house cleaning tips. and yes. this is serious.

i'm a neat freak

 no  really. i am.
i know i post pictures of my messy desk.....but that's always right before i clean it up. and i make mad messes when i craft...but that's just part of the process...

I blogged about my bloggy routine....

and so i thought i would get down and intimate (not like that!) and tell you how i keep the non blogging stuff running....like my clean house...and my well cooked dinner.

(i almost said that with a straight face)

I have a few rules that keeps my house clean...which equals more blogging time...i mean time with my family
time. Like.....

A. if you leave a room..find something that belongs in the room you are going too. i walk upstairs i take my husband's dirty plate (cause he doesn't live by the same rules) I go downstairs i take a pair of shoes...when i have to go the bathroom, i'll pick up my daughter's blankets and take them as i go.  i have a ton of stairs...and i could spend my day going up or down. so whenever I have stuff that needs to go downstairs i will put a pile by the top of the stairs...when i have a big enough pile..i will take it down (or up). this saves me from going up and down every few minutes.
(i also do this with my car. i get out..i grab a load of trash or my daughters 3 pair of shoes (i don't know how so many end up in there she only has two feet) and put them where they go.)

B. Laundry.
it will overtake you.  do a load a day. two on mondays (cause i don't do squat on sunday) and if i have nothing in my laundry basket i pull off sheets or towels to make a full batch. (always do a full batch!) as soon as it's done ..take it out. (you can only fluff them so many times.) i totally make my kids help put away their stuff...which they hate. but saves me from joining a nudist colony.

C. a place for everything and everything in it's place. i find this especiallllly true with kids room. you have a big play box with all the toys dumped in it...and your kid wants that one little batman toy...he will dump everything out looking for it. I have a batman crate...a star wars crate...hot wheels drawers...a polly pocket place...a crate for mcdonald's toys...everything is organized so when they want something specific..they know right where to get it.  this always works great for clean up as well. if your kid dumped out everything and you tell him to clean his room....he is going to be overwhelmed. i tell my son..go pick up just the batman stuff...and in a few minutes i give him another thing to pick up. before he knows it his whole room is picked up!

D. dinner dishes. (all dishes actually) they suck. just be like nike and do it. immediately. it will be a lot harder when the food is all crusted on. and no one wants to wake up to a pile of dishes in the sink. (teach your kids to rinse their own plates and load them for you!)

weird random afterthought about dishes: don't have too many. if you have 6 pots...and you cook a big dinner..you will use them all. and that's alot to clean up. i only have two small pots and one big one for soups. when i get done cooking my potatoes ..i clean it out so i can make the gravy. if i have a tons of pots..i would use them all. 

E. prepare the night before. part of our bedtime routine is laying out school clothes...(sock shoes to jewelry and hair crap) if we need lunches the lunch boxes are on the counter ready to be packed and all the papers they need are in their backpacks by the door.  it's a time saver and saves me from yelling my head off in the morning. (when we get the monthly lunch menu i go through with each kid and they tell me what days they like the food...and what days they need a lunch. freakin lunches are expensive at school...and i'll be danged if i'm going to pay for something that they won't eat!

which brings me to F...
 nightime routine. do it. my kids have 15 min to get a drink.go the bathroom. get pjs on..clean up whatever mess is out. lay out their clothes for school..brush teeth..did i miss something? then they have 20 min to read. then it's prayers and lights out. i got soooo sick of my kids coming out 42 times (slight exaggeration) (but only slight) to go the bathroom and get a drink and whatever excuse they could think of to not go to bed. (This really isn't a house cleaning tip....but a sanity saver)

G. 3 minute clean up. Right before dinner when the kids are hungry and whiny and waiting for dinner and have nothing to do..we do a mad scramble. i set the timer for 3 minutes and we all run around and clean up as much stuff as possible. we help each other out (cause sometimes it's funner to clean up other people's crap) (and funner IS a word) we usually get all the toys put away..so we can eat dinner..play a game..watch a movie and go to sleep. (we also do this so daddy doesn't know we have been sewing all day instead of cleaning))



H. is for holy crap...i didn't know i could go on so long about cleaning crap. but here's another one. MENU! know it. there is a reason my menu board is one of my all time favorite things in the world.

 i look at it...and know if i need to pull out something to defrost or when i need to start dinner. it makes life easy when i go grocery shopping...and if something comes up..you can swap days as needed. (i always plan an easy meal (like chili dogs or pizza bombs) and then a harder meal (like casseroles or something that takes prep work) so i can swap to an easy meal if my husband tells me he's not going to be here for dinner (cause why would i waste a good dinner on kids that will just complain.)

I.  oh..i came up with another one. TOUCH ONCE! It's my main rule with my emails. i won't open them unless i have time to answer back. I do it with my mail. i get it. i open it. i put the trash in the trash. the announcements go on my bulletin board. the bills go in the bill pile and the coupons go where the coupons go (in the door of my car) touch things once. fill out the paperwork. sign your kids things and put them back in their bags...do it immediately.


J. bathrooms. i hate them. if it was up to me we would be squatting in the bushes. this one is like laundry. it needs to be done everyday. just a quick wipe down. get the toothpaste spilled wiped up..wipe up the pee on the seat...clean out the tub...etc. i usually do this when i put my kids to bed cause a...soon as i put cleaning stuff in the toilet everyone has to pee...and b. my kids rooms are right by the bathroom and i can hear if they are messing around and not sleeping. (i also try to delegate the toothpaste mess and wiping up to the older kids....)

K. oKay. this isn't really about cleaning or organizing...but it's something i always do..cause i'm a multitasker...exercise while you brush your teeth. and doing your dishes...and running up the stairs and carrying the groceries in...I can't just blow dry my hair. i blow dry my hair and do squats. my husband makes fun of me..but he enjoys my butt.

(not me. (wish it was..but not me)

i found this fantastic blog all about lazy girl fitness! go here to see her other quick ways to sneak in exercise!

 L. PINTEREST. oh yes i did. i'm here to validate your time you waste spend on pinterest. i don't hide my love affair for pinterest. the ocd in me LOVES how it has organized everything for me. it keeps all the recipes i want to try, the outfits i want to buy, the boys i lust after...all organized. (okay...some of my boards aren't useful) before there was pinterest...i would see something i like and save the picture to my computer with the name of the picture the name of the blog where i got it from. but i would still have to search it out on the blog..and sometimes i couldnt find it. and it was a FAIL. pinterest saves me soooo much time i know right where i link up everything..
like this:

what comes after L.

oh M. no matter how much you clean..you always will have things to clean. i organize my BIG cleaning things by week. this week happens to be the kids rooms (to make room for all the new toys)

last week was washer and dryer (clean it out and behind)

next week is baseboards.

i have a week to do it. i can cram it all into one day. or spread it out as a please. this makes me feel especially cleaned and organized. You just need to sit down and make a list of things that needs to be cleaned...like twice a year. I will share my list to help you get started...(HERE also has great ideas)

stove

fridge

curtains/ blinds

garage

laundry room

bathroom

trash cans

living room upstairs

living room downstairs.

my room

girl's room

boy room

yard

kitchen cupboards

kitchen drawers

recipes

paper work (file cabinet_

light fixtures

fans

paint touchup

closets

doors

car

spot clean carpet

windows and tracks

baseboards

wipe down walls

fake plants.

i'm sure i'm missing something important..but you get the basic idea. and i break them up by week. i go through my calander and add a chore for each week... i do the blinds when the weather is nice so i can just hose them off in the yard and let them dry.so that one is during the summer...

i clean my kids rooms when they are gone to school so i throw away the crap they keep forever.

i go through my recipes. when i can sit down (maybe when i'm sick) 

etc...

and like i mentioned above...Pinterest if full of awesome quick easy ways to clean things!

(i don't have a cleaing crap board ...cause my cousin has the best one so i always go there first!)

and i leave you know...with plenty of cute cleaning printables!

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and fab n free has saved me so much time....they have compiled 20 great blog planners...that are all free printables! go here to see them all and pick your favorite! an organized blog is a happy blog!

alrighty...any major ones i missed? do you have a great tip! leave me a comment!!!!