Moving With Kids: How to Keep the Cleaning Under Control

That Cleaning Girl · Move-In / Move-Out

Moving is hard. Moving with kids is harder. Little ones pull things out of boxes as fast as you pack them, teenagers disappear when it is time to clean and everybody still needs to eat, sleep and get to school. Apartments came up in Apartment Move-Out Cleaning: A Checklist for Smaller Spaces. This one is for families with kids in the middle of a move.

Pack and clean room by room

With kids, the whole-house approach falls apart. A better plan: pack one room, clean it and close the door. Start with rooms the family uses least, like a guest room, formal dining room or office. Move on to the kids' rooms near the end, so their routines stay normal for as long as possible.

As you empty each room, clean it while it is still empty. Wipe the closet shelves, the baseboards and the window sills, and vacuum the floor. Then close it off. You will not have to come back to it on moving day.

Keep one clean zone

During a move, the house can feel like chaos. Keep one area, usually the kitchen or the family room, as a clean and functional space. That is where meals happen, homework gets done and everybody can sit down. A sense of normal helps kids, especially younger ones, handle all the change around them.

Keep a small set of cleaning basics in that zone: a spray bottle, a roll of paper towels, a broom and a trash bag. Spills happen fast with kids, and you do not want to dig through a stack of boxes to find the paper towels.

Give kids real jobs

Kids can help with moving and cleaning, and many like it when the jobs feel important.

• Little kids: wipe low cabinet doors with a damp cloth, put toys into boxes, carry light items.
• School-age kids: dust baseboards, wipe window sills, vacuum their own room.
• Teens: clean their bathroom, pack their own room, vacuum and mop.

Keep cleaning products away from little ones. Plain water and a microfiber cloth works for most of the jobs they can do. Older kids can use milder cleaners with supervision.

A little reward goes a long way. A sticker chart, a pizza night or the first pick of bedrooms at the new house turns cleaning into part of the adventure instead of a chore. Kids who helped pack and clean the old house also tend to feel more at home in the new one, because they were part of the move.

Time the deep clean around naps and school

The hardest cleaning tasks, like the oven and the bathrooms with strong cleaners, are best done when kids are out of the house or asleep. School hours, a grandparent's visit or a playdate can buy you a few uninterrupted hours. If that is not possible, consider the empty-house clean after the movers leave, when the kids are already at the new home.

Keep a kids' essentials box

Pack a box or bag for each kid with what they need for the first few days: pajamas, a favorite toy or stuffed animal, toothbrush, a nightlight, snacks and a change of clothes. Keep it in the car, not the moving truck. A kid who has their own things is a calmer kid on a chaotic day.

Add a small box of their bedding too. Making a kid's bed first in the new house, with sheets that smell like home, is one of the quickest ways to help them settle on the first night.

Clean the new home before they arrive

If you can, clean the new home before the kids get there. Bathrooms, kids' rooms, the kitchen and floors are the priorities. Crawling babies and toddlers put their hands everywhere, so floors and low surfaces matter most. Many families moving around Mansfield and Midlothian split the work: one parent at the old house, one at the new house, and the kids with a grandparent for the day.

Let some things go

With kids in the house, perfect is not the goal. Fingerprints will reappear on a wall you just cleaned. A juice box will spill on the floor you just mopped. Do the deep work once the house is empty and let the small stuff go until then. A little grace for yourself and the kids helps everyone through the week.

It also helps to lower the bar for meals and laundry during the move. Paper plates, simple dinners and a load of laundry only when needed keep the mess down so the real cleaning can wait for the empty house.

A smoother move for the whole family

A move with kids is a big moment for them, too. Keeping the cleaning organized and the routines steady makes it easier on everyone. For help with the old house or the new one, see our move-in and move-out cleaning services.