Today I’m sharing the reality of cleaning with kids in tow. Life with small kids means lots of time playing. It also means less time to spend on everything else. I have had next to no time to do any chores round the house. So today I’m discussing Children vs Chores. Read on to find out what I have been doing to get jobs done.
Table of Contents
Children vs Chores
It’s got to the point where I think it would be easier to move house than to scrub the place from top to bottom. Don’t get me wrong, the house is tidy for the most part. We tidy up and vac daily, but actual CLEANING has definitely not been happening as often as it should (aside from the kitchen – we manage to keep on top of it in there)!
Sam and I both suffer with allergies, so most of the house is laminate flooring. This is great for quickly sweeping / running the dyson over. Although, to clean it properly, it needs mopping. Doing that with a 3 and 4 year old under your feet all day is definitely challenging.
My children are always two steps behind me, so mopping during the day results in falling children. Of course, We always intend to do the cleaning once the kids are in bed. In reality, a 4am start makes scrubbing the house seem impossible by the time they are finally asleep.
Car Wash
One job the kids are always keen to help with is washing the car… I love to pop them inside the car with a dry duster to help “clean”, while I wash the car from the outside. (Make sure the engine is off so the kids can’t put down the windows)! They love it when I’m soaping up the windows from the inside.
Tools of the trade
I’m not usually one for using professional cleaning products, but methinks we’ll have to get some to help get the house back on track once Syd starts school. I am hoping that once I have my mornings free, I can finally get into a decent cleaning routine. At the moment, the only way it gets done is if I take the kids out and poor hubby spends his day off scrubbing the house from top to bottom.
I manage to get the hoovering and laundry done by getting Syd to “help” (she has a toy Dyson and toy washing machine, so she helps me do those jobs). She has a toy iron too, but I still can’t get the actual ironing done as Sam likes to jump into the path of the steam, so it’s too dangerous.
As a result, ironing has become one of those jobs which gets put off and put off. I have about 2 weeks worth to do now. So the thought of spending an entire evening on it makes me want to cry. If I was clever, I’d buy non iron clothes, or hang them up straight from the dryer, but it never happens.
Final Thoughts on Cleaning With Kids in Tow
Have you got any tips to keeping on top of cleaning with two small children under your feet 24/7? How’s your Children vs Chores battle going?
