Keeping up with the housework while homeschooling full-time can be a real challenge. Most days it feels like there is just not enough time to get it all done! Here are some helpful tips to keep the housework under control, even during the busiest of days.
{This post may contain affiliate links}
*Get the kids involved! I have read several books, including Life Skills for Kids and Cleaning House
*Have a plan. There are several different resources to use for keeping up with housework. Our favorite is Easy Peasy Chores (you can read my review on it here). I love that this system is geared toward getting the kids involved. You may prefer another type of planner. Motivated Moms is another popular choice. Or maybe you want to create your own routine. Whatever you choose, just make sure you have a plan. Otherwise too many little things are forgotten and extra housework can build up quickly.
*Keep the clutter under control. This year, thanks to reading Simplicity Parenting, I have really been convicted to get rid of a lot of “stuff”. It is so much easier to clean when you don’t have random pieces of unloved toys, or too many clothes, or just too many things. We have cut our cleaning time dramatically by purging our house of boxes and boxes of extras we don’t need. This is still a work in progress, but we are working towards simplifying. For me, a simpler house is a cleaner house.
*Start the day with a clean slate. For me, waking up to a sink full of dishes means I am already behind…and I don’t like that feeling. So even if it means staying up a few extra minutes at night, my goal is to start every morning with at least a “mostly” clean house. This means things are picked up, put away, and the floors are clean. That way we can get going with school work in the morning instead of spending time doing things we should have done the night before.
As always, grant yourself some grace. There are days when you just can’t get it all done. And that is OK! But I do find that having goals makes me a lot more productive. Does this mean my house is immaculate? No! Trust me, it isn’t. We live here. We school here. We play here. But without a plan for keeping it clean, my house would not be very visitor-friendly.
How do you keep up with housework when you are busy with life?
I hope you have enjoyed this series of posts for “5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials”!
Come check out some of the great posts about homeschooling essentials from my Crew-mates!
Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool
Jennifer @ Royal Little Lambs
Sarah @ My Joy-Filled Life
Debbie @ Debbie’s Homeschool Corner
Lisa Marie @ The Canadian Homeschooler
Laura @ Four Little Penguins
Dinah @ The Traveling Classroom
Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses
Dawn @ Guiding Light Homeschool
Water on the Floor 
When it is really busy I lower my standards like skipping dusting and just cleaning things that are dirty (which when having little ones means vacuuming different areas daily and cleaning kitchen floor daily after they try to pour their own drinks.) I used to schedule a cleaning day every week and I sometimes still do it, but I remember cleaning the whole house and then that very night my son would spill crackers all over the carpet or he’d spill apple juice all over the floor. It would frusterate me because I felt like he was following my cleaning with mess, instead when I switched it to me following his mess made me feel better. I still schedule bathrooms, cleaning bedroom floors, and such, but kitchen floors, carpets, the kids bathroom floor with a tub is cleaned as needed. I basically scrub their bathroom floor after every bath since water seems to not stay in the tub 😉
Cleaning definitely takes on a different meaning when kids are little. And yes, our bathroom floor shines too from all of the post-bath time cleaning it gets! 🙂
Some good ideas! For me the no 1 thing is getting the kids involved. My boys do nearly all the housework now, they are going to make great husbands 😉
That is wonderful! We need more men in the world that know how to do housework. Well done!