a few more ideas. . .

Today I thought I would share few more ways that I maintenance clean.

I must admit that I am very fortunate that my husband’s father was quite the stickler when it came to training his three kids to clean and I am reaping the benefits (one more piece of evidence that cleaning can be taught). My husband is very good about putting his dirty clothes down the chute and taking his shoes off at the door, but probably the one thing I am most thankful for is that his father taught him to wipe off the toilet seat and put down the seat when he was done . . .can you believe that?! So you moms out there with little boys, start teaching now. That act alone keeps my bathroom so much cleaner then the average household.

The next piece of advice for maintenance cleaning I have is one I have just started implementing in the last few weeks (cleaning and organizing is ever-changing due to the seasons of life we are in. My advice is if something is not working for you, change it. There is no right or wrong way to clean and organize). As my girls are getting older, we are involved in more things so there are times when they may be playing with things, and we do not have the time needed to clean up like we should. After a few days of messes added to messes, I decided something needed to change. I went out and purchased three-square baskets with cute pink gingham liners. I placed one in Maddie’s room, one in Abigail’s room and one in the hallway (the basket in the hall is more for Jeff. He places items he does not know which girl it goes to, and I go through that one and place the toys in the right girl’s basket). If we do not have time to put something away or Jeff or I find something around the house, we put that in the appropriate basket. One of the girls' jobs every morning is to empty their baskets. This has solved a huge problem for me and it was really so simple. The baskets are not so large that they will become unmanageable, but it gives us a place to put stuff when there is just not time to put it away right. It is a way to keep the house looking put-together but giving us a way to be flexible when we are in a time crunch.

The last bit of advice I will share today is to keep your cleaning supplies in each bathroom. I know it may seem a little excessive, but it makes cleaning so much easier when you can just open the cabinet door and find all the things you need to clean that bathroom. It also makes small pick-ups in-between cleaning easier because it is all at your fingertips.

I hope that a few of these tips will help some of you start to think about cleaning in a new way. Maintenance cleaning makes my life so much easier. I hope it will make yours as well. Happy spring cleaning!