Do You Hate Cleaning?

Do you have too much stuff? I've always told my husband that one of these days, I'm going to purge to the point that I have very little to clean around and nothing to dust. Lol… This mom appears to feel the same way.

1. When in doubt, throw it out

These days, our house looks pretty bare. In the play area, we only have books and a box with building blocks. That’s about it. Cleaning still isn’t fun, but at least it’s not so frustrating anymore. When we get overwhelmed again, we give or throw away more things. Because the truth is, the less stuff you have, the faster you’ll be done putting it all away.

2. Call in (mini) reinforcements

I really tried cleaning our house by myself once. Spoiler: I failed. I was miserable and realized that help was desperately needed. There’s nothing wrong with admitting this, and even less wrong with asking for help.

My kids are now required to do chores, like setting or cleaning the table and putting their toys away. I’m trying to motivate them to help me, using various techniques such as positive reinforcement and consequences. Often (but not always), they do what they’re told. My husband pitches in as well, just as he should.

In some ways, I can't wait until my son is old enough to have chores. Right now, it feels like I clean up the same few toys a hundred times each day.

You can read the rest of this list on Babble. When you're finished, leave us a comment and share your cleaning tips.