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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Do You Ever Feel Like You ALWAYS Clean ?!
Provider_Manda 05:33 PM 10-11-2012
lol..I do !! In Ohio for home daycare we have to live in the home..Which stinks, but we manage..so its ok. But man I feel like I never get done cleaning. There is always something out of place, food on the floor, or trash overflowing ! Just like right now, I have done nothing but load and start the dishwasher, and vaccum the living room and hallway and bathe my son...There is still SO MUCH to do. But wow, Im tired. It has been a busy week, and Im wore out. So instead of cleaning Im sitting here venting to you lovely people

So any tips on how to manage all the housework, paperwork and family ?
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lovemykidstoo 05:35 PM 10-11-2012
I don't think I manage at all LOL! My husband makes fun of all of my "piles" of paperwork! One of the easiest cleaning tips I have is to put the smaller toys like little people, legos, matchbox cars etc into lingerie bags and running them through the dishwasher.
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dave4him 05:37 PM 10-11-2012
Yes and most of the time she never can tell....
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Provider_Manda 05:39 PM 10-11-2012
Originally Posted by dave4him:
Yes and most of the time she never can tell....
YES !! Don't you hate that...lol
I will work so hard to do deep cleaning and dh says "SO what did you do today" Umm hello...Really?!? lol
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dave4him 05:40 PM 10-11-2012
Yeah i do. Goes with the territory i suppose.
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MizzCheryl 05:42 PM 10-11-2012
Yes and it is still a MESS!
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EchoMom 05:48 PM 10-11-2012
YES! I even hired a cleaning lady to come once every two weeks but I ended up canceling after just a few times because it wasnt' worth it. The house just got instantly messy again the very next day!
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Soccermom 05:51 PM 10-11-2012
Always!!! It never ends! And even after I have cleaned..it still doesn't feel clean. My biggest issue is clutter! There is junk everywhere. Bins of crayons, coloring books, books, little cars, paperwork for school, cute little pictures the kids drew for me.

The best is all the knicks and dings on the hardwood floors and walls! Oh and can't forget all the handprints and fingerprints all over the walls and windows lol!

My grandfather says that someday I will miss the little handprints on the wall coming up the steps. My DS once left a handprint on their mirror and they left if there for months
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cheerfuldom 06:00 PM 10-11-2012
its never ending here. my biggest tip is to start living minimally. We have the bare essentials in our house as far as dishes, clothing, and such....less to clean. I dont do knick knacks or any furniture pieces that dont have multiple purposes. Anything that is not being used goes out the door! The playroom is the same way...I have it set up so the kids can reach almost everything and help me clean up and also, we dont have toys exploding from every corner....its also fairly minimal.
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EntropyControlSpecialist 06:00 PM 10-11-2012
Yes, which is why I enlist help! I clean, clean, clean, clean, clean and I have my son do so as well. My husband helps here and there but he is Mr. Mom and does the shopping, errands, and Mr. Mom activities so he pulls his fair share elsewhere.
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Provider_Manda 06:44 PM 10-11-2012
I agree with that it never feels like it is clean. Sad to say but when I started a year ago, it had to be just "perfect" before kids came in...Now its I try to atleast have the front room picked up before they get here, but if its not...Well Im ok. They have to understand I have 6+ kids on most days, plus a 2 1/2 year old and a hubby.

Most of my dcm's tell me that I should see their homes..lol So that makes me not feel too bad. I just hate it always being messy, and something always out of place. DH helps a lot he took over our bills and now laundry..so that is a huge help.

The 2 worst rooms I have to deal with is the kitchen and the bathroom !!! Those 2 rooms are ALWAYS DIRTY !~! lol
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daycare 06:46 PM 10-11-2012
as I always say.....


cleaning my house is like rolling a rock up a hill. You push it up to only have it fall back down on top of you...

you clean it up, only have to look up and do it all over again...
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bgmeyers 07:06 PM 10-11-2012
I'm only cleaning half the time the other time I'm cooking or dealing with food.
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daycarediva 07:15 PM 10-11-2012
I broke it down and do it in increments. During AM freeplay I sweep/mop the floors in the daycare room/kitchen/dining/hall. At nap I clean the bathroom, finish paperwork for the day, do any facebook updating and daycare bills/finance. I have everything pretty organized, and if I stay on top of it, I'm good.

I also have help. My dh does all, and I mean ALL the laundry (he even does throw blankets and all of our bedding once a week AND my daycare laundry) . He does dishes when he comes home for lunch.
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mom2many 07:42 PM 10-11-2012
It is never ending! But, I have to say it is MUCH easier with just my hubby and I here...I miss my own 3 kids so much (except for the messes they left behind!)

I rotate toys in bins and only bring out a few at a time depending on age and interest. That helps to keep the possible toy mess to a minimum! I also clean and pick up constantly through out the day with and without the help of the little ones I watch.

I hate clutter, so I try to deal with mail when it comes in and toss all junk mail immediately, I try to put things back away as soon as they aren't being used...otherwise my kitchen counter tops become filled with anything and everything and there is no space to work and I try to put all dirty dishes in the dishwasher or at least on the one side of my deep sink till I get the clean ones put away and can reload it.

I try to stay organized and do little bits daily, so there isn't a huge job on any one day. If each room has things in their place the house feels cleaner! I vacuum daily (we have hard wood floors and 2 dogs...fortunately they are both breeds that don't shed much.) My stainless steel appliances and sliding glass doors usually have lots of little fingerprints and smudges on them, but micro fiber cloths clean those up in a jiffy and that gets done once a week (or sooner if I have company)

My bathroom gets wiped down constantly through out the day and because my house is only 1500 sq feet, it's not a lot to keep clean! There are days when it is far from perfect and I'm too busy going non stop with the kids and I have learned over the years to not stress and get to it when I can!
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crazydaycarelady 07:43 PM 10-11-2012
Yep, clean, clean some more, and then start over.

One tip I have is I started getting rid of teeny toys, mcdonalds toys, and toys with lots of parts. Now I mostly have single piece toys like trucks, push toys, dolls. The toys with lots of pieces are put up and taken down occasionaly.
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DaisyMamma 05:19 AM 10-12-2012
Originally Posted by crazydaycarelady:
One tip I have is I started getting rid of teeny toys, mcdonalds toys, and toys with lots of parts. Now I mostly have single piece toys like trucks, push toys, dolls. The toys with lots of pieces are put up and taken down occasionaly.


I have a lot of DCBs and with it comes cars and trucks. I learned quickly that they LOVE to dump the bin full of 20+ cars, but only play with 1 or 2. Guess how many are in the bin now?

If you have a place for storage just put out a few of each toys like that and then rotate them.
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canadiancare 05:42 AM 10-12-2012
I have adult boys (20,18) who live at home and are in University and a teen daughter (15). I get up half an hour early to tidy, vacuum and mop before I open at 6 30 because if I do it before I go to bed I am likely to wake up to popcorn on the floor. I wash bibs, facecloths etc at naptime everyday and then blankets and stuffies on Friday. It isn't the laundry that overwhelms me it is the fact that I have no young children of my own but my house looks like I do. We use the main floor for daycare so my front room carpet is stained, the walls need painting and I really want hardwood instead of laminate. I plan to retire in 2015 and I don't want to put any money into cosmetics before then but it sure gets depressing sometimes.
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My3cents 06:02 AM 10-12-2012
yes I feel this way because I do always clean.

Not only do we clean up after our families

daycare
dishes, floors, toys, kids, bathroom, deep cleaning, outside yard work,vacuum, mop, sweep, wipe down, bleach, sanitize, faces, hands and feet,arts and crafts, baby tending, diapers, trash, organize, did I say dishes. We do it too, turn around and do it all over again. Prep work is most of the work. The eating and making of the messes takes no time at all

yes, yes and yes. I feel like I clean all the time.
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daymommy 06:20 AM 10-12-2012
Yes and I feel like I have yet to find a good balance. I'll do really good for awhile following me daily chore checklist and then I'll get burned out and do the bare minimum (picking up/making piles, sweeping and wiping down the bathrooms daily). But then a week will go by and I'll be so overwhelmed with the clutter and mess that I'll have to spend the whole weekend deep cleaning and reorganizing! It is so much easier when I keep on top of it, but it's just so hard!!

When do you all do your cleaning, during daycare, or at night after they leave? I have a hard time this time of year because sept-may we do curriculum activities for most of the morning and then it's still nice enough to go outside so any free play we go out and I can't get anything done. I find that if I don't give myself a little break while they are napping then I get burned out and crabby which isn't good for anyone! It's a little better in the summer when we're not doing curriculum activities and once it gets to cold to go outside much. Then I can at least get a few things done while they are playing.
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NicholasDean 03:14 AM 04-21-2013
Originally Posted by lovemykidstoo:
I don't think I manage at all LOL! My husband makes fun of all of my "piles" of paperwork! One of the easiest cleaning tips I have is to put the smaller toys like little people, legos, matchbox cars etc into lingerie bags and running them through the dishwasher.
yes lingerie bags and tide is best suited for cleaning purpose. I do the same
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JoseyJo 10:16 AM 04-21-2013
Originally Posted by cheerfuldom:
its never ending here. my biggest tip is to start living minimally. We have the bare essentials in our house as far as dishes, clothing, and such....less to clean. I dont do knick knacks or any furniture pieces that dont have multiple purposes. Anything that is not being used goes out the door! The playroom is the same way...I have it set up so the kids can reach almost everything and help me clean up and also, we dont have toys exploding from every corner....its also fairly minimal.
This is what we TRY to do too- I keep finding cool toys, art supplies and craft stuff I just know the kids will love. Especially now that garage sales have started.

We do daycare in our home too- not sure if it would work for you but we have separate dedicated spaces for our family and the daycare. From the front door there is an open living/dining area (we use for daycare meals, group projects, art, circle time) that has 2 small bedrooms (playrooms) that are attached to it, these are used solely for the daycare and set up more like a daycare center/preschool than a home. The bathroom and kitchen are next and they are shared between family and daycare. Our bedrooms upstairs and the den in the back past the kitchen are only used by us and not the daycare.

In the daycare dedicated areas we don't have any "family" stuff-no couches, tvs, computers, etc. So that saves some space, we also got rid of all the knick nacks in the daycare area and just have daycare art projects and learning posters on the walls and shelves. We change stuff up often and try to get rid of anything we don't use when we de-clutter.
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heyhun77 10:22 AM 04-21-2013
Originally Posted by cheerfuldom:
its never ending here. my biggest tip is to start living minimally. We have the bare essentials in our house as far as dishes, clothing, and such....less to clean. I dont do knick knacks or any furniture pieces that dont have multiple purposes. Anything that is not being used goes out the door! The playroom is the same way...I have it set up so the kids can reach almost everything and help me clean up and also, we dont have toys exploding from every corner....its also fairly minimal.
this is my house exactly. We have exactly what we need and pretty much nothing more. Everyone helps with the chores for the house and I have a cleaning schedule that I try to keep to so that the whole house gets cleaned during the week, just not the whole house in one day.

I also live out the philosophy of "a place for everything and everything in its place". What we have is organized and has a place so clean up is fast. We have very little clutter and can find what we want when we want it (for the most part).
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heyhun77 10:30 AM 04-21-2013
My tip for the meals is bulk cooking. It has saved me a lot of time in the areas of prep work and clean up. I cook for two months (or more) at a time and everything is in the freezer ready to either heat up in the oven or on the stove, bake on a cookie sheet in the oven or load into the crockpot for the day to cook. Most of the mess is made on my big cooking days (takes me about 36 hours including sleeping and church on Sunday) and all of the prep work is done so meals are made in a matter of minutes.

For daycare meals I also bulk cook as much as possible. For now I only have a few kids who aren't fully on bottles so I cook a big batch and it will last about a month of lunches. Breakfasts are the same way and we eat hot breakfast every day here.

It's definitely work to get things done ahead but I started long ago by just making double of something and freezing the other batch. That would get me extras stashed in the freezer so I wouldn't have to work so hard later.

Best thing I every started doing.
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Cradle2crayons 10:44 AM 04-21-2013
Actually, although I do a lot of cleaning... The kids always clean up their own messes from their level down. I assign kids weekly "jobs". Honestly in the beginning, I started it because the kids would beg to help feed the dogs and chickens etc. so each week, I assign a kitchen helper, animal helper, outside helper, etc. there is a job for everyone two and up. The kitchen helper does just that, after meals, they have a half a broom and a dust pan and they sweep the kitchen and dining room(connected). The animal helper feeds the dogs, the cats have an auto feeder and both the cats and dogs have an auto watered. The animal helper checks the waterers as well. The outside helper organizes outside toy clean up in the afternoon so I don't have outside toys everywhere at pick up. If I have four kids, I have four jobs etc. now true enough, they don't sweep great, but it still cuts down the time it takes me to go behind them to do it.
We rotate jobs every week.mtrue enough also, I'm still cleaning all the time. But I do have a few things that makes it easier. I don't feel like I'm cleaning 20 hours a day although I do have kids most days from 600am until midnight.

I have only one that I had in a high chair... She's 15 months. Then I found a great booster for her at the table that snaps the chair in and her separately, so no extra high chair to clean. And my table easily fits 5 at one time.

I organize cleaning every morning when I get up, so that I'm not walking around feeling over whelmed. I not only have five kids, but then two of my own. Not to mention 3 adult cats, 3 five month old kittens, and a litter on the way. Plus a pet rat, two dogs, and 20 chickens all that depend on me.mmy husband works offshore so he ma be home a week a month or he may be gone for months at a time. Right now he's been gone for five weeks and won't be home for another three weeks or so. When he IS home, he does all the laundry and all the dishes. He doesn't do general cleaning though. He also cuts the grass and helps with pool maintenance..
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jenn 03:29 PM 04-21-2013
I feel as if I clean all the time, and yet there is always a mess around the next corner. The only (not serious) tips I have are:
1. Keep a few get well cards on the mantle, so when people see a mess, they assume it's because you or someone in your family has been ill and will excuse the mess.
2. Hang a sign that says "Forgive the mess. We live here."
(Both ideas from pinterest)
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LaLa1923 04:32 PM 04-21-2013
I seriously never stop cleaning and putting things away. BUT we are also a family of 7 plus daycare. We only have a 1000 sq foot home, I think this has a LOT to do with it. We will be moving soon to a home that has a basement. I cannot wait to move!!!

I have someone coming in now to give our home a good scrub weekly. This has really helped me out. YES, the house is soon messy again, BUT I don't have to give it a deep scrub. I just maintain the house until they come again. This has saved me a ton of time and I have a lot less stress.

During the day I clean behind us as much as I can. It's SUnday night and I'm cleaning up from the weekend......It seriously never ends!!!
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Laurel 04:33 PM 04-21-2013
Originally Posted by jenn:
I feel as if I clean all the time, and yet there is always a mess around the next corner. The only (not serious) tips I have are:
1. Keep a few get well cards on the mantle, so when people see a mess, they assume it's because you or someone in your family has been ill and will excuse the mess.
2. Hang a sign that says "Forgive the mess. We live here."
(Both ideas from pinterest)



Love both of those!

Laurel

P.S. Kind of related but I don't like to cook. I do but don't like it. I found a sign that I now have in my kitchen that says "The only reason I have a kitchen is because it came with the house."
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LaLa1923 04:35 PM 04-21-2013
Originally Posted by heyhun77:
My tip for the meals is bulk cooking. It has saved me a lot of time in the areas of prep work and clean up. I cook for two months (or more) at a time and everything is in the freezer ready to either heat up in the oven or on the stove, bake on a cookie sheet in the oven or load into the crockpot for the day to cook. Most of the mess is made on my big cooking days (takes me about 36 hours including sleeping and church on Sunday) and all of the prep work is done so meals are made in a matter of minutes.

For daycare meals I also bulk cook as much as possible. For now I only have a few kids who aren't fully on bottles so I cook a big batch and it will last about a month of lunches. Breakfasts are the same way and we eat hot breakfast every day here.

It's definitely work to get things done ahead but I started long ago by just making double of something and freezing the other batch. That would get me extras stashed in the freezer so I wouldn't have to work so hard later.

Best thing I every started doing.

Would you mind pming me some recipes?????
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AmyKidsCo 06:27 PM 04-21-2013
I totally feel that way just with my family, much less the daycare!

It's gotten a lot better now our youngest is 6 and is able to clean up after himself. Now I just need to get the 17 yr old to clean up after herself. LOL!
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dEHmom 03:11 PM 04-22-2013
I get my kids to help me as much as I can.
They know that there is a better chance we can do something if they help me clean up any toys/clothes before supper is ready.

All my dcks clean up as well. They don't get every last thing, but they are good at cleaning and they make less mess because they know they have to clean (they are all under 3 except for my own kids).

Transitioning from one activity to another also helps eliminate a lot of mess. They stay in their highchairs until all the food is picked up off the floor, and it's swept, because otherwise they step in it, and track it through house.
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Cradle2crayons 06:40 PM 04-22-2013
Yep, if it wasn't for my kids having helper jobs, I'd be over whelmed for sure. But it really does give them a sense of accomplishment to be assigned a job. It's so important to them and they take their jobs seriously. We clean up between all activities so there is never too much to do in just a few minutes. That's really the key. Once I get behind I just want to stand there and stare in wonder lol.
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HomeMADE 07:55 PM 04-22-2013
I break down cleaning throughout the day also.

Morning - After breakfast/During I hand wash the dishes that are used dry and put away. I lay out the plates for lunch.

Mid morning - During free play or outside play I check the bathroom and use Clorox wipes to get anything icky cleaned up.

Lunch - After lunch hand wash dishes after kids eat. Toddlers are drinking their milk and the bigger kids get 30 min of educational tv while I tidy up the kitchen. Lay out afternoon snack.

Nap time - I sweep/mop start family dinner. I do laundry throughout the day and put it away since I have to do that upstairs while they are sleeping.

We all go outside together and I manage THEM putting everything away after playing. Matter of fact I have them pick up EVERYTHING before we change activities. Nothing is ever left out. This is ALWAYS.

So I am never putting away toys. Just sweeping, Mopping, and dishes. Oh and no one eats outside of the kitchen. And I have been known to go behind each one after they potty.

They key to my master plan is I clean up behind no one that can do it themselves. I also have them help the younger one's clean up their toys after play. It creates such a since of pride in them. We also always know where things are. I love to hear one of the DCK's say "if you don't put X back I won't know where it is when its my turn". Yes that has been said on more than one occasions.

I have 4 kids of my own on top of the DCK's so I know that it takes more than one person taking ownership to keep things just so. Shoot I didn't make the mess myself. And if someone anyone does not put something away, I make it disappear for a while. That changes everyone's attitude.
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dave4him 07:57 PM 04-22-2013
The tiny army my wife created keeps following me around making messes after I clean!
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heyhun77 07:58 PM 04-22-2013
Originally Posted by LaLa1923:
Would you mind pming me some recipes?????
I don't have a lot of them typed but do keep most of them pinned on pintrest if you're on there. I have a board for each of the big cooks I've done.

Here's the link to my boards:

http://pinterest.com/chelle_r/boards/
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LK5kids 07:28 AM 04-23-2013
I have offered child care .....

Directly in my home living space

Then added a separate and large child care addition

and now have returned to in home care and have bought a separate house just for child care.

When it was in the middle of my house, yes I always felt like I was cleaning but things were never clean.....and the clutter, ick

I was soooo happy when we added the addition. Things stayed organized and in some way seemed cleaner and easier to keep up on. I was able to just shut the door and leave child care behind. It was a total kid space. It was great, I guess because I wasn't blending family life and child care. My kids were school age by then

Now with a separate child care house I am cleaning two homes...NOT my favorite thing to do!

My favorite situation is the separated, dedicated space in my home.
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craftymissbeth 07:31 AM 04-23-2013
Originally Posted by dave4him:
The tiny army my wife created keeps following me around making messes after I clean!

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Brooksie 01:10 PM 04-23-2013
Originally Posted by daycarediva:
I broke it down and do it in increments. During AM freeplay I sweep/mop the floors in the daycare room/kitchen/dining/hall. At nap I clean the bathroom, finish paperwork for the day, do any facebook updating and daycare bills/finance. I have everything pretty organized, and if I stay on top of it, I'm good.

I also have help. My dh does all, and I mean ALL the laundry (he even does throw blankets and all of our bedding once a week AND my daycare laundry) . He does dishes when he comes home for lunch.
I wish I had your system! and also your help! That's awesome.
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