Enjoy more family fun this summer when you use a summer cleaning strategy

Summer is busy or busier, right? In a different way because the weather is warmer, there’s more things to do, there’s more family fun to be had.

Imagine this scenario. I know you’ve had something like this happen already this summer.

It’s early Saturday morning.
Your kids come running into your bedroom to wake you up and beg you to take them swimming.
The sun is shining bright and you think, yeah. I would love to. What a fun thing to do with them!
But then reality sets in.

Saturday is cleaning day.

How can you just skip it and think the week will all work out? Ugh. The dishes are piled in the sink, you have no clean clothes and the toilets are disgusting.

You realize you have to tell them no.

That you just can’t because there’s too much to get done today.
You know that if you go then you’ll be paying the price all week long.
They cry, you feel terrible, but yet, you know you have to be the responsible one.
You have to be the mom.

But what can be done so that you can actually say yes more than you say no?

Better yet, what can be done so that YOU can plan it and surprise THEM!

As someone who is or feels like they’re just starting their home organizing journey you want to be set up for lasting home organizing solutions, right? In order to make that happen you’ll have to do something different than you’ve done before or what society tells us.

Instead of skipping most of the family fun this summer you can put a summer cleaning strategy in place.

In this blog I’ll share with you what a summer cleaning strategy is, what it means in the overall cleanliness of your home and how to implement your strategy today!

WHAT IS A SUMMER CLEANING STRATEGY?

So, what is a summer cleaning strategy? It’s a fancy name for having a plan to get your home as clean as you need it to be over the summer. Maybe more important than a definition is what a summer cleaning strategy can do for you and your family.

Having a summer cleaning strategy allows you to put your mind at ease because the things that you may normally do will still get done, just a little differently, less frequently or at a different time.

Just KNOWING that you have a plan will give you confidence when an opportunity comes up that you won’t regret saying yes. A summer cleaning strategy takes into consideration things you WANT to be doing instead of cleaning. Such as a day at the pool or beach. A summer cleaning strategy takes into consideration that you are a mom and have actual responsibilities to keep your home clean, whether you’re doing the cleaning or managing the process of making it happen. A summer cleaning strategy gives you more time to do things you enjoy. Maybe reading, relaxing, or a little gardening.

So before we address HOW to make this happen let’s talk about the thought you’re likely having right now.

WHAT DOES A SUMMER CLEANING STRATEGY MEAN FOR THE CLEANLINESS OF MY HOME

I figure you’re thinking right now that I’m saying to just let it all go. Don’t worry about cleaning over the summer. That’s not it at all. I think you and I are a lot alike in that we couldn’t just not clean at all.

Remember, by having a plan your mind will be set at ease. You will clean your home, but it will not be the same as what you do in your not-so-busy season of life.

A summer cleaning strategy simply reduces the frequency of your cleaning demands. It makes sense because you are trying to be outside more or do more together as a family. Logic would say that your house would not be as DIRTY. I didn’t say it wouldn’t be as messy or cluttered because we all know how the drop and run goes, right? You run in the house, drop all the stuff, pick up what you need for the next thing then run out the door. When you return everything seems so bad because it’s messy. This will not take too long to rectify. Messiness is clutter. Most of which will be managed when you do laundry or it’ll take you 2 minutes to declutter your drop zone. 

HOW TO IMPLEMENT A SUMMER CLEANING STRATEGY TODAY

Whether you have a cleaning routine or not, you can follow these recommendations to implement a summer cleaning strategy.

Since we know that throughout the year you are cleaning areas more frequently than you are over the summer, you know that your new strategy isn’t forever. You know that the mopping will go back to weekly instead of bi-weekly for example.
I share my recommendations here:

1. Keep your cleaning basic. Plan your deep dives for late fall or winter when you are more likely to be inside. (for those of you winter enthusiasts, you can just flip flop this - have a winter cleaning strategy, does that make sense?)
   What does “basic” mean in terms of cleaning? Define the high points. I would say the kitchen, the bathrooms and where you walk in the door - foyer, lockers, mud room.
2. Be timely with your cleaning tasks. Don’t let them cue up or pile up. Do not wait until the weekend.
   Kitchen - dishes done right after eating, meals cleaned up right away.
   Bathrooms - hang up towels right after using them, wipe out sinks when they look yucky
   Foyer, lockers, mud room - have a bin/slot for all the shoes. A different one for each person in your family.
3. Delegate - Tell your family what you expect of each of them. They need to do the dishes, hang up their towels, wipe out the sink, put their shoes in their bin.
   Otherwise the answer will be NO when they ask to do something fun.
   I am definitely a proponent of “when the work is done then it’s time for fun.” It’s just critical that you define what the work is and what done means.
4. Select one weekend a month to do the deeper cleaning.
   Kitchen - I honestly would say let the daily cleaning be enough.
   Bathrooms - scrub toilets (do twice a month if you have a big family and few bathrooms!)
   Foyer, lockers, mud room - sweep/mop/vac
5. Done is better than perfect.
6. Enjoy your kids while they still want to spend time with you!

This may be a lot to take in on your own.
I’m here to help you create a summer cleaning system that works for you and your family.

It’s super easy to enlist my free support.

Go to www.homeorganizingforbeginners.com and click the Ask Me Anything link.
Complete the form and I’ll email you your very own customized recommendations.

I look forward to hearing from you!