Things I Love Thursday: Clean home is a happy home.

Kinda like the saying, "happy wife, happy life". Those of you that know me know that I have this need for things to be clean and by clean, I mean picked up. I don't need the baseboard's scrubbed or white glove approved but I need it to 'appear' clean. You never know who is going to be stopping by and really, who wants to walk into a messy home? The funny thing is, if it's someone elses castle I don't mind messiness but for me and my castle ... yeah. Not a fan of the mess. 

Since many of you have asked me what I do with having three little boys and still keep a {somewhat} clean castle I thought I would fill you in on some little secrets that work for me. Because lets be honest, how many times do you look away for a split second only to find the room you just cleaned up a complete disaster {again}?

1. Get your kids involved. This is KEY! There is NO reason that YOU should be the only one picking up. I don't care the ages. All three of my boys {including my 15 month old} know that they are to pick up their toys once the are done playing. If they move on from one thing to thing then guess what? They clean it up before the move on. Really, don't be scared I am not a crazy cleaning mom. You would be surprised... my boys don't fight it {because they are used to it}. Of course, I will help but I really try to encourage them and reward them!

2. Clean Floor. Sounds simple. This has always been my go to. If the floor is clean then the room 'appears' to be clean. It doesn't take long. You will LOVE me if you simply try this. Do a 'floor check' clean up time with the family mutiple times a day. Is your house going to pass the white glove test? No. However, it will appear clean--er. Plus, it might just be what you need to tackle the rest of your castle.

3. Routine. Like everything else you do in life it's so much easier when you develop a routine which then becomes a habit. Do you wait till the dishes are piling over before you do them? Do you wait till you have 26 loads of laundry and then decide it might be time to start washing? How much easier would it be to simply create a schedule for yourself. If I am being totally honest I don't have a schedule {but it sounds good, right}... Here's what I do. After every meal I CLEAN the kitchen, put the dishes in the dishwasher. Before I put the kids down for bed {nap, quiet time or bed time} I make sure all toys are picked up {aka floor check}. You will be shocked if you just make cleaning a discipline, like everything else, it will become easy-er. It doesn't take long when you don't let it pile up. I try to do at least 2-3 loads of laundry a day. If I am playing with my boys I throw in a load. If I am watching t.v. or on the computer I throw in a load. You really do have time you just have to use the time wisely!

I know, some of you are saying you work full time or you have newborns or it's just not important to you. I get it, I really do but I also promise that you will feel 100% better about your castle if you just tweek a few things. Seriously, it will make your life easier and really if you are like me at all, as a mom I will take all the easy I can get!

Do you have any 'secret' cleaning tips?

Happy Cleaning!


linked to Things I Love Thursday

Toothbrush and Toothpaste, Say What?

My oldest has a slight obsession with Puma shoes. Truth be told so do I. How is it that a five year old (almost six, if you ask him) can have a preference and know the difference between shoes? In an effort to try and keep a running, jumping, playing in mud, grass stains type of kid shoes clean I tried a new cleaning product. Guess what it is? 


Toothpaste and a Toothbrush.


Shocking right? Mr. Clean came upstairs and saw me scrubbing Little Puma's shoes as they were covered in toothpaste.  He said, "Oh, no what are trying now?" I said, "Magic, just wait." Although acting confident I was thinking "holy crap I just ruined a 3 week old pair of Puma shoes". Much to mine and Mr. Clean's surprise it worked fantastically. I seriously couldn't believe it. Here is a picture of his shoes before I took a toothbrush and toothpaste to them.

and after the T&T attack.....

Why didn't I do this with the other 4 pairs I have thrown away?  If you have little boys you NEED to use this on their gym shoes. It will save you a ton of money and keep those sweet little men looking good in their Puma swag!


Do you have any cleaning tricks like this? If so, please fill us all in!

Slightly on the obsessive compulsive side...

Do you remember when you used to fill out job applications?  You know the part where you have to list all of your hobbies or personal interests? I knew they wanted me to list off admirable things like running or volunteering at a retirement home.  I would think, how awesome weird are they going to think I am that I spend my free time cleaning? Seriously, who does this?  Is cleaning even considered a personal interest?  *Ahem* 

There are few activities in life that can match the rush that transforming a dirty, finger printed window into an HD view brings me.  And if you give me a messy room and an uninterrupted 30 minutes, I’ll show you a new way of living.  I am the type of person that if I had a cleaning lady I would actually clean before the cleaning lady showed up.  I tend to be, ummm, slightly on the obsessive compulsive side.  I clean when I am happy, mad, nervous... you get the point.  Which leads me to one of my most fabulous cleaning products.  Oh, in case you are wondering, all of you businesses out there, I am totally game for writing about your products.  I am sure all six of my followers will LOVE them!  I'll be waiting, okay, great!

  

Alright, here she is!  Not only is this glass cleaner ammonia-free, non-toxic and odorless it is also AU NATURALE!  This fabulous cleaner is the bomb.  "It's da bomb you know you hear me comin"... (Forgive me as I just reverted back to my middle school days when Kris Kross was da bomb! )  I used to be terrible at cleaning windows as I would leave them so streaked.  They would actually look WORSE after I cleaned them but with this amazing product, birds will fly into your windows.  No lie, two birds flew into the back door earlier this summer like five minutes after I cleaned it.  Only a neurotic clean freak would be excited about that.

 I know you want to know where you can get this, like I said it is all Au Naturale which means it can be purchased at your local Health Food Store!  Here's a quick tip... If you have a window/door that is super dirty (like haven't cleaned in months dirty) first use Joy dishwasher detergent on it, then use the BioKleen!  You will LOVE me afterwards, PROMISE!

Happy Cleaning!