I like to have a tidy house and it is possible, even with children.  However, with four children, I have given up on having a home that looks pristine. If I’m being completely honest, I don’t want it to look pristine.  I want it to look like a home that our family loves to be in, to hang out in, to play in.

I rely on my weekly cleaning list as well as my daily & monthly cleaning list to keep us on track, without having to worry about the house too much. 🙂

I love to look at spotless homes in magazines, but even more, I love to look at my kids playing a game at the kitchen table or see them making a play dough masterpiece on the back porch. I love to look at the kid-painting that is hanging on my refrigerator. I love to look at the LEGO fort that our son built in his room.

I want our kids to know that if they build their fort on the floor, it is clean. If they build that masterpiece on the table, it is cleaned and sanitized, as well.

Well… with that being said, I do love a CLEAN home.  I want to keep my house clean with kids because I want them to know that I take care of them, and that includes taking care of where we live.   Our home is organized, clean and there aren’t big messes on the floors or tables. I like it to be tidy and I just don’t tolerate it not being clean.

So… with four kids, picking up after them constantly would be like brushing your teeth while eating Chocolate cookies… next to impossible, so instead, we just have a daily cleaning list and everyone helps out (our younger & older kids all help with chores).

We have made a list that we TRY to stick to daily.  It is probably a 20 minute a day thing, so not a lot of work, because we have 6 people that help. 🙂   This list may not be for you, but it works for us.

Today I want to share the cleaning checklist that we use when cleaning the house.  There is a daily cleaning routine that we follow (included in the cleaning schedule below), as well as a weekly cleaning schedule and a monthly cleaning list.   The free printable below, filed with cleaning tips & schedules is yours to print and use as you wish. 🙂

Click here to download the whole list… and I have another one that I’ll send to you, as well.  I’ll also sign you up for my FREE declutter challenge.  Together, we will declutter and organize until your home is all that you dreamed it would be…

A few tools that help me to get everything in order is:
1- A broom
2- My robot vacuum (yes, really – when I say “sweet daily”, I put it into a different room every morning)
3- Clorox Toilet Wand
4- Disinfecting wipes
5- Clorox dusting wipes (I love using these to clean any ceiling fans!)

DAILY CHORES:

These cleaning tasks are included in the daily cleaning checklist that you are welcome to download.

• Cleaning the toilets that get used a lot. Yes, every single day. Did I mention that I have four kids (three of them are boys.)
• Wiping any marks on the kitchen cabinets
•  Spraying the kitchen countertops after meals.
• Sweeping the floors in the kitchen (I could do this all day long).
• Make beds (everyone does their own).
• One load of laundry every day (to keep the mess from getting too big)
• Wipe down bathroom countertops in the main bathroom. (I just leave Clorox Disinfecting Wipes in the bathroom, under the sink. I clean it and toss it into the garbage. 60 seconds total).
• Have the clean dishes unloaded before I go to bed (or I will start the day out with a mess) and load the dirty dishes into the dishwasher
• Clear off any “hot spots” (areas in the room that collect stuff. It might be a basket, it might be your mail, it might be a bench where you lay stuff as you walk by. Clear it off at the end of the night.)
• Five Minute Pick-Up twice a day (before lunch and before dinner). Set the timer for five minutes and everyone rush to clean what you can.  (Put away toys, crayons, dry erase markers & boards, etc…)
• Optional: we have to clean our front door glass daily because it is full glass and the kids put their hands on it all the time (especially our 3-year-old).

KIDS DAILY CHORES:

• Taking care of self (teeth brushed, hair combed, dressed)
•  Bed Made
•  PJ’s picked up. Clothes put away.
•  Put toys away in a certain area. If they complain that another child made the mess, I will follow up with “well- what if I only wash my own clothes, make my own dinner, drive myself places, etc… we all help each other in this family.”
•  Get their shoes and backpacks ready for the day. I am teaching them to be responsible adults.
• Watch the time for when its time to catch the school bus. Our oldest son is responsible for checking the time. He leaves at 8:08 and by 8:05 he is always ready at the door (he doesn’t want to be late and he would ask me every minute if it was time for him to leave (from about 7:50 on!), so I have given him this responsibility and he has done very well watching the time- of course, I am watching it, too!)
• Every day they pick an age-appropriate chore (easy chores that they can handle- cleaning the steps, picking up toys, sweeping the front porch, wiping the sinks in the bathroom, cleaning up under their bed, etc…)

Here is a post for more on kids chores… 

FAMILY WEEKLY CHORES:

• The weekly cleaning list includes cleaning up the outside toys and bring them in or put them away.
• Be sure that even the guest bathrooms have been cleaned (I use the Clorox Wipes)
• Clean up closets – just hanging up shirts that have fallen, putting away toys, etc… (takes 5 min.)
• Clean the microwave and stovetop (wipe down)
• Cut the grass (my husband does this)
• Clean the bathrooms.
• Toss out old food (I do a deep cleaning once a month to clean up spills, etc…)

MONTHLY: 

• Floors- cleaning the wood floors every week or two. (This means using a cleaner with a mop and then applying a coat of shine for the top-coat.
• We have to reorganize the garage every month (with 4 kids, it gets to be messy in no time!)

Quarterly (monthly if you have more people in your home): 

These can be done every season, or you can even save some of them to do during your spring cleaning.

• Ceiling fans can be done monthly if you have a child with allergies, but you can do one room a week to make it easier.
• Baseboards

DO YOU WANT THE LIST
E-MAILED TO YOU (to save or print?)
CLICK HERE FOR THE CHART.

RESOURCES TO HELP YOU GET STARTED: 

1- Here is my book, Freed From Clutter… it is a month-long book where we go through each room of your home decluttering, cleaning and organizing.

2- These chore cards are a game-changer!  Your kids will be helping with chores (in fact, they’ll be asking if they can do MORE chores!)

2- 7 day declutter challenge– a free challenge to help you declutter your home (includes multiple cleaning/organizing charts that I will e-mail to you).

3- Whole-home makeover course (This is a course that will transform your home from cluttered to your dream-home.   I’ll send you the book above as a freebie for joining!)