How I Keep a Clean House with a Toddler
How I keep my House Clean
Growing up my mum always kept our house clean and tidy! I loved this about our house and carried this into the places I lived once moving out! When I was single and living by myself this was easy to keep up with. I was working or out most of the day so keeping my place clean wasn’t hard. I just cleaned up after myself daily and kept up with vacuuming and laundry. Once Melvin and I moved in together, it was an adjustment to learn each other’s habits and values of keeping a place organized. I would say I am VERY organized and I like for everything to have a place. Eventually, we figured out a system that worked for us.
Then Moose came along and things became a lot different, and that is what this post will be about. How I keep my house clean and organized as a mom. People often comment on how clean my house is and I take pride in this. This may not be important to some people but to me it is! So if you want to see how I easily keep my house clean, keep reading!
At the end of this post you will find my favorite cleaning products linked.
How I keep my house clean and organized with a toddler.
/1/ Laundry
*Do it when your basket is full, fold it straight away*
We always have a designated place for our dirty laundry. This avoids laundry piling up on the floor or in random places. Currently, our basket is in the laundry room, our clothes and other laundry items go straight in the basket when we are done with them. Our basket holds about 2- 3 days’ worth of laundry so when I see it is full I load it into the washer. I usually do this a night and use the delayed end-setting so it finishes before Melvin goes to work. He will throw the clothes into the drier and by the time I wake up the laundry is ready for folding. Team Work! Sometimes I get to the folding right away, sometimes it is later in the day. But to make sure our laundry gets folded I dump it all on our bed. This means I or both of us have to fold it before bed.
Moose helps with transitioning the laundry if he is awake. I’m trying to teach him how to fold easy items like our small towels.
I also have a wet bag in Moose’s bathroom for his dirty cloth diapers. These also get washed every 2-3 days, but this is a longer process because they have to be washed twice and hung to dry.
/2/ Cleaning
*Do a cleaning chore every day, ask your spouse for help, include your children*
I clean the house daily. Yup, you read that correct, I clean every day! Now I am not crazy, I do not spend hours cleaning. I spend 15-30 mins cleaning a day. I’d rather do this than have a messy and dirty house that takes 3+ hours to clean once a week.
What my daily cleaning looks like, vacuuming, wiping down counters, and doing the dishes. We do have a Roomba so some days I just set that. We have 2 cats so the daily vacuuming helps keep the cat hair under control. Because we live in rented housing this also makes it easier when we move out because we don’t have a lot of cleaning to do. Moose loves to clean so he will help me with the vacuuming and dusting. Melvin and I will typically dust 1-2 times a week.
/3/ Dishes
*Load dishes in the dishwasher or wash them right away*
I hate dirty dishes! They annoy me to look at and make me feel cluttered so I just do them. I put the dishes in the dishwasher or I hand wash them immediately if they can’t go in the dishwasher. If I don’t wash them right away then I wash it after lunch or before bed. I take a few minutes to tidy the house and do dishes when I put Moose down for his nap. This helps me relax and transition into my “me time”. Then I can focus on whatever I am going to do while he naps. I usually do my dishes as I go when cooking dinner but if I don’t get to them all, I do them once Melvin takes over with Moose at night. I will do all the dishes, wipe all the counters, and put things away. Just like with nap time this helps me to relax and then I can enjoy my evening and not have to worry about what needs to be cleaned. I set the dishwasher every other night and then empty it in the morning. Moose helps put his dishes away and he enjoys this!
/4/Bathrooms
At the end of each night I wipe down our bathroom counters and sinks. I like to take baths often and so does Moose so I also clean our showers and bathtubs weekly. I use a mixture of baking soda and dish soap to clean our showers and tubs. We have a shower squeegee that we use to wipe down our shower walls and curtain each night to help avoid mold as well. I also clean our mirrors weekly with a reusable paper towel and water. Following these tips daily or weekly is how I keep my house clean!
/5/ Pets- Cats
*Clean up after pets weekly*
I am allergic to dust, mold and cats, but I refuse to get rid of my fur babies. (Don’t worry my dr. gave me tips to stay healthy while living with cats)
Because of this I wash our sheets and throw blankets weekly to help with the cat dander and dust that accumulates. I also have this nifty pet hair remover that is magical (linked below), I use it every morning.
Litterbox- I will admit I am not good with this but I do empty it 2-3 times a week. If you have an older child this would be a great chore to have them help with. Emptying the litter leads me to…
/6/ Other random tips
Trash- I check all our trash cans around the house (after I empty the litter) and combine them into our big trash can. This bag then goes into the outside trash.
Toys- Moose helps clean up his toys most days which also helps keep the house tidy. We rotate his toys so he doesn’t have access to them all at the same time. (Click here to check out my night time routine for more on this!)
My last and probably the biggest tip I have… NO ONE WEARS SHOES IN OUR HOUSE…we have house shoes that we wear inside only. This cuts back on the amount of dirt that is tracked into our our house. I could name a million other reasons we don’t wear shoes in the house but I will spare you the time!
How I keep my house clean recap
I take pride in having a clean house. Keeping my house clean and tidy is something that is important to me. It helps keep us healthy as a family and teaches Moose important life skills. I also love that I can invite people over at *ALMOST* any time and not have to worry about if my space is clean and tidy.
Here is a list of my favorite cleaning supplies.
*Reusable Paper Towels
*Vinegar and Water Mixture
*Dish soap and Baking soda Mixture
Click on each item below to be directed to where you can buy it from.
*This post contains Amazon affiliate links that I may earn a small commission from, at no cost to you. I only recommend products I use myself and all opinions are our own. Thank you for your support!*
*Pet Vacuum
*Cloth Diaper Wet Bag
*Shower Squeegee
*Pet Hair Remover
What are some of your cleaning tips and tricks? Share them with me below!
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