My definition of domestic bliss, is having a clean tidy home and for chores to get done with as little time and effort as possible, on my part. Now the kids are getting a bit older, it’s time they pull their weight! With J away again this week, life has been frantic and everyone has to chip in- even the 5 year old! Here are my tips based on how it happens in our house:
Get a cleaner and a nanny………….only joking!! (I’m not joking, this is the only true way to domestic bliss! 😉
Buy a dust buster. These are great as the children can use them and the younger ones actually fight over whose turn it is! We have a breakfast, lunch and dinner hooverer during school hols, whose job is to vacuum under and around the kitchen table after meals.
Exploit your children’s individual talents or interests to your full advantage. My eldest, K, loves anything creative and can sew. I don’t do sewing and would sooner throw away said item than sew it back together. Consequently, when the Boy’s favourite teddy’s arm fell off, he took to big sis who diligently sewed it back on for him! Her role is now official. She also bakes, so cake sales at school are no longer a drama. I just need to find a use for the other two now- the Boys main talents are making mess and kicking balls over the fence, not sure where I can steer that to my advantage!!………
Ok a proper cleaning tip…… any tarnished silver (most married couples will have been given silver cutlery in a special box – but you rarely get them out) can be quickly cleaned by boiling in a large saucepan with a scrunched up piece of tin foil for approximately 10 mins. Much quicker than polishing 20 forks individually!!
Earning back devises/ time on devises or TV/ treats or trips formally taken away due to bad behavior. If you are mad enough, like me, to have three or more children, you can guarantee that at least one of them will be trying to make up for some sort of wrongdoing at any one time! Fabulous! At the very least, their room gets the once over, I may also have communal areas tidied and vacuumed. I haven’t been mean enough to demand toilet cleaning yet…….but it will be a useful threat and deterrent in the future!
If trousers arrive in the wash basket inside out, with pants still attached, place them back in their draw. After asking a few times, I resorted to this and it worked, the girls thought it disgusting that their dirty things were in their clean draw. Warning: I suspect this may not work with boys- I will let you know! Currently, I’m lucky if the Boy changes his clothes at all or if they find their way to the wash basket without my assistance!!
Keep loose change in a jar to pay your children to do extra chores. They will actually volunteer their services for a shiny silver coin (5p or 10p!). Once they understand the value of money, it may cost you more but I’m finding 5-10 year olds quite reasonable at the moment!!
Stain removal- essential tip using Vanish. One teaspoon of Vanish powder in a pudding bowl and ¼ fill with boiling water, stir and leave. After 30 seconds- 1 minute a foam forms on the surface, use the teaspoon to work the foam into the stain, spoon by spoon (if it doesn’t show signs of shifting after 5 spoonful’s, put the stained area into the bowl for 10 minutes) and then wash as normal with a scoop of Vanish added. I have saved dry-clean only items with this method, after they couldn’t get the stain out at the dry-cleaners (I spot washed the area rather than put the whole thing in the washing machine), it was kill or cure!
Invest in a good coffee maker, tumble dryer, speedy wifi and Amazon Prime. You will not regret any of those purchases (providing you drink coffee), your towels will always be soft, everyone can be online, you will never need to panic about a last minute gift or ‘need-it-now’ item again and you can stream loads of films & TV shows!
Finally, if you are NOT in France and see a really cheap bottle of wine with an aesthetically pleasing label (because that’s how we all choose wine), walk on by, because life is too short to drink crap wine and let’s face it, wine plays a big part in true domestic bliss!!
How do you achieve domestic bliss in your house? How have you motivated your family into helping around the house? Do you have any short-cut cleaning tips to share?
These are great tips – love the idea of encouraging children to help out by them being able to earn back privileges and using their talents if they are good at sewing or baking. I really must get myself a dust buster – so much easier than getting the hoover out just for a small area and I could see my girls wanting to help out with this. The silver cleaning tip is a good one as is the Vanish stain removal tip. My girls like to help with the dusting and emptying the dishwasher so I get them involved with these things – it doesn’t always save time but at least they’re learning to help out around the house. Thanks for linking up to #FamilyFun
Early on, you often have to do stuff again or help speed them along, but like you say, it’s all for the greater good! Thanks Louise! xx
So true! Oh a clean house – the end of all my woes – dream stuff and absolute goals as my teens would say! Never knew that about foil and silver – thank you for that exceptionally useful tip! Oh and I am always using ‘you can clean our room for that” punishment! #familyfun
With a family, a clean tidy house only lasts a couple of hours at best (and thats only if the kids are out!)- absolutely the stuff of dreams!! xx
Oh I love your tarnished silver tip now I just have to fin some silver… I really need to get more boys more hands on with cleaning – they love vacuuming and I have started to bribe oldest (9) with pocket money for helping. Domestic bliss is definitely a good wine and a take out list… TY for linking up to #FamilyFun ?
It’s definitely bribery all the way! I forgot about a good take-out, totally agree with that one!! xx
Great tips. Definitely think the nanny and cleaner is the only way haha! Amelia loves helping with jobs at the moment and can’t wait until she’s old enough to do them a bit quicker haha x
They do get quicker as they get older but be warned, you must do inspections before paying the agreed fee!! The number of times I’ve opened a wardrobe and the contents has fallen out(having been stuffed in), I can’t remember!! xx
Great tips I would so get a cleaner in if I had any disposable income. Blake has an obsession with the Hoover and if he still does when he is a bit older than I may take advantage of that.
Hopefully he’ll be keen to help or at least earn some extra pocket money! xx
Max loves to help clean, I just need to be more patient with him doing it! Getting a dust buster is a great idea xx
It’s great when they are young and keen! You’ll be bribing him soon enough!! xx
Fantastic! I love this post! Unfortunately Dexter is only 2 so maybe a little mean to train him this early. However he does tidy away his toys each night before bed & help empty the washing machine/tumble and loves following me around with his Dyson when I’m vacuuming haha
That’s why I got the dust-buster! Mine loved following me with their toy hoover- why oh why don’t those damn things actually work??? Lol xx
i can’t WAIT for my son to be old enough to do this haha! brilliant brilliant brilliant post!
Thanks Cydney! xx
Hahaha. OH the things i would do for a cleaner!! Bella likes joining in with chores although only when she feels like. As soon as she’s a bit bigger i’ll be getting her to help out more xo
The annoying this is that they are really keen to help when they are too young to be of any use, and once they are bigger, they don’t want to help!!xx
I’m with you on the wine! It will be great once my daughter is old enough to help out with the chores – right now she spends a lot more time making messes than cleaning them up. In fact, throwing things on the floor is pretty much her favourite activity. #fartglitter
Yes, I remember that stage!xx
Lol I NEED a dustbuster although like you say my two would fight over it! My threenager already had a worrying attachment to the Henry ? #fartglitter a
What is it with young children’s fascination with the hoover? Shame we grow out of it!! xx
My two fight over the hoover hose too – it’s brilliant as they clean the whole floor! #fartglitter
Absolutely!! xx
Love this! Number 3 made me laugh out loud, number 4 made me gasp at your wisdom and domesticated godess-ness, and I’m seriously contemplating trying out number 6 on my husband. Slightly concerned that he probably wouldn’t notice though and start to insist that his underwear is always presented inside his trousers for ease of peeling back on in the future!
Great post. Thanks for linking with #fartglitter x
I did warn you that number 6 may not work with boys (of any age!!) 😉 xx
Yep fair point 😉
Brilliant!! I love the idea of getting children involved, and especially rewarding them with a few extra pennies, or getting back something that’s been confiscated, in return for a bit of cleaning! My children are too little for much of this at the moment, but I will certainly save these ideas for the future! I’ve never heard of the tip for silver cutlery, and I definitely agree on the wine-life should never be about cheap wine!!
Thanks for linking to #bigpinklink.
Thanks! Won’t be long before you can put them to work- if they can toddle, they can dust-bust!! 😉 xx
I got told off by my mil for getting the girls to help with my chores. She reckons they have too much responsibility for their ages. But her son doesn’t help tidy at all and he’s 5 and 26 ?
Love these tips, a cleaner and a nanny seems like the best advice though 😉 the boys have chores (they are nearly 4) that they have to do each day. I have been told they are too young to be given tasks. I say stuff that, they need to learn and actually enjoy it (for the moment). It isn’t anything too strenuous, setting the table for dinner, helping to load the dishwasher, putting their toys away at the end of the day. With the toys getting tidy we have a special song we play on the stereo and they love it 🙂 #bigpinklink
Every child, including my 4 year old, has some type of chores to do. My 16 year old has the most of course because he is the oldest by 10 years from the oldest little. It’s a battle with him sometimes as he seems to think that because I am a stay at home mom that I should be doing the housework. I quickly remind him that he lives here and if he wants to continue to do so that he must participate in helping around the house. He has advised me that he will be moving out as soon as he graduates high school. YIPEE! I say. I have 3 other little people being trained to take over. At 43 I am just getting too tired to take care of a 3500 square foot house and take care of everything else that needs tended to like grocery shopping, school runs, sporting practices and events etc. I love the pic of all your kids hard at work and kudos to your daughter who sews! Thanks for linking with #momsterslink.