Is your house continually in a mess?
Number one to cleaning anything is making sure you are physically and mentally capable -- if you have enough supplements and insufficient sleep, you'll get mom brain anyway. Also one apple on an empty stomach has more caffeine than coffee. I do not want my body to get used to caffeine. I eat apples first thing in the morning now. It works. Also I stop carbs for lunch so I don't get sleepy after.
When it comes to cleaning up the mess, I realized that it's always necessary to get to the root of the issue - the one who made that mess needs to clean up that mess. I know some messes were not created by someone capable of cleaning it -- toddler, guests, etc. and sometimes even.. hubby. But for the mess that was created by that person, especially the older kids, they need to clean up. If you clean up after them, they will never learn not to mess up and the house will never be clean
It's tempting to just pick up after them especially if it's an easy task but I have to keep reminding myself to be quick to teach, and slow to pick. This includes everything -- dishes, clothes on the floor, toothbrush not in place, towel not hung, books on the floor, and even wiping the table. All the kids need kitchen chores and laundry chores. And don't do their chores for them. Also, lots of praise, lots of praise and lots of bragging about them.
I also realized that when you occupy yourself with too much cleaning, nobody is keeping an eye on the kids and they make more mess elsewhere. The key is in catching them red handed. For example, there's always shoes near the backdoor because they wear their muddy shoes in. They're supposed to keep their muddy shoes outside. I need to come into the house the same time they come in and stop them before they come in, remind them to leave their shoes out, and do it repeatedly until it's a habit. And if they run into the house without me and leave it there, I need to ask them to come back to take it out instead of taking it out for them. Even if it's 4 hours later. It's tempting to just shove them out as I walk in but then I have to remember -- quick to teach, slow to pick. It still looks like a mess at first but eventually, it gets better. Catch them in the act.
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