While you may think housework & little kids is near-impossible, that my dear friend, it is not. Yes it takes more patience, strategy and a bit of a mindset shift, but it is possible to get the housework done when you have little kids at home.

Read on to be on your way!

1. Lower your expectations

When it comes to housework, lowering your expectations is the first step to being satisfied with the state of the house. The truth is, little kids and a perfectly clean house around the clock do not exist. If you lower your expectations, you can expect to be happy when your house looks less than perfect. Welcome to motherhood my friend!

2. Live with less

When we own less, it’s far easier to keep the house in order. There are less items to be strewn all over the place, and also less items to clean. This is a surefire way to spend less time doing housework. You might want to dive deeper into this by reading a recent blog post on the topic.

3. Declutter & organise

If you do not declutter, clear and organise regularly, cleaning will be a long and arduous process. Instead, declutter on a regular basis. You can do little projects daily (get some ideas here).
Stay organised so there is no buildup of clutter. You needn’t spend long hours doing so. A little a day goes a long way! I offer a few ideas here.

4. Delegate

Delegation is a must! Everyone in the family should partake in taking care of the home. Yes, it might take longer for your 5 year old to sweep his room, but in the long run it pays off! Here’s a quote I love which is so fitting: “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”
Go to pages 44-47 in my book for the lowdown on task sharing for the family (refer and use the list supplied!), and pages 50-51 for the task list for kids by age.

5. The one minute rule

If you have my book, I know this is one of the simplest tips which you love (I keep getting thank yous for writing it down!)
If anything can be done in under a minute, do it immediately. Hang up your jacket, wash, dry and put your glass back in place, clean your shoes, put the book back in your bedroom…can you imagine if you did not do all of this immediately?

6. Include the kids

Give your little ones a small cloth and a little spray bottle filled with water, and let them help! There’s no harm done in having them wipe down the furniture while you clean another part of the room. On the contrary, this is good practice!

7. Wear your baby

If your child is still a baby, and going through a period of separation anxiety, fear not, wear your baby! Granted, you are limited in what you are able to do, but basic tasks like wiping surfaces, mopping, sweeping and decluttering can still be taken care of.

8. Have a ‘housework time’ busy box

You might have heard of busy boxes that you can put together yourself for your child to well, (obvious yes!), keep them busy for a while. Put together a fun one which comes out only when mama needs to clean. Keep it simple, yet change it up a little bit from week to week. The aim is for your young one to start looking forward to that time that mama cleans, so that they can get their hands on their busy box!

9. Multitask

Clean the toilet while your child is in the bath, unload the dishwasher while they’re snacking at the breakfast bar, clean the sink while washing your hands…if you can get anything else done – go for it!

10. Have a cleaning caddy at hand

Our home is modestly sized, so I only have one. If you have multiple storeys or a super large space, make sure you have multiple caddies in different areas. It’s easier and quicker to clean when you have everything at hand!

11. Get yourself a robot

In between the weekly washing, my cleaning robot does a great job in keeping the floors clean!

12. Employ a cleaner

I always say that if you can afford it, getting someone to clean is the way to go. You will free up so much time and energy, which you can then use elsewhere.

Doesn’t housework sound so much more attainable when you see all these tips lined up in one blog post?

Join me LIVE!

Tuesday’s live season will be all about how I decluttered and organised my wardrobe recently, the whole she-bang! I seem to be getting a lot of questions about this, so I’m only glad to share!

See you on the Mama Manual Facebook page on Tuesday at 4:30pm Malta time (GMT +2)!