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I interviewed several moms to get tips on how they keep their houses organized even with their children running around.

Thinking about it seemed impossible! But they confirmed that there is a way.

Keeping my house picked-up and organized has definitely been a challenge for me. Things kind of just go wherever we put them, until company comes over, of course.

Then I rush around like an angry hen demanding Alan to pick up his clothes as I’m trying to clear off the messy kitchen table, vacuum the floors, clean the downstairs bathroom, and pick up Madison’s toys.

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And then on regular days, my almost-one-year-old daughter is a bit of a distraction, to say the least.

When I want to fold laundry, she will try to “help,” or at least that’s what I’d like to think she’s doing, by pulling most of it out all over the floor and then putting it back in the basket, over and over again. Very cute, but it doubles and triples my work!

So, now I tend to fold laundry when she’s napping or after she’s gone to bed, unless I feel like she should have some out-of-the-normal fun! Haha.

One thing I noticed is that the moms I asked were fairly organized even before having kids, so they were able to carry on some of their good habits after becoming a mom.

But don’t worry if you weren’t!

Becoming organized can happen at ANY TIME in your life.

I was not an organized person prior to having my daughter, but always wanted to be. As a mom, I have an even bigger desire to get my house in order, so that Madison can walk around without having to worry about her getting into things she shouldn’t.

Currently we spend most of the day barricaded in the living room where everything is safe and baby-proofed, but soon she’ll want to explore the whole house, so it is a must for me to keep it less cluttered.

I also want to be able to feel comfortable having company over suddenly without the embarrassment of my messy house, and not end up in a bad mood trying to hurry and clean everything all at once.

So, if you feel the same way I do, here are the tips those lovely moms gave me:

1. Bins and storage containers are a must to keep likes together. Try to color coordinate to make it easier.

2. If something doesn’t serve a purpose, get rid of it. Clutter can build up very quickly. (Big toughie for me!)

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3. Go through toys regularly to throw away broken ones and give away ones your kids don’t use anymore. This frees up cluttered space and also makes room for new toys for Christmas or an upcoming birthday.

4. Have one bucket of toys for kids to play with and put the rest away in a closet and switch them out weekly, limiting the mess that can be made. This also makes the toys more interesting, after not seeing them for a whole week, thus keeping the baby entertained – as we all know, a bored baby is not a happy baby.

5. Keep toys in one place, like in main area that they play, so it’s easier to put them all away when company comes over.

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6. Do dishes after every meal. Unload the dishwasher in the morning and put the few dishes in the dishwasher after every meal so they don’t pile up. You can challenge yourself to do dishes before your favorite T.V. show comes on or before you sit down to relax, just to be sure they get done.

7. Include kids in clean up time, so you can get cleaning done while also spending time with them. Make the vacuum a monster, or everyone can do a bunny hop to put the toys away, etc.

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8. Have a place for everything. Even when you buy new things, have a place for it. And make sure it goes there.

9. Go through the mail as soon as you get it from the mailbox so it doesn’t clutter the house.

10. Routine is important to keep house organized and picked up. Make cleaning up a part of the daily routine. Either doing dishes from the night before, wiping the bathroom counter, doing laundry, etc.

11. When you get something out, put it away.

12. Tidy up throughout the day and every night before you go to bed. If you do this regularly, there won’t be too much to do each night.

I loved these tip and have even started implementing them in my day-to-day life.

It’s tough to change old habits, and it seems that bad habits are the hardest to break!

But breaking old habits is definitely not impossible.

I’ve been doing really well at doing the dishes more often and I’ve worked out a weekly routine for cleaning.

Mondays are bathrooms (showers included), Tuesdays are vacuuming upstairs, and Wednesdays are vacuuming and mopping downstairs. The living room rug gets vacuumed more often because that’s Madison’s play area so it gets messy faster and also needs to be clean more than the rest of the house for the same reason.

And Thursdays and Fridays are for other miscellaneous things, like the dog poop or laundry.

Consistency is key, but it’s also a learning process. You can’t expect to be consistent at something right away.

You make a plan, do the plan and keep working on doing that plan.

There have been days that I’ve skipped cleaning our shower that week, or I vacuumed but didn’t mop, or skipped the upstairs vacuuming, since we aren’t up there as often throughout the day.

And I’m not letting myself get stressed out if I just do what I can. But it helps to have the schedule to follow mostly.

You have to make a schedule that works for you and that you are happy with.

If you are happy not having a cleaning schedule, then be happy! Whatever you do needs to be right for you and fit your family and lifestyle.

I just know that I needed to change some things and these tips helped my greatly. I hope they are able to help you, too.

And a special thanks to the wonderful mamas that allowed me to pick their brains to find out their pretty home secrets!

As always, you are doing great, Mama, and you are very loved.

Good luck, Mama Bear!

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