Cleaning

I know I know It's a dirty word. I have got to be the laziest neat freak there is. I hate cleaning, but my home must be neat, I'll go crazy if it's not. How to do it without really doing much.

First things first pick up after yourself (I don't always follow this rule, but I make it very difficult to not do it ie I took away my coffee table so I have to leave things on the floor, but I can't leave things on the floor b/c Echo plays down there). Then, this one is really hard, get signifigant other to pick up after himself. I'm still working on this one.

I NEED SWIFTER. I love swifter, seriously. I recommend swifter to everyone, especially the lazy neat freaks like myself. I have the swifter dry sweeper (which I need more pads for) the swifter wet sweeper, which allowed me to throw out my mop, and the swifter flick, it's a non-electric "vacuum" for in between vacuums. Great since Echo plays on the carpet and crap gets tracked all over the carpet everyday. Oh yeah and I can't forget to mention the siffer duster it reaches everything. Much love.

I also love everything that has to do with wipes. Baby wipes, disinfectant wipes, window wipes, wood cleaning wipes etc... I couldn't live without them. I can't seem to see the point of pulling out a bottle of cleaner and some paper towels just to wipe off my counters, that's just too much work and then you have to put the cleaner away ugh. So grab a wipe, wipe away and toss. It doesn't' get easier.

I also tend to clean mostly at night. My main reason is that I don't like waking up to a dirty house and lots of work. Also, I don't have to stop in the middle of what I'm doing because Echo decides that she won't play by herself any longer. Another reason for this is during her first nap I like to do a quick workout and take a shower and I don't want to be distracted by a messy house (mess gives me ADD)

Sit on the floor and fold laundry while your baby is playing on the floor. We all know babies need floor time, and a lot of babies like their parent to be right next to them, so as long as they are still young enough not to unfold everything you just folded go for it. Everybodies happy.

When you change the garbage leave it in front of the door so the next person out has to move it to get outside. Your way more likely to take it out sooner.

Clean the cat box on garbage day and use that half full garbage bag. If your like me you want ALL your garbage to go out that week, not to sit around so to get rid of that half full garbage bag and keep my cats happy I do it then.

This last one is convenient, but also a safety issue. If your like me and have a first floor laundry, put all your cleaning supplies on the top of a shelf in there. I use the top shelf and also put my garbage and recycling in there. Laundry rooms carry a LOT of e-coli, so you don't want your kid in there anyway. No way to get to all the poisons! Plus they are more accessible than bending over and digging through a cabinet.

Hope this helps all you lazy neat freaks out there.