By Ann Springer

Everyone knows that living with children means you are familiar with sacrificing. I love having a clean house, so I struggle to keep my sanity when I’ve stepped on another Lego with my bare foot or find yogurt art smeared all over my kitchen table. While I openly admit to having a passion for organization, I am the first one to complain about cleaning. The satisfaction of a clean home is short lived that I struggle to put a lot of time into it when I could be doing something else that has a longer return on investment. However, the years I’ve learned a few shortcuts to spend less time cleaning up and more time having fun.

1) Let kids be kids. Hovering over and picking up after kids all day long is the definition of insanity. No one will be happy at the end of the day if this is the system you adopt – the kids or the parents. Instead, let the kids spread out during the day or after school (within reason) and then spend the last 10 minutes of the day before dinner transforming your home back into an adult space. It’s amazing what a mess than can make in an hour or two, but order can be restored in less time than it takes to watch an episode of Sponge Bob.

2) Get a little help from Mr. Clean. If you’ve got the right cleaning tools on your belt you can really make your house sparkle in no time at all. Some of the best products on the market cost less than $5 –but are worth every penny spent for the hours of hard work they help one avoid. Between baby wipes and Magic Erasers, you can clear off what I affectionately call “kid funk” from nearly any surface. I also adore Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Bowl Gel because it keeps toilets fresh smelling and clean looking for days longer without turning your water blue.

3) Call in the troops. All of my children know how to clean from a very young age. My theory is everyone makes the mess, so I figure everyone can pitch in and help to clean up. Toddlers can clean up their own toys, older kids can help with laundry, and nothing makes me love my husband more than when he comes home and says, “How can I help?” Besides, when everyone helps we spend less time cleaning and more time together having fun.

By Scott and Ann Springer

You’ve finally cleared out the clutter and you’re ready to restore your favorite items to the room. Before you begin putting the furniture back in place and hanging pictures on the wall, you may want to freshen up the room first with some spring cleaning. A clean room will give fresh life to your newly organized room. Below are four must-do items to get your room white-glove worthy.

1. Wipe down the walls, repaint, and repair any areas that need touch-ups. Look for cobwebs and wipe down the baseboards, crown molding, window sills, and blinds.

2. Vacuum the carpet or mop the floor. Be sure to spot-clean any stains and hook up the vacuum attachments to get those hard-to-reach places.

3. Wash curtains or other fabric-based décor that may not get washed regularly and may be dusty or dirty.

4. Wipe down and dust any frames or decorative pieces before you re-hang or re-merchandise them.

Tips for Making Cleaning Less of a Chore

1.  Make a cleaning schedule. If you hate doing laundry, then commit to doing it once a week and then you can enjoy the six days off from laundry duty.

2. Whistle while you work. Turn up the tunes and rock out while you work or put the earbuds in and listen to an audio book if it makes the time go faster.

3. Make it a family affair. Even the youngest children can pick up toys and pitch in around the house. Kids who help do chores are less inclined to make as big of a mess if they know they’ll have to clean it up.