Friday, July 1, 2011

7 ways kids have changed my cleaning habits. . .

As I was cleaning the house today, I realized my methods have changed since I became a mom. I'm sure fellow mommies can relate. Here are some of my musings. . .

-Before I had kids, clean meant 9 hours of scrubbing, scouring and organizing. Now? 4 hours is pushing the limits of everyone's sanity.

-Before, I mopped my kitchen floor without fail at least once a month on my hands and knees with a bucket of water/cleaner and a rag. I had to get all the corners this way and nothing else was clean enough. Now? I'm possibly madly in love with my steam mop. . .and the bucket makes an excellent container for storing those rarely used rags.

-Before, I dusted my baseboards every time I cleaned. Now? Uh oh, I just looked down.

-Before, dusting involved a can of Pledge or other furniture polish spray and a towel. Spray, wipe, polish till it shines. Now? A Swiffer Duster to knock the dust off and then vacuum. Half the time. Good results.

-Before, I cleaned my ceiling fans a bit more often. Now? When the rain of dust begins OR I turn them off and notice the mountain ridges of dust, I clean them then.

-Before, clean meant spotless, everything in its place, shiny, perfect. Now? Clean means everything put away, no obvious dirt and no bad smells.

-Before, I cleaned my bathtub often. . .or at least as often as the rest of the bathroom. Now? I "check" to see if it needs cleaning. If it doesn't look gross, it isn't. ;-)

So are you as clean and organized as you were before you had kids? Or are there corners you cut every now and then, too. . .or even just tips that could help other busy moms? Leave a comment and let me know.

2 comments:

Colleen said...

Mine are about the same, though I am still pretty obsessive about the floors.

I still haven't adapted to having so darn much STUFF everywhere!

mombloggerJ said...

Thanks for commenting! Yeah, dirty floors are a very annoying thing. I have 2 animals, too, so it's hard to stay up on the HAIR! I was way more obsessive about the floors when the littlest one was crawling. . .