This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #LimpiaTotal #CollectiveBias. Here I’m sharing my 8 Tips to Make Cleaning Easier as well as 7 Pages of FREE Printable Chore Charts for kids.
It’s been such a busy season at our house. My youngest turned four years old, my husband and I attended a marriage conference, then I traveled to Salt Lake City for the Build Your Blog Conference. When life gets this crazy, something’s gotta give. For me, it’s housework.
This is my bathroom counter before I finally took the time to clean it. The surface is so sticky, you can’t lift the dime pictured here without some sort of tool. Crazy? I know…
Does this happen to you? Do you sometimes fall so far behind that it seems like you may never catch up?
Start in the Corner
My grandmother is from Puerto Rico. One of the things I remember about my grandmother is that even though her home was somewhat plain, it was always clean. She didn’t decorate with extravagance, but she made sure her home was welcoming and warm. My grandmother passed this saying down to my mom, who passed it on to me.
“When you want to clean the whole house, start in the corner.”
If I look at the whole house, the luggage that is still not unpacked, laundry, clutter and dirty clothes, I get overwhelmed. But if I just take a corner and start there. Well, then it does’t seem so bad. And it’s a good place to start.
Clean in Layers with Clorox
Thankfully, Clorox Liquid Bleach kills 99.9% of germs. It wiped out not only the oily smudge from an eyeliner pencil gone awry, it cleaned up the sticky powder residue and the leftover wrapper of some sort of packaging
I don’t even remember.
Now the countertop is all clean. It’s disinfected and the bathroom smells lovely.
Clorox lets me clean my home in layers. Using Clorox Disinfecting Wipes in Lavender scent, Clorox Liquid Bleach and Pine-Sol in Lavender scent, I can clean, disinfect and aromatize my home.
Clorox is a multipurpose cleaning product. It’s also great for getting white bathroom carpets their whitest.
If you haven’t tried the new Lavender scented Clorox Disinfecting Wipes and Pine-Sol, I highly recommend them. They made my bathroom smell so fresh. Plus, I love how the wipes can clean around tight corners, like bathroom faucets.
Now that I’m a mom, I want to pass along this simple motto:
“when you want to clean the whole house, start in the corner”
to my kids. My goal is to get my boys started as early as possible so that training them to enjoy a clean home is more of a regular routine and less of a chore. I have a four and almost six year old so it’s baby steps right now, but at least we are working on it.
Get Kids to Clean
At his young age, my almost six year-old can’t really help me clean, but I think giving him his own basket is a great way to help him feel more involved. I want him to feel like he’s making a contribution to the housework. My son does not clean with any chemicals, he only imitates cleaning at this point.
I picked up this basket at the dollar store and I purchased the rest of our cleaning supplies at Walmart. These were on the same aisle with brooms & mops, light bulbs, and cleaning supplies.
Tutorial: What I keep in my son’s “Get Kids to Clean” Cleaning Basket
- Small Dust Broom and Pan
- Small Cleaning Towel
- Sponges
- Cleaning Cloths
- Lint roller
- Spray Bottle of Water
One you’ve loaded your son or daughter’s cleaning basket, spend a few minutes teaching them how to use their supplies. Encourage them in their efforts and find a fun way to express your gratitude for their work.
Free Printable Chore Charts
To help my boys develop a regular routine for chores, I created some daily routine and chore charts, and I’m sharing them here to help anyone who would like to start helping kids track their daily efforts. The daily routine charts consist of five pages and the chore charts consist of two pages. I’ve also included a blank template with chore and routine images so you can customize your chart to meet your needs.
There are almost no words on the daily routine or chore charts. I picked graphics that had images of kids completing their chores to make it easy for my son to know which step in our routine, or which chore is on the list. He’s too young for many of the chores, but I wanted these charts to be flexible enough for parents to use with older children as well.
Want these free printables? Get your free Daily Routine and Chore Charts for Kids
To download your FREE Chore Charts, subscribe here and you’ll be directed to the PDF file.
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8 Tips to Make Cleaning Easier
Cleaning is a task that has to be done. A few simple tips for making cleaning less like a chore and a bit more fun.
- Put on comfortable clothes and shoes
- Tune into your favorite radio station, or songs on your iPod
- Clear the clutter (dirty laundry in the hamper, toys and household objects back where they go)
- Put on your favorite apron
- Keep things like gloves and hair ties handy in case you need them
- Grab your Clorox cleaning products and clean things easily
- When you want to clean the whole house, start in the corner
- Get kids to clean with their own cleaning basket and free chore charts for kids
It takes some work, but once my bathroom is all clean it looks like the photo below. Ahhh… a bathroom oasis. Now I can relax.
Where to find Clorox Cleaning Products
I found everything I needed to clean, disinfectant and aromatize my home at Walmart. You can find the Clorox Disinfecting Wipes in Lavender scent, Clorox Liquid Bleach, and Pine-Sol in Lavender scent in the cleaning aisle.
For more information about Clorox cleaning products please visit the: Clorox Website.
Have any cleaning tips to share?
Have any special tips for teaching kids to clean? How do you get your home ready for spring? As the mother of two young boys I’m always looking for great ideas. Please leave me a comment – I love hearing from my readers.
Best Wishes,
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P.S. – I blog to encourage moms, offer free preschool tools, and share ideas for family fun. If you enjoy recipes, free printables, crafts and games for little ones, ideas for family fun and encouraging posts for moms, sign up and have Happy and Blessed Home delivered to your inbox. Simply enter your e-mail address here:
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Chore Charts Pinnable Image
