There is a lot of work involved in taking care of a house. Most of this work falls squarely on the shoulder of the mom in the household. It was discovered in a recent survey that just 20 percent of men performed housework compared to 49 percent of women on a given day.
This large difference exists mainly because women realize that having a dirty and cluttered house is not good for their mental health. Researchers have also found out that the stress hormone (cortisol) levels of women increase when they have to move about a cluttered and messy house. Although cleaning is for everyone, you need to know what to do especially when the kids are pitched into the picture. Here is how you keep a home clean in the presence of children.
1. Keep picking up the clutter in the house
The first thing you need to do while trying to keep a home clean with children around is getting rid of the clutter. Keep in mind that it’s tough to clean when the surfaces of our house are covered with clutter. You need to maintain the paper clutter under control by maintaining it in a single spot. You can keep a large box for the purpose and after the box gets full it is time to throw away all the collected things. If you have a big home with several levels, keeping baskets can be useful, apart from being aesthetically pleasing. Take a few minutes out each day to get things back into their places where they belong.
2. Take stock of your cleaning requirements and set up a routine
Take into account what has to be cleaned and how often you need to do it. You can prepare a chart and checklist of things you have to do to get all the house chores done. You can prepare a list of goals for things you have to get done every day, every week, and every month. The everyday cleaning tasks should take less than an hour on a normal course. There are some apps available online that can keep track of household tasks. You can schedule reminders in them, check if a task is done, and also maintain a list of instructions for doing them. Having a routine ensures that the job is not overwhelming.
3. Select cleaning products or supplies that are easy to use and are safe for everyone including kids
When you have small children at home you would want to ensure that they are performing the cleaning by using non-toxic cleaning products. The simplest way of making sure that the cleaning products are safe for everyone is by preparing them yourself. You will be amazed at how much can be cleaned by using baking soda, vinegar, and water. There are some recipes available online for preparing non-toxic DIY cleaners. Small children can also help in cleaning by using these safe recipes. Maintain the solution in small bottles if tiny hands are going to use it. The products a family with children can use around the house are dustpan, small watering clan, hand vacuum, cleaning cloths made from microfiber, and nylon knives.
4. Maintain the cleaning supplies in a place where they are easily accessible
You should be looking at safety with the use of cleaning products when children are involved. If you need poisonous chemicals for any of your cleaning, they should be placed on a high shelf behind the safety lock for protecting the kids from reaching them. Other non-toxic cleaning supplies should be easy to access for the kids. For the houses having several floors, you can have several sets of cleaning supplies for every floor. Some families even keep a vacuum for every floor and cleaning supplies in every bathroom. They are easily accessible at all times.
Conclusion
Maintaining a clean house that has children in it is a huge job and it can affect your mental health. You are constantly required to keep up with the clutter, set routines that will allow you to break the tasks into smaller chunks. You need to get the cleaning supplies and they have to be accessible to everyone as well. If you find all this to be unmanageable and if you live in Zurich, you can hire a professional company such as Optimal, a cleaning company in Zurich, but you can also opt for a provider local to you, and for this, you have to run your own research to find the best one.
-Nora Price