How to Start Teaching with VIPKid Today (3)
Kids,  Mom's Parenting Tool Box

Mom’s Spring Cleaning Checklist- Highly Motivated Mom vs. Lazy Mom

It’s Spring! Finally, time to open all the windows, kick the kids outside longer and get ready to enjoy the warm weather. I always feel the need to deep clean my house after a cold and snot-filled winter. Something about the sun being out longer shines a light on all the dirt and since the kids are going to be outside more it’s OK to spend more time cleaning! It may stay clean for a little longer, at least until they are home all day for summer break. Check out my Mom’s Spring Cleaning Checklist. I made one for the clean freak mom and one for the less motivated mom. Enjoy!

Bonus: If you read all the way to the bottom there are ideas to get your kiddos helping with the chores too.

Mom's Spring Cleaning Checklist- Highly Motivated Mom vs. Lazy Mom

I have been or can be if you click on a link and make a purchase, compensated via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value for writing this post. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. Please read my full disclosure for more information.

Mom’s Highly Motivated Spring Cleaning Checklist

Kitchen

Fridge Condiments

 

  • Wipe down all cabinet doors and drawers. Organize and purge all inside contents. 
  • Wipe down refrigerator, inside and out. Purge any outdated food and condiments. 
  • Wipe down the stove and oven. Clean burners. Run self-cleaner setting on the oven (make sure this is on a day you can have the windows open.)Don’t forget to wipe the crack between the oven and the counter. 
  •  Wipe sink, drain, faucet, and run some ice and lemon in the garbage disposal. 
  • Run vinegar bowl in the empty dishwasher. Wipeout any loose debris and clean out filters. 
  • Run vinegar bowl in the microwave and wipe inside and out. 
  • Wipe and clean out any counter-sitting appliances( toaster, coffee maker, etc.) 
  • Sweep and Mop floors with all furniture moved. Don’t forget to get all the baseboards. Take a vacuum cleaner to the bottom of the refrigerator. 
  • Wipe down all chairs and tables with soapy water. 

Bathrooms

  • Wipe out the sink and make sure the drain is clear and clean. 
  • Wipe all cabinets and drawers. Organize and purge contents. 
  • Wipe the toilet from top to bottom. Inside-outside and remove toilet seat to clean (or maybe even install a new one!) 
  • Wipe windows and baseboards. 
  • Wipe the shower walls. Scrub the tub. Inspect and clear tub drain (EWWWWWW). Clear any old caulk and add new. 
  • Dust and wipe light fixtures and exhaust fan. 
  • Windex mirrors and windows. 
  • Shake out and wash throw rugs.
  • Sweep and mop floors. 
  • Linen Closet:
    • Refold all sheets and towels. Wipe shelves. Organize and purge.
Linen Closet:Refold all sheets and towels. Wipe shelves. Organize and purge.

Bedrooms

  • Dust Ceiling fans, wall decor, dressers, bedside tables, and window sills.  
  • Organize and purge the closet, dressers, and bed-side tables. 
  • Windex windows and mirrors. 
  • Move bed and vacuum underneath. Flip mattress, spray with Lysol, and vacuum. 
  • Sweep and mop or vacuum the rest of the room. 
  • Shake out and wash any throw rugs. 

Living Areas

Windex windows and wipe down the sills.?
  • Dust all decor, lamps, tables, bookcases, tv, and electronics, etc.
  • Windex windows and wipe down the sills. 
  • Remove sofa cushions and covers- launder anything possible. Vacuum out sofa and any cushions that cannot be laundered. Lysol everything. 
  • Move furniture. Sweep and mop and/or vacuum. 
  • Shake out and wash any throw rugs. 
  • Fire Place:
    • Shovel out any leftover ash and shop vac out the hard to get bits. 

Mom’s Lazy Spring Cleaning Checklist 

(This may or may not be a fictional recreation of spring cleaning in my house).

Kitchen

  • Wipe down the one or two cabinet doors next to the stove- they get the most greasy anyway. 
  • Take any old papers off the fridge, move them to the counter, and have a snack.  
  • Look at the top of the stove and save that for the husband to clean. Maybe wipe the dribble on the stove door.  
  •  Put dishes from the sink into the dishwasher. The sink is now clean!
  • Run dishwasher- clean!
  • Wipe the inside of microwave sides and curse at the stuck on tomato sauce on the top.  
  • Clean off one counter. Pat yourself on the back and have a coffee break. 
  • Wipe the one counter you cleaned. 
  • Sweep the floors, let the dog lick up the crumb pile- mopped!
  • Put a new table cloth on the table and have a seat to enjoy the rest of your coffee. 
 "Pat yourself on the back and have a coffee break."Mom's Spring Cleaning Checklist- Highly Motivated Mom vs. Lazy Mom

Bathrooms

  • I cleaned the sink and toilet on Monday they are fine. 
  • Empty the trash from under the sink. 
  • Run a bleach wipe across the baseboards to collect hair.
  • Clean out tub shroom (the most amazing bathroom gadget I own). Think to yourself “I’ll wipe the walls with a scrub brush in my next shower.”
Buy it Now on Amazon
  • Thank the spiders for keeping other bugs out of the bathroom. 
  • Windex toothpaste smears from the mirror. 
  • Shake out a throw rug. 
  • Think about sweeping but then realize that the bleach wipe you used on the baseboards was good enough. 
  • Linen Closet: Shut the door.

Bedrooms

  • Dust Ceiling with an old pillowcase, take a 15-minute power nap. 
  • Carefully fold up the beloved flannel shirts and shove them into the top of the closet. 
  • Look in the mirror and decide to get dressed for the day. 
  • Find your favorite pair of shoes under the bed and cringe at the dust bunnies. 
  • Vacuum around the basket of laundry that needs to be folded.
Mom's Spring Cleaning Checklist- Lazy Mom. Take a 15-minute power nap.

Living Areas

  • Dust one lamp and tv. Toddler requires to you watch whichever Disney princess movie is the current favorite. 
  • Clear cobwebs from windows as you open them for fresh warm air. 
  • Remove sofa cushions and covers- cringe at the crumbs and put them back. Bribe the 6-year-old with video games to use the hand vac later. 
  • Move furniture. Fill a box with lego bits. Vacuum. 
  • Fire Place: Dang, I wanted one more fire before I was spring cleaning. 

Chores the Little Kids Can Help With 

Kid Friendly Spring Cleaning Chores

Kitchen

  • Wipe down bottom cabinet doors. 
  • Organize fridge magnets. 
  •  Reorganize the silverware drawer. (Great for a lesson on sorting)
  • Help sweep and clean up dirt pile. Use this great kid-sized broom set. 
  • Wipe down their chair at the dinner table. 
Buy it Now on Amazon

Bathrooms

  • Wipe out the sink. 
  • Empty the trash from under the sink. 
  • Roll up throw rugs to be washed. 
  • Collect toothbrushes to be dishwashed. 

Bedrooms

  • Dust their room.
  • Make sure clothes are in drawers, closets, or hamper. 
  • Fill one bag of toys to give away. 
  • Take sheets off the bed.

Living Areas

  • Help dust. 
  • Windex the windows where they can reach.  
  • Use the hand vac to clean out sofa crumbs and under the sofa.  
  • Fill one bag of toys to give away. 

For more ideas on getting young kids to help around the house read- Chores: 8 Ways to Get your Toddler Helping Around the House.

Final thought: Focus on what is important for you and your family’s happiness. 

Mom’s Spring Cleaning Checklist is up for interpretation. A clean and organized home feels great but doesn’t stress yourself out and sacrifice time with your family to get it that way!

Here are some links to some of my favorite printable spring cleaning lists! 

Please Check out Some of my other Mom guiding Posts!

8 Fun Ways to Beat Cabin Fever with the Kids
6 Ways to Promote Free Range Kids

9 Comments

  • SZheng

    Hello, this article is really informative and helpful!!?I like the part kiddos helping part. It really recurs my memory that my mom asks me to do the housework. However, I always have some argue with my younger sister. How to ask the kiddos to do the work for you to prevent this kind of situation??

    • Savorthemomlife

      I think I would give each kid their own chore they alone are responsible for and if you want to change it up you could have them take turns. I used to do every other week cleaning the bathroom with my sister. I am sure we argued over who’s turn it was as well. My mom usually had us written on the calendar so the argument didn’t last very long. When my kiddos get a little bigger I’m going to make them each their own chore charts to keep track.

  • Lindsay

    Haha! My granddaughters love to do the fridge magnet thing! They are pretty interested in cleaning for who-knows-what reason, perhaps it’s just a girl thing – I think girls see value in cleaning and boys just think it’s a waste of time. Your post is very motivating – you inspire me to roll up my sleeves and get into it – and I live in Australia where it isn’t Spring right now, but Autumn – we are having almost summer weather here so it’s a good idea to get this work done before winter sets in. Where I live in the Northern Rivers NSW, it’s not classified as being “cold” here in winter, but we do have a fire! And it rains a lot so it’s always worthwhile to have everything clean and dust-free. I like your comment about spiders too – we tend to appreciate their worth in keeping down other bugs, but some of them are fierce! Thanks for your post, you definitely give me inspiration to keep my house clean! Cheers, Lindsay

    • Savorthemomlife

      Australia! I would love to visit there! I’m glad you liked my post and are inspired. Thank you so much for your wonderful comment. I’m pretty sure if I lived in Australia the spiders would NOT be allowed to stay- too many poisonous ones!

  • Brie

    Love the toddler cleaning ideas, the definitely seem like things my daughter could do for the most part. (Though I’m not sure that she would want to :p)

  • Tamika G

    I’m not a mum but I still appreciated this article. At the end of the day, cleaning is cleaning although with the little ones I know that there is more cleaning to be done generally. I picked up some great tips though. Our big cleaning time here is Christmas interestingly enough so it makes an already busy period even busier but it’s definitely a tradition. We usually have a summer clean as well. I said I’d try to do the bit-by-bit method rather than the big clean but I often tend to procrastinate lol. How do you handle procrastination when it comes to cleaning?

    • Savorthemomlife

      Thank you for the kind comment. As, for procrastination and cleaning? I usually clean to procrastinate over other things personally. Hah but really though I have a schedule with one big thing a day. And every other week is cleaning week so i can have a week off to do other stuff. I am def the bit by bit method. I just use the same big spring clean check list for a few weeks.

  • Tammie McIntire

    Thank you so much for sharing such a great list! I for sure laughed. I decided I needed to do the super motivated checklist at my mothers house because she’s elderly now and needs some help removing years of junk. I am so grateful I got a dumpster rental Bonita Springs, FL to help the process! The lazy checklist has a slim chance of happening in my own home lol! Great read!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *