The Messy House Struggle
Do you find it a never-ending struggle to keep your house clean with little ones? I remember those days, and luckily my husband and I had the same intolerance for a messy house so one of us was always on pick-up duty. (Now, I always had piles of my own stuff, but that wasn’t messy, it was organized;) LOL!
We had toys in the living room, but to keep it from looking like a playroom, we had a cloth basket for toys and one for books. When they were full, we knew there we too many toys/books in the living room and we would move stuff to the playroom. As the kids got older, they would help pick up before going to bed.
I had a friend who had this constant struggle with things being everywhere, but when it was time for the kids to go to bed, my friend didn’t want to mess with the hassle of the kids picking everything up and putting it away. By this point, she was DONE and just wanted them in bed so she could sit down for one minute!
I came up with this suggestion for her: get a hamper, or a big basket for each child. Have them go around and put all their things from the main living areas in their designated basket. So, although everything might not be put away nicely in its place, the kids could learn to start helping to pick up and all the toys would at least be off the floor and out of sight for a fresh start the next day. Then, after everyone was rested, she could work with the kids to put the items in the baskets in their proper places. I still use a concept like this today! Here are the bins I have for each of my boys.
For me, going to bed with a “clean” house made for better sleep, and a more refreshing morning. If this is something you struggle with, maybe this trick can help you. Here are a few products I found on Amazon to assist with this struggle…
Look at this cool product! https://amzn.to/31MQhn6 I know my kids wouldn’t play only on the “mat,” but they would have fun putting everything back on it for it to be scooped up!
Or a collapsible hamper would be great too, and when you are not using it, you could collapse and store it under the bed. You can have a different pattern for each child. https://amzn.to/39Kj689
Or, this is similar to what I still use today: https://amzn.to/3sUArTs
Let me know of any solutions you use now, or when your kids were little, to keep your sanity around your house. As my kids get older, they have fewer toys to deal with, but more stuff (sports equipment, shoes, school bags, electronics, hoodies, etc)!