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Keeping Your House Company Ready With Kids ~ #CollectiveBias

This post on How To Have A Company Read House With Kids is brought to you by my partnership with #EurekaPower  and#CollectiveBias.   This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. 

A company Ready House with Kids

It’s the holidays and for many of us that means that it’s time to rush to clean and have your house company ready.  That task in itself is is daunting let alone the fact that many of us have to cook and keep our guests happy as well.  I don’t like to have the stress of the holidays and I have learned that keeping my house company ready  at all times is important to me.  I love to host parties and spending my time cleaning over having a delicious menu just doesn’t work for me.  

I will be the first to admit that my term of company ready may not exactly be what others think of company ready.  Let’s face it my term of company ready has changed since my single life, married life and with each additional child.  My company ready house is a far cry from what my mother in laws company ready house is but I have children and yes it’s a fact we live in our house.  

These 5 tips below are how I keep my family friendly house company ready with very little daily or weekly work.  

1.  Get The Kids Involved

My kids are responsible for chores in this house at the ages of 4 & 6.  We have attempted to keep to a chore chart in our house but it doesn’t seem to work the best for us.  We do expect our boys to unload the dishwasher every day and to check the laundry table for their clothes to put away.  From this jumping point they both know that they are expected to do various chores that we give them each day.  It can be help daddy burn the trash, vacuum the floors, pick up their bedrooms (most play happens elsewhere so this is not a daily chore), or anything we need at the time.  Not only does this help me out immensely to keep my house picked up but it also of course teaches them responsibility.  

2.  Make Sure The Dishes Are Done Daily

It’s so important for me to have the dishes done daily.  When the dishes don’t get done daily my desire to keep the house clean spirals out of control.  I feel overwhelmed with just this one step not happening.  One of the chores that my boys do have daily is to unload the dishwasher.  

House Cleaning Tips With Kids

At their ages they can’t exactly put away everything but it’s a good start for them to be able to put everything on to the counter and from there they can put away what they can reach.  This is a huge help to me because it’s a self guided chore (with a gentle reminder) and cuts out this 15 minute chore from my already growing list.  I can’t wait till they can load it themselves!

3.  Keeping Up On The FloorsModern Day Dust Bowl

Floors are something that I really hate to do, almost worse than bathrooms…almost.  Recently I acquired some #EurekaPower in my house via the Ergorapido Limited Edition Realtree Xtra vacuum from Electrolux and it has truly been an amazing help in my house!  It’s easy to use, lightweight and has quickly become the most fought after chore in my house between the boys.  They both ask daily to vacuum the floors and this is so important to me in a house filled with 2 boys, an inside dog and living in an area known for dust!  

How To Have A Clean House With Kids

It’s been truly a blessing to keeping my kitchen tile cleaner which is an area that I pride myself in keeping clean.  After all if a kitchen is dirty and filled with dog hair I find myself questioning everything.

I quickly fell in love with the new Ergorapido Limited Edition Realtree Xtra vacuum because of several reasons including the fact that it’s lightweight, versatile, a two in one tool (floor vacuum and a hand held vacuum), the amazing swivel head to get in to every nook and cranny, and the fact that it’s available at my local Walmart for a limited time.  The Ergorapido Limited Edition Realtree Xtra vacuum has found it a permanent spot in my kitchen cupboards with the remainder of my cleaning supplies.

How To Have A Clean House With Kids

One of the suggested uses is to take camping to help keep the floor of your tent or camper clean.  This really intrigues me and I can’t wait to put it to the test this summer!

4.  Getting The Kids Involved In The Laundry

While not a something I detest doing it’s something that I find myself easily slacking on.  Laundry is one of those things that goes in spurts for me and like dishes it’s so easy to get overwhelmed with quickly.  I get my boys involved in the laundry by them being responsible for putting away their own clothes and folding basic items.  

House Cleaning Tips With Kids

They can fold the towels, rags, socks, and Coutler can efficiently fold his pants and hang up his clothes.  Corbin is learning.  Once again this is important to me to keep up on because the last thing my guests want to see is my families clean underwear hanging out a table.  Not only does this teach the boys responsibilities but it helps me to guarantee that on school mornings we are not running around looking for things.  

5.  Cleaning As We Go

 This step isn’t guaranteed to happen every time but we try out best to make them clean up with they are finished with something.  Put the crafts and the trucks back in their tote.  I know you like to play with your legos and don’t want to dig for that certain piece again but they need picked up so you can actually find all the pieces next time and they are not scattered from here to Florida.  Are kids do seem to have a bit more free reign with this during the weekends when we are all home together and a little more playing is happening.  We then run around on Sunday night before dinner and get everything picked back up.  It’s a reminder that if they had stuck with it during the weekend they wouldn’t have so much work all of a sudden.  I hope it’s paying off!  One day I hope a wife will thank as I must thank my mother in law for a husband who is clean and willing to help out!  

Are any of these tips life changing?  I can’t say that any of them have been major revelations but they simple tips that keep me from being stressed out.  This holiday season instead of worrying about keeping up on the floors I will be ensuring my guests are eating a killer prime rib, great tasting sides and one amazing trifle dessert.  Keeping your house company ready with kids can be a tough feat to accomplish and it’s not something that has happened over night.  Like I said my standards have dropped since having children, while far from being something embarrassing it’s certainly wouldn’t pass the white glove test.

How do you keep your house company ready with kids?  Has your standard of a clean house changed over time?  

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14 COMMENTS

  • Ladena

    I try to get my kids to help as much as possible. We have a sticker chart and we keep track of what they do. When the chart is full they get to do something special like go for frozen yogurt.

  • April

    I don’t! LOL I wish I could.

  • Mel

    How cute! I love that you are all putting them to work!

  • melandria romero

    children should really be taught of the house chores and let them do what they can do. It’s also a great bonding time.

  • Lena Burkut

    OMG – winter is so difficult in this climate – can’t go places and the kids just get bored. So important to keep them occupied

  • I agree, getting kids involved makes it just a little bit more easy for mom! The more they can do the less you have to think about and put that thought process and energy into more important things 🙂 I’ve learn ‘do the dishes everyday’ the hard way. LOL

  • Dede

    Before children, our house was spotless at all times. These days with both of us working and having two kids + a dog, I’m just happy if we can see the floor and countertops. It’s very discouraging! Keeping the sink clean makes me feel at least a little bit accomplished, though.

  • Patty

    I don’t have kids unless you count my husband but I don’t really have all that much company so I don’t really worry about it. I just keep it so we’re comfortable. At this point in my life I don’t worry about what other people think

  • Cristi Comes

    Doing the dishes daily would be a huge step for me. I am terrible at that and I always feel my house isn’t company ready because we have a great room attached to kitchen for our living space.

  • Dina

    My kids do chores too. They have days and chores to do each day. It helps me so much especially at the holidays.

  • katherine

    I need to get my daughter to work. She hardly cleans her room!

  • Jenn

    We tend to get guest ready at the last minute. Other than that, we do have a family cleanup session every Sunday to start fresh for the week. Love the idea of a handy vacuum like this one.

  • Cinny

    It’s Great getting the kids involved. They feel good and there’s more help.

  • Liz @ Yes/No Films

    Looks like you are putting them to work :). I need to clean my apt more often.