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My son can turn a clean house into the above image in approximately 2 minutes and 20 seconds. Can you relate? I made the photo above black and white for dramatic effect. :) That is really our house and that is how our house inevitably ends up almost every single day.
I first read about the idea of a 5-minute clean-up on Little Green Notebook a long time ago, way before Bodhi could really make messes besides messes in his diaper. ;)
Jenny, the blogger behind Little Green Notebook wrote about how she would go through her house every night with a basket and pick up all misplaced items. Then she would return them all to their correct spot.
My husband and I recently started doing a 5-minute cleanup every night and it’s been AMAZING!
Yes, this little guy can do all of that. So here is how we keep it clean.
We literally look at the clock and go for 5 minutes getting as much done as we can. Some nights we just pick up toys and books and clean up any food that ended up on the floor during Bodhi’s dinner. Other nights we finish the dishes, wipe down counters and get through toys and food. Our house ends up looking pretty great in just 5 minutes. If you make it a 10 or 15 minute clean up, imagine all of the possibilities! I feel so good waking up to a clean house every day.
We were blown away the first time that we did it realizing that it literally only took us a few minutes to clean up what looked like an incredibly messy entire first floor. Try it out!
I used to feel completely overwhelmed by the kid messes and would become paralyzed. I wouldn’t tidy up at all because it felt like such a big job. When you really get down to it, it takes a few minutes a day to make yourself feel SO MUCH BETTER. Do you have any tips for keeping your house clean with a toddler?
We try to do the same sort of thing. After dinner, one of us cleans up the table/dishes/leftovers, and the other gives Rylie a bath or plays with her. After she goes to bed, we clean up any toys still scattered, I clean up her (cloth) diapers, and prep for the next day (lay out clothes/diapers, pack day care bag, etc.)
We’ve also been working on getting Rylie to help clean up at least some of her toys. For example, she has a set of blocks (that are stored in a zipper bag) and a set of little alphabet books (in a box) that never fail to be scattered around the house. She seems to enjoy cleaning up when we sit on the floor and help her and make it a fun activity. I also try to use this as a transition to the next thing, like the blocks must be put away before we can take out the books, or play outside, or before we have a snack, etc.
Great idea