Confession: although I was a SUPER sloppy teen (don’t even get my mother started about my childhood bedroom), I am WAY more focused on cleanliness in this season of life and with a little one around.
When my divorce was being finalized and I was looking for a new place to live with my little one, I had a friend through work whose family had an empty ranch house not far from my office or my son’s sitter. The family was – and has continued to be – so sweet and gracious, and they lined everything up so I could be totally comfortable in the house – including sharing that the grandmother who had owned the house had designated the third bedroom as a playroom for her grandkids. Because we didn’t need a third bedroom, I decided to hold to tradition and turned that room into my son’s playroom. (I’ve added a full-sized futon and stored sheets in case we ever need the space to double as a guest room, too.) My son absolutely adores his playroom – and what he deems “his couch.”
Usually, I lightly spray the room down every other night or so with Lysol, just to kill any funk that might have landed on the play kitchen, train table, or hot wheels. (I do this daily if he’s under the weather, of course.) On Monday nights, my son is with his father, so I usually do my deeper clean of the playroom then – vacuuming or swiffering, Clorox wiping surfaces, dusting, et cetera.
Well, I have to admit – last week I was off my game. I actually took a sick day for myself on Monday because I was dealing with exhaustion and a migraine, so I lazed on the living room couch all day, and the only things I got done were rest, the entire first season of Sweet Magnolias on Netflix, and one load of laundry.
So when Tuesday rolled around, and I brought my son home, I realized the playroom hadn’t been cleaned super well for the week. If you have a toddler, you know it is near impossible to deep clean with your little one as your shadow!
Despite the difficulty of navigating that situation, I knew the room really needed it. He was NOT having the idea of playing in his bedroom or the living room, so I ended up so a quick cleaning of the room with him in there.
Here’s a peak at the before:
And, even more reason for me to clean that night – he had colored on his train tabletop! Some family friends, whose twins I used to babysit and now teach in our youth program, gifted us their train table when we moved into the rental, and AJ loves it. When I saw that he had gotten ahold of a brown crayon and scribbled all over the top, I’m fairly certain my eyes had popped, cartoon-style, out of my head.
I was bummed on Tuesday because I hadn’t had a chance go grab a Magic Eraser, which is what everyone says to use on crayon markings. I figured I’d try to use what I had on hand – a container of Clorox Wipes. Y’all… You cannot imagine how easy this was to scrub up! All I did was apply pressure and scrub for a bit, and the crayon markings came right up!
After that, I used Clorox wipes to clean up all of the surfaces – the train table, the TV and stand, the play kitchen, plastic table and chairs, and play tool bench. I then vacuumed with my second vacuum (yes, I have two – but I really believe that you really need a regular vacuum and a smaller one for quick cleaning on non-carpet floors) to quickly take care of floor cleaning and, popping the handle off and using the handheld middle section, to clean up the futon upholstery (y’all know that fabric-covered furniture is like a graveyard for goldfish crackers).
Here’s a link to the Clorox Wipes I used and the Dirt Devil SimpliStik Plus 3-in-1 Vacuum.
Even with my toddler talking to me and trying to play and watch Blue Clues as I cleaned, I was able to get the room clean in about 30-40 minutes!
While it certainly wasn’t my usual deep clean, it was a lot better than not cleaning and still certainly more in-depth than a midweek Lysol-spray and toy pick up. I felt super efficient and effective, and it only took about a half hour and two cleaning supplies!
What are your quick-cleaning tips & tricks?
Kate with a Twang 
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