As the mom of three small children, (ages 1, 3, and 5) I have very little time to clean and organize my house. Add to that owning an online boutique, and a Non-Profit, and volunteering in various military and school programs, I REALLY have NO time. Any extra time that I do have I want to be spending with my children, not scrubbing the house. Between school, work,and sports, I’m sure you can all relate. But, a cluttered house that needs to be cleaned just adds to the craziness and I can’t have that!
These are my top tips for keeping the clean even with little ones and a busy schedule.
1. Have a Cleaning Schedule: Now, like any thing else, you have to find what works for you. Something that fits into your already busy life. I 
suggest heading over to Clean Mama where not only can you find her schedule (which is the basis for what I use) but you can also visit her etsy shop for printables. She has everything you need to keep you on pace from Cleaning kits to chore charts (which I also use)! There are few things on the schedule that I switched around or I do more than once a week, like vacumming because of the crumb monsters, but overall this keeps my house in check so that it does not get out of control.
2. Controlled Clutter: One of my favorite ways to keep the clutter under control is Baskets. They look pretty and you can just toss everything in.
Shoes…
Magazines…
Toys…
2. A load a day keeps the monster away: The laundry monster that is. We’ve all been there, the day that you realize there are no clean socks because they are all in the dirty clothes hampers. Then you spend all day washing, drying, and folding and the laundry monster takes over your house! It’s on the couches, the beds, the dining room table, and since you’ve spent all day washing you have no time left to put it away. To solve the problem, just do one (or two) loads a day, fold it immediately and put it away. It takes some forcing but I try and make it a point to put a load in as soon as I wake up in the morning. It helps cut down on the amount of dirty laundry and the clean laundry that piles up in unwanted places.
4. The Laundry Basket Round-Up: To get out of place items picked up quickly, I like this method. Grab a laudry basket and go from room to room putting anything that doesn’t belong there into the basket. Continue around the house until everything in the basket is put away. My house is two story so I start on the bottom floor gathering everything there and then head upstairs. I put everything away and then grab anything up stairs that needs to go down and finish up. This cuts down on the amount of time it takes to put it all in it’s place and cuts down on the number of trips you make up and down or back and forth.
5. Clorox Wipes: Keep a can of disinfecting wipes in every bathroom. At any time you can easily wipe down the counter top or sink. My kids are famous for smearing soap on the counters or leaving toothpaste in the sink. This way I can quickly and efficiently keep the bathrooms up inbetween my weekly cleaning.