Parenting Pointers: Stress Free Cleaning

Busy moms and dads may wish house cleaning and chores could be crossed off the to-do list forever. However, it is a fact of life there will always be more dirty dishes to wash and more laundry to fold.

Fortunately, there are shortcuts that can help keep your home clean without sacrificing precious family time. Consider these strategies.

Create cleaning checklists

With everything else happening in your household, it can be easy for cleaning to slip through the cracks. Then you wake up one morning with the realization that all the dishes are dirty, you haven’t vacuumed all week and the same load of laundry has been sitting in the dryer for three days.

Using checklists can be a great way to ensure your house stays in relative order every day. While you can make your own checklists, there is no reason to reinvent the wheel. Do an online search for ‘printable house cleaning checklist’ to find and test drive ones made by other moms and home organizers.

Multi-task for more manageable cleaning

There are multiple opportunities throughout the day to combine cleaning with other tasks. Not only does multi-tasking save time, it can also break cleaning down into more manageable bites. Think about when and how small spurts of cleaning can fit into your day. Here are some simple ideas to get you started:

• Picking up clutter or putting away dishes while on the phone
• Wiping down the bathroom before hopping in the shower
• Loading the dishwasher while cooking dinner
• Folding clothes while watching TV

Don’t scoff – three to five minutes of cleaning here and there throughout the day can make a significant difference in the overall appearance of your home.

Reduce what you have to clean

Much of what we think of as ‘cleaning’ is not actually cleaning. Instead, it is organizing and containing clutter. The easiest way to reduce your cleaning time is to reduce the number of items taking up space in your house.

Does your child really need two giant tubs of legos? Do you ever actually cook with your five saucepans at the same time or is having so many just a convenient way to avoid dish washing? When is the last time you looked at the knick knacks displayed in the living room other than when you dusted them?

Entire books have been written on how to pare down your possessions, and if you have a clutter problem, it may be time to pick up one from your local library. It can be a painful process to let go of some items, but the less stuff you have in your house, the less time you need to spend cleaning and rearranging it.

Bring in the pros

As a last resort, and for those who really dislike cleaning, you may want to find a professional service. Some moms balk at a cleaning service; they may think keeping the house tidy is part of their ‘job’ as housekeepers. But really, unless you live for scrubbing the toilets, why wouldn’t you want to pass on the dirty work to someone else?

Cleaning is a necessary part of keeping your house healthy and safe for your family. However, there is no reason why you need to spend your weekends doing marathon cleaning sessions when a little upkeep throughout the week is all it takes to keep your house tidy.

Jess Katsma has been providing house cleaning services Grand Rapids MI for over 10 years. Her company, Less Mess with Jess, is fully insured and holds an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

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