My Absolute Best Cleaning Tips

Nothing like a visit from your Mother-In-Law to motivate CLEANING!  Don't get me wrong we typically have a house that looks lived in, but it's moderately clean, just not MIL clean.  I realize my Mother-In-Law isn't going to think I'm a bad mother or wife if everything isn't spic and span but of course that doesn't matter now does it?

The ironic thing is my husband thought his parents were visiting last weekend.  Instead it's really tomorrow that they're coming over.  So now I've had a Mother-In-Law clean house two weekends in a row, which is no small feat with my little's running around.

Which brings me to my best cleaning tips, when you have little ones to take care of, these are what work for me.


1) I follow the rule of three ALL DAY: any time I am entering a room, I need to put away, throw away, or take away three things before I leave the room.  This works great because it literally takes three seconds each time, and unless there's been an emergency your kids can wait three seconds before you need to tend to them.  You will be amazed at the difference this will make.

2) I keep two boxes or bags on each floor to take misplaced items to their appropriate floor.  These boxes fill up FAST if you're following the rule of three.

3)I keep trash bags everywhere and fill them up!

4) I adjust what I'm cleaning to my children's needs and I take time to spend with my kids. By cleaning in small bits all day long my kids don't even notice any lost mommy time.  Tantrums are my biggest enemy to cleaning.  Luckily there is A LOT of cleaning you can do with a toddler in your arms, a baby in a sling, or side by side with a preschooler.

5) Finally, when my Mother-In-Law is coming, I just keep cleaning!  With little ones it can seem like one step forward, two steps back, but eventually they will go to be and you can speed clean those last little things.

For more tips I highly recommend:

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