You are going to love the Roomba and Scooba.

Swifter makes a nice duster and floor sweeper with disposable dust rags. Both will save you time on your cleaning.

I've recently added some extra air filtering, allergy style.

My laptop screen which gather dust instantly has no dust on it since. No furniture dust. Even the carpet looks cleaner all the time. Plus I sleep sounder.

Filtrete pleated filter for the a/c. $15 supposed to last 3months. They look dirty fast though.
Two Big Honeywell Hepa filters, one for the family area.(cheap off ebay, but filters are expensive)
Some little Hamilton Beach True Air alergy filter. (cut my own filtrete filters,easy/cheap)

Amazing.

I love I Robot/Roomba. Got him for Christmas from my daughter. We have cats and it is almost unbelieveable the cat hair it picks up. You have to tuck away wires and any little area rugs that are high but great on my wool rugs, tile floors, etc. Both hubby and I have bad backs and this is heaven. We have our coffee before work and watch him do his stuff ... even the cats have gotten used to him and just quietly move as it passes by. We clean about two rooms each morning and keep rotating the room cleaning schedule. Would recommend this item to anyone interested!

Gabrielle,

I know this is off topic, but how many rooms can your Roomba clean without having to stop it and clean out the filter/dirt cup (whatever they call it)?

My Roomba cleans about 2 rooms for about 45 minutes total and then needs to be recharged ... say kitchen and dining ... but I must mention our kids are grown and we do not wear shoes into the house. I am sort of a neat freak and hate to walk on grit and am always picking up stuff and sweeping on the floor. I like the Roomba because of the cat hair and dust bunnies. Read a website that says it is not good for dog hair though. And of course I would not recommend small legoes,paperclips, etc. The roomba went under my couch the other day and sucked up chiffon drapes, grabed it and pulled the material out and it was still alright. Now I block off underneath the couch unless I put the drapes up.

Gadgets aside, keep in mind two things about cleaning:
A) it's easier to keep something clean than it is to later clean up something dirty.
B) cleaning is like breathing... it's most effective if you do it steadily, and regularly.

You don't say how old the children are, but if they are out of diapers and still living at home, then they should be helping by keeping their own area tolerable (as in what you will tolerate) and the family areas neat and clean.

There are some great gadgets around, but none of them are very useful if you expect them to do the whole cleaning thing... your most helpful gadget is likely to be a large piece of poster board, divided into seven columns (one for each day) with numerous sections within each column.

Making a schedule of labeled time-blocks seems to make "chores" more fair, especially if the listed chores are rotated among the family members on an even basis. Break down daily chores into very small pieces - don't just say "dinner" but select who will: set the table; prepare the entree; fix the salad, help prepare the vegs; serve; move dirty dishes from table to sink; wash and rinse plates & utensils (or scrape and put in dishwasher); scour the pots and pans; dry and put away the cleaned items; spray-clean and wipe all the kitchen surfaces; mop or dry-mop the floor; wipe clean [and polish weekly] the dining table and chairs; select tomorrow's menu; kiss the cook. If the children are very small, your name will be in most blocks, but let the children do as much as possible - a toddler can assemble the salad ingredients after you chop; take in the silverware and plates to help you set the table; move dirty dishes from table to the sink; wipe cabinet fronts (okay, it won't be a good wipe but it does get better as they age); choose whether to have have green peas or beans with tomorrow's meatloaf, and they are just great at giving the cook a kiss. There should be a set of daily blocks, and another set of weekly blocks. Meals and kitchen duty aside, if everyone consistently helps, the rest of the house should stay reasonably neat and clean with about 20-30 minutes effort each day plus a couple hours weekly to do things like laundry, changing beds, and a thorough vacuuming.

Make it a practice to wipe up any mess as soon as it's made; put away any toys not actually in use; to always leave the family areas neat (yeh, that means don't leave the newspapers scattered and do put the popcorn bowl in the sink); everyone should wash out the sink/tub/shower immediately after use; clothes should be put in the hamper or hung up *immediately* after wearing. School-age children do much better if the next day's clothing is laid out at bed-time.

Do not expect a sterile-clean house; do expect everyone to contribute to the comfort of the other family members; and be sure to apply -daily- at least three phrases from the list on the link - although my favorite isn't on the list: "I appreciate you help!"

Here is a link that might be useful: praise is the best honey

The air purifier helps keep the house cleaner and smell better! My filter is cleaned in the utility sink and replaced. The purifier is attached to the furnace.
The best tip I got was to start cleaning at the top and work down. Swifters and miracle clothes are great. I dry mop rather than sweep with a broom and use a a B&D Dust Buster instead of a dust pan to pick up the crumbs and dust. Kids love the dust buster. I've given them to some of my grandchildren instead of toys.
We use to have "pick up time" before my husband came home. I would put Zorba the Greek theme song on the player and we would see how much we could get done before it was over.
Actually, I never got my five kids to help much. They didn't have many toys compared to the toys their children have. I use to tell mine that the maid was coming and what wasn't put away would be given away. It worked! I never had a maid but they never knew.