Finding Balance: Wellness for the Everyday Struggle: Tips to Being a Cleaning Monster

So, I'm trying to workout and I'm trying to write and I'm trying to have me time and husband time and cope with dogs that keep having injuries and handle two silly kiddos under the age of three. HOWEVER, I also get the burden of trying to handle the housework. So I put together some tips on finding a way to not get totally overwhelmed and end up in a total disaster, at least all the time.

This is how I feel when I realize I have a lot of messy house to clean up.

Also, this guide is for those that are too cheap or too broke to hire someone. If you can afford to hire someone to come once a week or every other to help him, that's freaking awesome and I'm not going to dig on your for that. But, that's not everyone's life and that's not my life. So, here's for those other people.

1. Rage cleaning. This is very important. When you're frustrated by your kids or your dogs or your husband, channel all that into a cleaning burst. Figure out A - what is the most behind right now and B - what you're not going to break anything while doing it. Have a quick fight and clean the fuck out of that toilet.

2. Burst cleaning. This is just my phrase for "you're a busy parent now so give up on having a huge block of time to clean." So, when you have 5 or 10 minutes here or there knock out what you can. This means keep a small amount of cleaning supplies in each bathroom. Not necessarily everything, but enough for any basic cleaning. For me that means a vinegar solution and a bleach solution and toilet bowl cleaner. So knock out mirror and toilet when you have 5 minutes. Do sink & counter next time. Do the tub/shower when you have 10-15 minutes.

3. Critical levels. Instead of having a planned schedule for doing certain things every so often, it's time to accept that you're busy. So, make sure to do a little when you can, keep major stuff (in this house that means dishes, laundry, and the crumbs immediately under the toddlers chair) handled in small increments everyday, and once those basics are taken care of, fit other stuff in as needed, when it hits critical level. Like, I ignore the bathrooms until they're critically dirty - ring around the tub, mildew, ring in toilet, etc. Then make whatever is at the critical level the thing do to first. And just prioritize it that way.

4. Knowing that you can't necessarily plan a ton of blocks of time constantly to clean, set aside maybe two days a month to be "cleaning days." The whole day doesn't have to be spend cleaning, but make those the major cleaning days. Get your spouse (or a friend if you are single) together, claim a block (depending on your kids and what's at critical level decide if this is while kids are up or while they are asleep) for maybe an hour, and bust out a bunch of crap. Have a list ready, have the music on, and just do it. If you're doing it while kids are awake, have a movie on or whatever works for you guys.

5. Use the kids. Wear the baby or toddler while you vacuum. Have the toddler or older kiddo help a bit. Give them their own broom or vacuum. Have them scrub the toilet, or wipe the mirror. Accept that baby or toddler wearing makes this your cleaning and workout time. Dance and make it playtime and cleaning time. Don't let the kids touch bleach though. Just don't. But use as much natural cleaner as you can so that they can help. Legan loves to clean toilet and counters and tables, and so "help" sweep. Sometimes he wants to help vacuum, sometimes it's too loud.

6. If things are at a critical level and you just can't get your 10 minutes together that day, make sure your partner/friend can take kids for 10 minutes, or drop everything once kids are out for 10 minutes and get it done at the end of the day. But no cleaning marathons at that time of day, just quick bursts and only critical things. Seriously, don't lose a ton of sleep to clean, that's stupid.

7. PUT THE DAMN PHONES DOWN. When we do our block of cleaning days (we have to split the block into 45 minutes while kids are awake and being worn/helping and 30 minutes while they're sleeping to do the other stuff) we put our phones down, together somewhere that neither of us is cleaning, and leave them there until we both agree that we're done with the block. Because no additional distractions are helpful. Just put them down.

8. Take care of basic crap and upkeep AS it happens. For me, that means anything less than a 5 min job, just clean it up as it happens, so it doesn't add to maintainence issues/time. If there's a huge mess under the toddler's chair, grab the vacuum and suck it up in 30 seconds real fast. If when you put leftovers away you dump some on the floor, wipe the counter for 10 seconds. If you get a poop diaper, even if baby is screaming or waiting on a nap, spray that poop into toilet RIGHT NOW rather than let it pile up. If you make a spill, even if it's not a big deal, just deal with it right now, because if the kids can't handle waiting 1-2 minutes, it's already too late to keep them on their schedule. I ignore this rule though, when I'm on my way out the door, unless it's a true disaster.

And hopefully now you've got some ideas to help you stop from getting overwhelmed and totally overloaded and buried. Once you're buried, you probably need to just hire someone (or beg family/friend) to get you a full day away from kids or a cleaning person to take care of it to get you out from under.

Hang in there guys. One day it'll get done. Until then, keep out the mold and bugs and you're probably doing enough.