Okay, to begin, I'm going to be honest. Today, my boys weren't too thrilled with the 15-minute tidy idea. The thought of cleaning up their puzzles and books from our morning of homeschooling was a little "too much", but I'm going to just chalk that up to being a Monday and from a busy weekend. I kinda felt like everything was "too much" as well when I looked at my laundry pile...
BUT.
15 minute tidy up. Or also known as my sanity-saver.
We homeschool, so by 11:30am our kitchen table is an explosion of books, paper, learning manipulatives, pencils, and one empty coffee mug.
The floor of the living room is usually covered with DUPLO and whatever else the youngest two pulled out to do as I did school with the other two boys.
To transition into the afternoon, I plug my phone into our speakers, turn on the timer for 15 minutes, turn on some up-beat music and we get at cleaning up our space. The boys love to see if they can beat the timer so they scurry to put everything away. I help clean up the homeschooling books and then usually have time to start getting lunch together so it's almost finished by the time they are done putting everything back in it's spot.
After lunch, the four boys have a quiet time of either napping, reading, listening to an audio book, playing lego, while I get work done on the computer. Once quiet time is over, the older three go outside or play inside, making forts with the couch cushions, drawing at the table, building with LEGO, or run laps in their obstacle course that they set up in the basement, or more likely, in the living room. (Yes. Headphones can be my favourite friend some days. Ha!)
Just before 5:00pm, after I have done the morning and lunch dishes, and have supper going on the stove, we turn on the timer and the music again and do another 15 minute tidy up.
This is GOLDEN to setting the tone for the rest of the evening. This way, Jesse and I don't have to stumble over blocks, books and whatever else after putting the boys to bed. Yes, there are a few little things to tidy up, but for the most part, things are cleaned up, ready for the next day to start all over again.
This routine works for us because the boys know that there is freedom in building forts and playing with their toys, but there is also a time when we need to put things back in order. I let them play and do their thing (within reason - like, no jumping on the couch, even though they LOVE to do that), but then we all know that things go back to normal at the certain point in our day. If they have built any LEGO creations, we have designated special spots for them on a shelf in their room.
There is something freeing when your home is tidy. Watch your kids after you do a huge clean up to your playroom. They go to toys that they have forgotten about and spend hours (or at least a good chunk of time), playing and creating.
I know some of this has to do with personality types. I find it really hard to relax, when I can see clutter surrounding me. When I have laundry - clean or dirty - piled up around in our bedroom, my sleep isn't as deep. I am able to function better as a mom when our house is tidy at certain points in our day. Feeling frantic with seeing clutter everywhere is not how I want to live my days.
In those moments, I set a timer for myself. My own "15 minute tidy up" and see how much laundry I can fold and put away. Or if I can get my dishes washed and put away before the timer goes off (most times, it's just getting them washed. But hey, at least they aren't dirty on my counter anymore).
If you are feeling stuck at getting simple tasks done around your home, try the 15 minute tidy up. It isn't only for kids!
