I am excited to bring you a list of five simple tips for keeping your house clean and organized over the holiday season. These simple holiday cleaning tips come from Matt Paxton, who has spent the last 10 years cleaning the messiest homes in America on the show Hoarders. Matt will be returning to Hoarders on January 3rd at 10 pm ET/PT on A&E. These simple but effective cleaning tips are perfect for the holiday season.
About Matt Paxton (Short Biography):
Matt Paxton is a cleaning expert, author and star of the hugely popular A&E series Hoarders. Paxton has built his career on cleaning the dirtiest, most shocking and stomach turning messes in the world. He combines humor, honesty, and tips from his clients to create a message that will help any family cut through the clutter and remove stress from their lives. Paxton uses his “tell it like it is” approach to help others learn about the paralyzing world of hoarding. His cleaning expertise has been featured in Good Housekeeping, Forbes, Washington Post, Good Morning America, Yahoo and more. Matt Paxton is married and the above family photo shows him with his wife and children. For more information visit www.iammattpaxton.com.
@iammattpaxton
10 Simple Holiday Cleaning Tips From Matt Paxton
At home, my wife and I get to tackle the everyday messes of 3 young sons. Although we know our home isn’t supposed to be perfect, during the holiday season it’s easy to get overwhelmed with stuff. Below are a few helpful holiday cleaning tips to keep your mind off of the clutter and help you enjoy your friends and family.
#1 – ALL toys and supplies have a home.
If you don’t have a proper space for the item then it doesn’t fit in the home. The “home” doesn’t have to be perfect, but it must exist.
#2 – When an activity is done, completely cleanup the activity and put ALL items in their “home.”
This includes putting Legos back in a storage container, books back on the shelf and cleaning up and putting away art supplies.
#3 – No New Activities Until Old Activities Been Put Away.
HaveNew activities can NOT start until all items from the previous activity are put away.
#4 – Be FIRM on rules #’s 1, 2 and 3.
Enforcing the rules builds repetition and structure. The first few days might be difficult, but once the kids get used to the consistency it becomes habit. We don’t encourage rewards for cleaning up because the next activity is the reward, but we do take away the items if they start a new activity without cleaning up previously activity. BE FIRM early as it will quickly become habit.
#5 – 10 Minute Sweep.
Each night, the entire family cleans the kid’s rooms for 10 minutes. Cleaning is something we do every night just like bathing, brushing teeth and washing faces. We do it together as a family and simply help the kids place all the items back into their “home.” It’s good for the kids to see everyone cleaning together and the nightly routine builds the skillset of cleaning. Keeping it under 10 minutes makes it manageable for kids and parents and it creates a fun race like atmosphere.
If you are starting on the first day with a bigger mess, give kids specific numbers of items to cleanup instead of giving a general statement. Being asked to pick up 5 books and 3 pairs of shoes is much more mentally attainable than “go clean your room.”
Clean out the closets and cupboards.
Start by trimming back the board games, videos and holiday books. Keep a few of the classics and 2 or 3 of the newest items, but donate the rest. Keep enough for the whole family to play. Don’t be afraid to include grandparents when playing with gaming systems, it’s pretty cool to see grandma beating your brother at Mario Cart.
Clean up in the kitchen BEFORE and AFTER cooking.
With food allergies and raw turkeys floating around, it’s important to wipe down all surfaces before and after eating. We don’t always know what people are allergic to and it never hurts to protect everyone from wet turkey bacteria.
Make the kids do the dishes.
This is an easy one. No dessert until the KIDS have finished loading the dishwasher and hand washing and drying the pots and pans. Full sink = no pumpkin pie.
Don’t let the decorations sit.
The day after, get out the holiday specific storage bins and put all Holiday decorations away. It usually takes less than an hour to pick up all the pumpkins or reindeer. There is nothing worse than seeing Santa in April with the Easter bunny and a pumpkin. If you are removing lights, use separate zip lock bags for each strand and store in large plastic bins.
Ask For And Gift Experiences, Not Stuff:
(For those who still haven’t finished their shopping!) Get gift experiences, not stuff. Another important tool to keep the volume of toys down…Learn to say NO. Encourage friends, family and children to focus on “experiences” and not more items. Telling your mother in law NO MORE GIFTS might not be as simple as it sounds, but watching your children go bowling with their grandparents is much more memorable than another toy sitting in a closet. More memories and less to clean!
Conclusion
Most importantly, have fun with the cleaning and participate. I know you are just as tired as the kids, but relax and put down the phone. The focused structure sets a positive tone before bedtime and creates a clean pallet for the kids to mess up again in the morning. Remember, a mess is a short term inconvenience, but kids not knowing HOW to clean for themselves can become a long term problem. Cleaning up through the day and taking 10 minutes at night to clean will help your toys last longer, create positive family time and build long term skill sets.
There is always so much going on during the holiday season. I hope these simple cleaning tips help you to tame the holiday chaos. So, which holiday cleaning tip was your favorite?
Related Posts:
7 Ways to Clean With Nothing But Salt And Water
Robin Rue (@massholemommy) says
Our Christmas decorations come down Christmas night. Once it’s over, it;s over for us.
Jeanette says
I am a bit OCD about this. I have a bunch of family here right now and I’m constantly getting new towels that are clean so we have something to wipe her hands off with, or wiping down the counters probably like four times a day.