photo credit: biewoef
Life with children is a lot of fun and the majority of us would never go back to the boring lives we had before our children. However, we all must admit that it can be a big challenge to maintain an orderly home with the pitter-patter of little feet running through the house every day. The good news is that even though it is a challenge, it can still be done. Yes, it is possible to keep an orderly home in the midst of the fun and chaotic life you have with your children! Below are several organizational tips you will most likely find helpful for maintaining an orderly home with children.
1. Clean a Little Every Day. It’s amazing how disorganized we feel when there is clutter about and toys everywhere. To keep your stress level down and you home feeling organized, it’s helpful to do a little bit of cleaning each day. Regardless of whether you’re doing the dishes, picking up clothes and doing the laundry, dusting and vacuuming the living room or just picking up toys – cleaning a little every day will make you feel much more accomplished and organized. To help keep your house in good and presentable condition, make a list at the beginning of the week with at least one thing to do each day.
2. Go Paperless. One of the easiest way to create constant clutter is to receive all of your monthly bills in the mail. This creates a lot of paper that doesn’t have anywhere to go. Therefore, reduce your clutter by setting up all of your monthly bills to arrive electronically via email. You can even make it easier by setting up automatic payments for your utility bills also.
3. Assign Chores. As your children get older, they will be able to handle more and more responsibility, and you should take advantage of this! Your home will remain clean and orderly when you give your children weekly chores that need to be done. For example, they can unload the dishwasher when it’s finished with its cycle, take out the trash on trash day, pick up their toys at the end of every day, help clean bathrooms once a week, and much more. This will teach them responsibility while keeping the house organized.
4. Establish a Routine. Regardless of the age of your children, evening times have a way of getting chaotic when there isn’t a clear routine established. To help maintain order and keep everyone on the same page, you should establish a clear nightly routine. For example, the kids should know about how much free time they have before dinner. After dinner (which should also be about the same time every night) there should be a clear plan of attack before bedtime. This may include cleaning up the dinner table, taking baths, brushing teeth and watching 30 minutes of television before bedtime. It doesn’t really matter what your schedule consists of, just having one is the key.
5. Have a Centrally Located Calendar. Another great way to make sure everyone in the home knows what is going on every day is to have a big calendar that is centrally located. This calendar should have everything written on it on the corresponding days. For example, in addition to writing down major things like birthday parties, dentist appointments and dinner dates, you should also include your children’s school activities, extracurricular activities and you and your spouse’s activities also. This will ensure that everyone knows who has what going on and at what time every day, greatly reducing confusion and miscommunication.
Life with children can be tiring and frustrating as every day brings us new challenges, but this doesn’t mean that it isn’t possible to be organized and maintain an orderly home. When you implement the tips above in your lifestyle, you’re going to be taking a big step in the right direction. You may even find other ways to keep your home orderly in the process!
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