending about 15-30 min. TOPS cleaning and STILL you live in a clean house! Doesn't that sound dreamy?! :) It is amazing how much time in the day you have to do the stuff you REALLY want to do when this shift happens. I will give you a great object lesson, show you the secret to job charts, etc.
Are you excited?!
Then on Thursday we will talk about de-cluttering and "everything in it's place" and make a step by step schedule that will help get your house totally de-junked with clean walls and windows too in a super short amount of time!
On Friday, we will put it all together in a schedule! We will take everything we have learned and make it all happen! You will be amazed at how much this will SIMPLIFY your life!
We are going to pound this baby out! We are dedicating (outside of Monday and Tuesday's post) the next week to getting our family to work as a team and getting our houses clean....and keeping them that way! YAY!
8 comments:
Those are some great ideas but why the heck are you blogging on your vacation. Go out and have fun=)
Hey Kara! We are headed out. Just wanted to get some of this stuff posted and scheduled so I can get it off my mind so I can have fun! :) WOO HOO!
Thanks for the good tips sista.
Great ideas Amy. When our kids were younger (actually I still do it sometimes when they come to visit) I would announce '10 pick-up'. Everyone would rush about and pick up and put away 10 items. I would have 80 items picked up in a matter of minutes. I have been known to occasionally announce '50 pick-up' on really bad days.
This little game can be played anytime, before bed or naptime, before the hometeachers come etc. Have fun with it and so will your kids.
Keep up the good work Amy!
Thank you, Thank you!! Great advice- I am going to use!!!
Why have i not heard about thisbefore? u are making my dreams come true!! =)
Kristin...there is a difference between hearing and listening! HA! :) Love ya!
I love your blog! I have been using your 10 minute clean up for a week now and it has been awesome! Thanks for the great tips!
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