Cleaning with Toddlers

I was just telling Charles that the only two times in the day when our house is clean is when we wake up in the morning and right before we go to bed. (And his note to me, was "And sometimes not even then!")

The biggest change in the cleanliness factor occurred after the girls started walking. Walking in and of itself, is not a problem at all! But when they get coordinated enough to be able to walk AND carry things, that is when we got into toddlerville house.

Doing laundry looks something like this: I take the dirty laundry from the hamper and walk with it to the laundry room. I drop something along the way, which I will go back to pick up. I put the laundry in the washing machine. Abigail follows me into the laundry room, and sticks her head into the washing machine while pulling things out and putting them onto the floor. I retrace my steps so that I can find the thing I dropped. I find it with Annabelle inside my closet, along with all of my shoes which have been piled off of the shoe rack and onto the floor. I grab the thing I need and head back to the laundry room. By this time, Abigail has left the laundry room and is in her room. I put in the item (plus whatever was left on the floor) and open the soap tray. I reach up to the get soap, and when I look down to pour it in , the tray has been closed by, none other than Abigail! I open the tray again, while she tries to hold it closed. Then I tell her why I need it open (to pour the soap in), I open it, pour the soap in, let her shut it once again, set the knobs, and start the washer. Fifteen minutes later, I end up in her bedroom and find two items that she dragged from the washing machine (dirty) into her room that will have to go into the hamper for a different bout of laundry-go-round.

Unloading the Dishwasher looks something like this: The dish rack comes down. Yippee! Girls come running. (How do they recognize the sound of the dishwasher opening? I do not know.) They immediately go to the side where the silverware is. I quickly grab all of the sharp knives and graters and put them on the counter. Then I start grabbing whatever large glassware I can get while they are distracted with the silverware.  Abigail started this "unloading the dishwasher trend" by coming there first one day. She picked up a fork and held it into the air as if to say, "Hey, look what I found JUST sitting here!" And I said, "Thank you!" and held out my hand as if to say, "I was looking for that!" And she was so excited to give it to me, that she did it again with another fork, spoon or butter knife. Heck, I thought, if this keeps her occupied for five minutes, and she isn't grabbing sharp knives, why not have her help?

Soon, Annabelle wanted in on the action. She is a different creature, and although she enjoyed handing me things just as much as Abigail did, Annabelle does not rely on the praise of others for her enjoyment (the way Abigail does). Annabelle is interested in the new items she encountered on her journey through the dishwasher. She runs her hands over the soft bowls and looks for the bright colors. She finds the bright red spatula and holds in the air so proud, but sneaky girl, when I go to grab it and say "Thank you!" she holds it behind her back as if to say, "This new toy is mine!" Then she hands me a fork instead and runs off with the spatula. Inevitably, Abigail follows suit, and claims something of her own and runs into the other room. While I am quickly trying to unload the glasses, and bowls, and salad plates (before they go running off with glass things), half of my CLEAN silverware is in their mouth, on the dirty floor, or hidden somewhere in the house. So, those things will go back into the dishwasher for a different bout of dish-go-round.

The biggest cleaning change: is definitely the floor. Specifically the kitchen floor, but all floors will count. Once upon a time, I could vacuum the house (carpet, wood floors, and kitchen) once a week and it would stay clean for a few days (even with a dog and a cat) until something happened and then I would clean it up, but I knew it needed a deeper cleaning, which I would do on the weekend.

Nope. Not happening with two toddlers. Sorry. I sweep the kitchen floor at least three times a day. Yup, you got it. After every meal. They drop things, throw things, spit out things, spill things every time, every meal. There is no way to keep everything contained. It is impossible. They sell all these crazy mats and gadgets, trays and bowls. It doesn't matter. Believe me, it doesn't (just more crap to wash). I just use the table and their high chairs. And we wash them ALL three times a day. I usually just mop once a day, after dinner. I figure, if I mopped after every meal, I'd never get anything else done! Most days I grab the Swiffer and do a quick one. It is not the best mop in the world and I don't have the proper wipes for the mop I have so it's kind of like taking a baby wipe and wiping the floor with it, but the Swiffer is fast. Then once a week or so, we will get out the real mop; the one my sister said looks like Medusa. The one that you stand outside your house when you are done to let it dry. It goes in for the deep clean and doesn't leave streaks which is nice.

Now that the girls are not scared of the Swiffer, broom or mop anymore, I have a little problem. They like to sit in my dirt piles, walk where I've mopped and most likely slip too (which they've done). My new sweeping technique: Allow one child to hold the dust pan (while I am holding it, or else it just get re-dumped onto the floor) while the other child gets to hold the broom that sweeps the dirt pile up (while I am holding it). My new mopping technique: Mop a small section of the floor with the girls behind me so they can watch. Stand on a large towel. Once it has been mopped, immediately scoot your feet and towel over the wet area to dry it. This prevents slipping babies and gets the area dry before it gets muddied by little feet.

Clever girl.