Spring is here and the sun is out. Which means I can see every speck of dust, dirt, grime, and fingerprints everywhere in my house! It’s time to share all the spring cleaning tips for the busy mom. Because when you are mom with six thousand children, you need to find all the tips, tricks, & hacks you possibly can to get your house in tip top shape after a lazy winter.
I will be the first to admit that my house is very “lived in.” On any given week day my 3 dogs, 6 children and their friends are running in and out of the house tracking mud, leaving shoes, socks, papers, toys, and extremely random things all over my house. (I found a brick in my sons room yesterday… An actual brick. When I asked him about it he said it was the start of his new collection…. Oh boy!)
My lived in house takes quite a bit of abuse. I will admit to you that keeping up with the every day chores of dishes, laundry, vacuuming and wiping down bathrooms can be slightly overwhelming. So, when I see all those smudges of fingerprints on the windows and the dirt and grime on the baseboards, walls, and every other surface of our home… I have a slight panic attack and consider hiring a housecleaner at least 10 times a day.
Unfortunately, a housecleaner is not in the budget at the moment.
So, while we wait for the housecleaner fairies to magically appear and make all my house cleaning dreams come true, I have found a few tips & tricks that help me break down the overwhelming task of spring cleaning. I consider these guidelines that are extremely flexible and customizable. They have been gleaned from other moms who have gone before me who have lost their ever loving minds while trying to clean a house with children in it and have come out the other side.
Someone once said, “Cleaning a house with children in it is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos.” I think I would rather brush my teeth while eating oreos than clean my house most days!
To keep frustration at a minimum and my children from fearing the “Angry Mom” who makes an appearance some days while cleaning, I stick to the following tips:
Make a List of EVERYTHING you want to do.
Start with a brain dump. Write down everything you want to do, clean, organize, purge, wipe down, sanitize, wash, get rid of, burn to the ground… you get what I mean.
Break the list down by either task or room. I have learned that sometimes it is easier to take on a whole house task than do that same task room by room.
Examples:
Cleaning the Blinds. This is a task I would rather tackle all at once that do it every time I am working on a room. I categorize this as a whole house task. I will clean all the blinds in the house during that one task. This makes it simple and makes my brain not feel overwhelmed needing to get out all the supplies to clean blinds every time I am working on another room.
Dusting. This is a room by room situation. To dust I need to remove all the things from the surface of each piece of furniture I am dusting. I would add this to my list for each room rather than do all the dusting at once.
Involve your Kids
Unless your children are infants, you can involve them in the spring cleaning process. I am the meanest mom in the world and force my children to empty & load the dishwasher, put away their laundry, vacuum, sweep, and pick up their toys on a daily basis. Ahem… I am raising them to be adults. However, deep spring cleaning is not an every day task, but they can still HELP and being INVOLVED with the process.
It’s amazing how excited my 4 year old twins are to be given a spray bottle filled with water and a rag and be told they get to clean the walls! We literally had squeals of excitement! They also sprayed everything in sight which is why I filled their spray bottle with water.
My older children, while not as thrilled to be sorting clothes or pulling out all the junk from under their beds, were easily bribed with promises of building a fort and ice cream. I also asked them which tasks they would like to help with. Giving them the option to choose allowed them to feel in control
Truth is my kids are absolute slobs when left to their own devices, but they LOVE a clean room. They play with their toys more and are more creative when their room and play room is clean.
If you have added to your list to purge the 10 million toys you have collected, I have found that asking my kids what toys they want to give to children in need really motivates them to let go of things they don’t play with. This also reminds them of toys that they love and have forgotten about because it was shoved under a bed and forgotten for weeks (okay… months).
Gather your supplies BEFORE you start your spring cleaning
There is nothing worse than not having the right tools and supplies when tackling a project. I have a few favorites that make deep cleaning easier and faster. Here is a list of some of my favorite items to use:
Magic Erasers – to erase the Picasso drawings on our walls my children so lovingly have drawn.
Expandable Duster – I just got one and love it! Reaches cobwebs in the corner ceilings, dusts ceiling fans and AC vents, and more!
Bucket – A new, clean bucket to carry all your supplies room to room
Old Socks – These are really great for cleaning blinds. Slide them on your hand like a sock puppet and clean both sides of each blind quickly.
Microfiber Cloths – I am in love with microfiber cleaning cloths. They really scrub, but are also safe on all the surfaces.
Squeegee – Blow through cleaning windows, mirrors, and showers in seconds with this tool!
Sponges – These are my favorite sponges. I like the green for deeper cleaning and the blue for a more gentle scrub.
Gloves – Don’t destroy your hands and nails while doing all this cleaning. Keep gloves on hand to protect your hands.
Hand held Vacuum – This is on my wish list. I would use this baby on EVERYTHING! Also, you can hand it to your children and tell them to vacuum ANNYYYYTHHIINGGGG!!!!
Air Freshener – While I want everything to be sparkling clean, I also want it to smell clean! If you don’t love store bought fresheners, make your own using essential oils.
I am always adding things to my list and finding new products and tools that make spring cleaning easier and quicker. I hope these Spring Cleaning tips for the Busy Mom has inspired you to take on that overwhelming task of Spring Cleaning your home. You CAN Do It!!!!
Happy Cleaning,
Keikilani
***This post may contain affiliate links which help support this blog.
I always involve the kids with the cleaning, spring or otherwise. They help make the mess, they get to help clean it up. The same goes for their dad! LOL
I so need to a spring cleaning starting NOW! With 8 of us my hiuse needs dome tlc. Thank you for inspiring me!
We are on spring break and I am on a cleaning KICK. I can’t wait to finish!
The spring cleaning is a must. And these tips are really helpful. Thanks for sharing!
These are great tips! I’ve been doing one thing at a time. I cleaned out one closet and it made my week! I can’t stop looking at it!
I need to find a weekend to tackle the project and really clean my house. I would probably just send the family away, I feel I get more accomplished when they are not around
We also get our kids involved. They’re now of the age where we expect them to do most of the work on their stuff!
I love a clean room too but sometimes, just too lazy to clean. haha! I also like doing all at once than doing everything in every room.
To get the plan on the piece of paper and get kids into action – that’s what I do!
What a great story!
Making lists is life changing for me! It is much easier to follow a list than just do some random things and forget to do half of them. Thanks for the tips.