Simple habits of TIDY MOMS (that are easy to keep up!)

Tired of always feeling like your house is a mess? Can your house be ready in “15 minutes of less” for company? Here are some simple habits of tidy moms that are easy to incorporate into your daily routine, and easy to maintain in the long run:

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If the signt of a huge mess in your house puts you into some kind of rage. Or, if your like me… an “aggressive vacuumer.” These tips are for you.

We all know that we want our homes to feel familial, welcoming, and cozy. We’re not trying to go for a sterile setting. But honestly, it’s hard for moms to cope when it looks like a total landfill.

I like to have my home at a “15 Minute Ready for Company” status. This is where the kids and I can easily prepare all living spaces for company in 15 minutes or less.

These are habits that tidy moms have keep everything under control:

Baskets in Main Living Areas

Here’s a great tip for getting those main areas ready for people to come over- baskets. You do this by getting some cute baskets to match your decor. These are big catch-all baskets, not micro-organizing.

We want to have these baskets in our main areas where people are at. You can even put them in bedrooms for things that don’t have a certain place.

Big baskets are the way to go because they make it…

• fast to clean up,
• easy to clean up,
• even little kids can do it,
• kids don’t resist as much when helping, and
• it’s so easy if you have just a few minutes and a large area to clean.

All the little things that get dropped everywhere get put into big baskets. For me, that’s mostly toys.

Do an Evening Sweep

Once everyone is tucked away for the night and out of the way for the evening, you can do an evening sweep.

This is where you go into the main living areas and do a quick sweep.

• turn off lamps
• put toys in baskets
• fluff pillows
• put away plates or dishes on coffee tables

Whatever might be left out… we do a quick tidy.

An evening sweep is when we put the house “to bed” and then the house wakes up in tidy and clean state.

This doesn’t work if your house is “horderville.” Once you get some of these tidy habits in place and it’s “15 minutes company ready,” an evening sweep helps to keep it like this all the time.

An evening sweep is super satisfying.

Furthermore, it’s satisfying to make up in the morning and not feel like you’re already behind.

Put on Your Minimalist Hat

If you have a problem area (an area that’s always getting cluttered) in your house than we should put on your minimalist hat and ask, “what can I get rid of here?”

This isn’t to say that you need to become a minimalist, but if you tend to let things get cluttered, it’s ok to put on that hat from time to time. It might help solve this issue.

Things like…

• laundry
• the kids clothes
• toys
• an area constantly stacked with more, more, more

can get cluttered, especially with maximalists, as they say.

Kids clothes can get out of hand. If they are changing clothes three to four times a day, they might not need all the extra clothes in their dresser. It may be time to visit their clothes and get rid of some, or at least put some away for later.

Take a look at their toys. Get rid of toys that are just laying around making messes. Maybe the kids get out their LEGOS and make a mess, but they are playing with them. I’m not talking about this.

I’m talking about how kids will push aside toys they aren’t interested in. Eventually, overcrowded toys will stop kids from wanting to play at all.

Take a look at what is causing a mess. Are the toys even being played with? Maybe not the the LEGOS (because they are always out and played with), but the other little toys laying around can be thrown away.

Give Kids Chores

Giving kids chores is one habit to help moms keep their home tidy and well kept. Mom’s who understand this give their kids hard things to do. Of course, this is hard depending on their age.

Hard work is actually good for kids.

The home can be more tidy when everyone in the home contributes to keeping it tidy.

This doesn’t mean that you have to keep a super regimented chore list. Although, this may be useful the more they age. Lists can help keep then accountable and time oriented.

On the flip side, it can be as simple as working together to clean the house on a regular basis.

Ok kids, the house is a mess. Everybody get together. We’re going to tidy it.

Having regular times where everyone is doing chores is a great way to keep the house tidy.

When kids work to help the house tidy its helps their confidence, self-esteem, and much more.

Clear Surfaces

Keeping surfaces clean and clearing them often is a great habit for mom to keep the house tidy.

Not everything has to be off the counters. Clearing surfaces means that only the designated items stay on the counters.

Maybe this means that you get a catch-all tray and refuse to let things gravitate to sitting on the counters.

There’s a magic trick for mom’s. It’s when you look at counters that are cleared off and think “I’m winning at life… I’m winning at life right now.”

This is what we want to go for:

• Walk around,
• take stuff,
• look at where stuff is gathering,
• move appliances off counters, and
• remove random things.

You can make a home command center where you keep papers, or even go paperless.

There’s something about this momentum. Get into the momentum of having a tidy house, and you will keep that joker. You will be like, “don’t get those crumbs everywhere.”

In college, I was going to be a lawyer…

One of the theories that I learned was “the broken windows theory.” This says that if you go into an area, even if it isn’t a high socioeconomic area, and its well tae care of- it will have less crime.

However, if you go into an area where there’s already broken windows, graffiti, or whatever… it will seem like the pace has already “gone to pot.” So, more crime will happen.

The theory is that if everything is already tidy and in order, we won’t let it “go to pot.” Instead, we will keep that good standard.

It’s not as hard as you think to keep these tidy house habits. It’s just a matter of not letting it get to that point,.

Don’t Let it Get So Bad

Don’t let it get so bad that you get up on life and can’t do it. Try to keep some of these habits up, even if you just start with one or two at a time.

Even if all you do is an evening sweep, that’s enough to let it get it back to right.

When kids try to clean up a room that is completely a mess, they don’t even know where to start. This is what happens to us if we let it get that bad.

When this happens, we’re just done. Our train of thought gets to be, “we’re just gong to have to move and burn down the house to get it tidy.”

Let’s Recap

• Get some big baskets and use them to tidy up the main living areas.
• Let the kids help you keep things tidy. Teach them age appropriate chores and have them do them on a regular basis.
• Clear off the surfaces. Keep in mind the “broken window” theory.
• Work the evening sweep into your daily routine to help you maintain your tidy home.