Housework Tips For The Time-Poor Mum

Keeping up with the house work can be tricky.. Here are my survival tips to doing housework with little ones running around..

- Cleaning rosters are great. I update mine every now and then to suit the changing needs of the family.  The most important thing is not to let yourself be upset if you don't get around to some things. I am notorious for beating myself up for not achieving what I 'should'. It's not there to be rigid, but rather to help you remember what needs to be done and not fall behind in an area because of baby brain!!
Here is my roster at the moment to show you what I mean..

- Tubs for toys makes tidying easy. I am trying to teach the kids to tidy up each activity before getting the next one, but a lot of our toys are in reach and it's difficult to keep up with all three of them! By having tubs, at the end of the day I can race around and have the place tidy in a minute or two rather than having to go back and forth 100 times. 

I also believe that by having the toys out on display like this means that there is less mess overall, as they aren't rummaging through a big toy basket to find something. 

- Use natural products where possible. This means that the kids are not being exposed to a cocktail of chemicals at home and they can even help with cleaning! My favourites are lavender oil spray (5 drops to 1l water) and eucalyptus oil spray ( 5 drops to 1l water) and vinegar (either straight or half vinegar and half water). These are natural cleaners and disinfectants and smell lovely and fresh. 

- Have a few extra baskets in the laundry so that you don't have to sort the clothes when you do the washing. 

I have three up on a shelf - kids clothes, lights and darks. The clothes get thrown in to each basket every day as we go and makes putting a wash on so very quick and easy.