Last week I was watching TV with my daughter when we both saw a commercial for vacuum cleaners that stated, “Neat Freaks Rejoice.”  My daughter looked up at me and said, “Mom, are you a neat freak?” I looked at her and proudly declared, “Yes I am!”

However, just because my goal is to maintain a neat and tidy home, this DOES NOT mean my house always reflects this goal. It is true that many nights before I go to bed my house looks immaculate. After the kids are tucked in I take back my living room area and enjoy a few hours of peaceful cleanliness. I wouldn’t run a white glove over any flat surfaces or peek inside my microwave to inspect it, but generally it’s organized and no malodorous smell floats from any area of my house.

Then by the time I return from dropping off the kids at school it looks like Gremlins partied at my house. (I used to love that movie when I was a kid. Remember the mess they made? They would eat two bites, leave the rest behind, and then move on to the next treat until their pile of remnants resembled a pile of fall leaves. Sound familiar? But, I digress.)

As a self-professed, proud neat freak I admit I have a passion for cleaning and organization. But don’t get me wrong. I hate cleaning – especially taking out the trash or doing laundry – but a clean house does make a happy home in my book. So, I’d like to impart some of my wisdom I’ve learned over the years. And when I say wisdom, really I mean shortcuts to making housecleaning less painful so there’s more time for fun.

1)     Let the kids eat cake. I used to hover around and clean up after my kids all day before I realized what a royal waste of time that practice was for me. Now, I let the kids be kids until we do our magical makeover 15 minutes before my husband walks in the door. (He actually came home early once and saw what the house looked like at 3:30 p.m. and nearly died. He thought we were having a bad day. Bless his heart. It was just a normal day!) So, I say let the kids eat cake, pudding, and whatever they’d like. It’s OK to make a mess as long as they tidy up once during a day. Ten minutes every day puts a bigger dent in your clean up than you’d think.

2)     Buy products that make your life easier. While it may be hard to justify a more expensive cleaning tool, you have to arm yourself with the right weapons to win the battle. Some of my favorite tools actually cost less than $5 – such as Magic Erasers and Scrubbing Bubbles Gel – but are worth every penny I spend for the hours of hard work I avoid.  (Check out Thursday’s blog post for more great cleaning products.)

3)     Teach your kids to clean. What 4-year old knows how to clean a toilet? They do in our house. We start them doing chores at a young age. I gave up on timeouts when my older girls were about 6 years old. Now, the more attitude they dish out, the cleaner my house gets. I figure it’s a win-win. Everyone makes the mess, so I figure everyone can pitch in and help. Toddlers can clean up their own toys, older kids can help with laundry, and nothing makes me love my husband more than when he comes home and says, “How can I help?”

Question: What chore do you hate the most?