Who else is so glad that spring is here?! Oh wait, the Rio Grande Valley skips spring and jumps straight into Summer! Am I right? For me, spring is the time of the year when I start getting ready for summer. I like to define summer like this: that long stretch of time, where we get even less sleep, yet some how spend more money, and our kids seem to be more annoying than the year before. You’d better believe that it’s coming. So, what do we need to do to get ready? You guessed it, SPRING CLEANING! 

But, what if we could skip spring cleaning altogether? What if we could keep a clean house all year long?

One of my 2018 resolutions was to have a clean kitchen every night before going to bed. Towards the end of 2017, I started google-ing, pinterest-ing and asking my friends how they stay on top of the ever-present kitchen clutter. I found so many different methods, ideas and helpful hints that I wanted to try out and see what worked for me. Here we are three months later, and it’s still working! HAZZA!

I never thought that I could actually find something that would leave our home so clean that I could SKIP SPRING CLEANING!

I know we all have different methods, family size, schedule, how we clean, or not clean. It differs from one mom to another. So please, comment down below which method you love/hate or with your tips and tricks on how you spring clean.

Go-To Spring Cleaning Resources

Like I said, I looked and looked for cleaning resources. And I found so many good ones. No matter what your preferred method (book, web, video), I’ve got you covered. 

Books:

• Cleaning House: A Mom’s Twelve-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement” by Kay Wills Wyma
  I especially recommend this one if you have children 5 years old and older.
• The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
• Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House by Cheryl Mendelson 
  Her method is to only own items that bring you joy and to gather everything together by categories so you can see how much you have. If you find yourself with a kid-less day try this out!
• Clean Mama (blog/book): Organizing and cleaning tips and learn how to clean a different area in your home each day, one room at a time!
• Sink Reflections by Marla: If you’re trying to find something that will help you implement a routine, this is the book for you. The whole family can get involved and learn about your ZONES!

Set It and Forget It:

Find yourself ready to clean and missing key ingredients? Or are you worried about how safe your cleaning solutions are for your family? Try Grove, a subscription service for cleaning products! Their platform is all about “Healthy Home, Healthy Planet”. Plus, you get discounts by setting up a schedule for cleaning products to be delivered to your house. Each item can be set to ship every month, every 2, 3, … 6 months. Set it and forget it and always be prepared.

Pinterest:

Not a reader? How about some Pinterest? Cleaning charts and challenges galore! You can even customize your own cleaning method. My favorite are the challenges because most of them have you do just one task a day for 30+ days! Also check out RGV Moms Blog “Get Organized” Board on more ideas on organization. Spring Cleaning will be over before you know it! We also have a 

YouTube:
Do you always succumb to the gravitational pull of Pinterest? No worries. I have YouTube videos galore. My favorite go-to in terms of everyday cleaning is “Clean My Space” and “Home Organization by Alejandra.tv (SimpLessity.com).” I’m excited to see the CMS channel evolve since the creator, Melissa Maker, and her husband, Chad, are expecting their first baby. She actually owns a cleaning service. And Alejandra has the most organized home in America! And she believes that your organizing style changes with you and there’s no “right” way to do it. I absolutely love that. She makes me not sound so crazy when I want to move and reorganize every 6 months or so.

Bullet Journal:
Are you a LIST keeper? Check out Bullet Journaling! It was created by Ryder Carrol, a New York-based designer who wanted to change things up. This system is only three years old and it’s an analog system designed to be a to-do list, diary, notebook, and sketchbook. 

3-Bin Method:
TV Show inspiration! I don’t know about you, but I loved TLC back in the day when they re-did, swapped, cleaned homes. The one method you saw many of them do was the “3-Bin Method” where you had three designated areas and could customize them to fit you. For example Keep/Donate/Sell or Relocate/Trash/Donate. Spring clean via reality show in no time!

Alternatives:

• Go Minimalists! Watch the documentary “Minimalism.” If you have less stuff, you don’t have much to “Spring Clean.” When we moved, I pretty much gave away half of our belongings! It’s so free-ing!
• Want to skip the hassle of Spring Cleaning all together? Hire a Maid Service!

If you have your system down but need some inspiration… Listen to a podcast, watch a speed cleaning video on YouTube or watch Hoarders!

What Worked for Me: 

Finally! What has saved my life, sanity and the need to skip spring cleaning this year…. The FLY LADY! Her system is FREE and basically says that you can do anything in 15 minutes. She created zone cleaning and routines. She started simply by shining her sink and added a new routine every month. It sounds so easy, and it really is! This system has worked wonders for our family! You start off with the baby steps (yes, she loves Dave Ramsey as well) and then you start FLYING! Not sure if I’m flying yet, but with my morning, afternoon and night time routine set, my home is pretty much clean every night before I go to bed, so I don’t have to wait all year to dust, wipe the ceiling fan or mop the floors! I’m in love!

So I have my control journal and my planner where I write the zone for the week, my daily missions, detailed cleaning and my routine and I’m golden. My kids even have their own planner where they can see their daily challenge to keep on top of their rooms.

I can’t believe that it took me over 13 years to find, implement and conquer this method, but this year, we SKIPPED spring cleaning! 

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