There is a living room, hallway and 3 bedrooms on the first floor that are all carpeted. Plus a kitchen and bathroom that are vinyl and fake wood/ laminate flooring. The basement has indoor/outdoor type carpeting. It doesn't take that long to vacuum the whole thing. Except, kids.
And I don't even mind vacuuming. Except, kids.
Emma loves the vacuum. She would prefer to be touching it while it's on. So she will crawl around following me vacuum trying to get her fingers on/ under it. Little does she know that is not a good plan.
Addie used to love it (when she was Emma's age), then she suddenly became terrified, and now that Emma loves it, she likes it again. She often copies Emma and crawls around while I'm vacuuming.
So, one day, I decided to get way more thorough than usual and put all the things from Addie's floor into her crib so I could actually vacuum the room. Then Addie asked a mind blowing question that has revolutionized how I vacuum.
"Can I go in the bed and play with all the things with Emma?"
YES! Yes you can.
First, we go through each room and pick up everything off the floor... well, almost everything. And by "we" I mean, me. The girls follow me around. Sometimes Addie helps pick up or serves as a little runner and delivers things to their proper place. I do Addie's room last and put everything in her bed. Then she asks to get in there and play with Emma. I vacuum the whole main floor, including the kitchen and bathroom, periodically peeking in on them to make sure they're ok. It takes less than 10 minutes... small house perks. I hit her room with the vacuum last and by then they're ready to get out.
[Side note - my girls play in a crib together most days for a little bit, so I'm not worried about them together. If your kids haven't "practiced" this, and are at the age where the older one might try to, you know, claw out the little one's eyes, obviously don't do this. I wouldn't have done this 6 months ago...]
Then, Addie likes to put everything back in its spot in her room. The girl likes things in order.
This has turned into an "activity" folks. When Emma sees the vacuum, she flaps her hands excitedly.
Addie talks about how mommy vacuumed and she and Emma played in her bed for the rest of the day. She thinks it's so funny to see all the things in her bed.
"And those things, and those things, and those things too!!!!!" She squeals with excitement.
Hoarder? I don't know.
Anyway, I highly suggest this kid-friendly vacuuming method.
Get er done.
