Teach me to be a good housewife!

[Miss E]

I second the idea of taking a day out to blitz the house. Once it's clean and organised it's easy to keep clean.

Personally, I'm a neat freak and have to keep things tidy, other wise I feel out of control (actually I could be a little OCD about it all, or at least DH thinks I am LOL). But what works for me is doing everything as I go. Get out of bed, make the bed. Make breakfast, clean up breakfast. Get a load of washing out of the dryer, fold the washing. Put DS to bed, clean up the toys etc. It means that you do have quite a few 5 minute tasks here and there, but that's all it is, 5 mins at a time. You don't get to the end of the day and have a huge list of housework to do.

Then, I would take your DP's advice and draw up a cleaning roster. But, I would make sure that the tasks are evenly shared between the TWO of you. Maybe even have rotating weeks so one of you isn't always stuck cleaning the bathroom.

HTH

[*LittleMissSummer*]

I second the idea of taking a day out to blitz the house. Once it's clean and organised it's easy to keep clean.

Personally, I'm a neat freak and have to keep things tidy, other wise I feel out of control (actually I could be a little OCD about it all, or at least DH thinks I am LOL). But what works for me is doing everything as I go. Get out of bed, make the bed. Make breakfast, clean up breakfast. Get a load of washing out of the dryer, fold the washing. Put DS to bed, clean up the toys etc. It means that you do have quite a few 5 minute tasks here and there, but that's all it is, 5 mins at a time. You don't get to the end of the day and have a huge list of housework to do.

Then, I would take your DP's advice and draw up a cleaning roster. But, I would make sure that the tasks are evenly shared between the TWO of you. Maybe even have rotating weeks so one of you isn't always stuck cleaning the bathroom.

HTH

That sounds really great and something i/we can easily do! Thanks heaps. I used to be the same before DD and then got struck down with PND so lost all motivation to do anything i was lucky if i could function properly.

[little_O]

I'd posted this on another thread but i find it to be a great list to work with. Roster idea sounds good too...

A Practical Home Cleaning Program

• Daily
❏ Bedroom: Make beds and put things in order

❏ Kitchen: Wash dishes and sink. Keep counters and tables free of clutter. Sweep or mop the floor if needed

❏ Bathroom: Wash sink and toilet. Put things in order

❏ Living room and other rooms: Put things in order. Give the furniture a light cleaning. Sweep, mop, or vacuum the floor if needed

❏ All the house: Properly dispose of the garbage

• Weekly
❏ Bedroom: Change bed linen. Sweep, mop, or vacuum the floor if needed. Dust furniture

❏ Kitchen: Wash the stove, countertop appliances, and sink fixtures. Mop floor

❏ Bathroom: Wash the shower walls and all the fixtures. Clean toilet, cabinet, and other surfaces with disinfectant. Change towels. Sweep or mop the floor

• Monthly
❏ Bathroom: Thoroughly wash all the walls

❏ All the house: Clean the frames of the doors. Vacuum or thoroughly clean upholstery

❏ Garden, courtyard, garage: Sweep and clean if needed. Avoid accumulation of refuse or unnecessary items

• Every Six Months
❏ Bedroom: Clean bedspreads according to manufacturer’s instructions

❏ Kitchen: Empty and thoroughly clean the refrigerator

❏ Bathroom: Empty and clean shelves and drawers. Dispose of unnecessary or out-of-date items

❏ All the house: Clean lamps, fans, and light fixtures. Clean the doors. Wash screens, windows, and windows frames

• Yearly
❏ Bedroom: Empty and thoroughly clean closets. Dispose of unnecessary items. Wash blankets. Vacuum or thoroughly dust the mattresses. Clean pillows according to manufacturer’s instructions

❏ Kitchen: Empty and thoroughly clean shelves, cupboards, and drawers. Dispose of unnecessary items. Move appliances so you can clean the surface or floor underneath

❏ All the house: Wash all the walls. Clean upholstery and curtains according to manufacturer’s instructions

❏ Garage or storage units: Sweep thoroughly. Organize or dispose of unnecessary belongings

[LuluHB]

The hardest thing for me was coming to the realisation that cleaning the entire house the way I wanted (I'm a bit OCD so take forever to clean) all in the one day just doesn't happen anymore, so I have set chores for each day - Monday is sheets and towels washing, dust/vacuum girls' rooms. Tuesday is girls' bathroom etc etc.

"Life" obviously gets in the way and some days whatever I should be doing doesn't get done, but generally it works pretty well.

[*LittleMissSummer*]

Little O Thanks for that list! It sounds like something i need to get me back into my routine. Next time i'm at my mums ill print it out. May even print her one too as she says she falls behind in housework as she works fulltime.

[Miss E]

Great list LittleO. It's the 6 and 12 monthly things where I fall down - they're all such big jobs!

[little_O]

I Know Miss E! My MIL is the most organised houswife i know and she has a system of First week in Winter and First Week of Summer to do them. She's at home full time though so i guess that makes it slightly easier...that and her boys are all grown up lol.....

[Mak]

LMS - some great ideas here! For me the key is to do things as I go and then break down the big jobs to be done over a period of time. I guess our place often looks at the least surface clean but the organisational and cupboards etc is currently a work in progress. So I do clean the kitchen up after each meal, make beds as we get up and wash clothes each night. Helps not to get overwhelmed but piles of stuff - which bothers me. I also try to deal with mail/paperwork etc once. So I open and process/file and then chuck anything extra. Otherwise I end up with things everywhere and no idea what is going on. So we have a filing cabinet, calender/diaries and bills to be paid folder to do this. I also try to get value when I cook so will often roast 2 chooks at once with once for later or do a bulk cook of curry/spag bol to freeze and defrost of the days it is harder to cook. Keep at it and remember to focus on what you have done not the stuff still to be done!!!

[AnyDream]

That sounds really great and something i/we can easily do! Thanks heaps. I used to be the same before DD and then got struck down with PND so lost all motivation to do anything i was lucky if i could function properly.

I can soooo relate to this. While I was having treatment the whole house slid out of control and it took a really long time afterwards to get back on top of it. Not so much the surface cleaning (cos DH is good with that) but all the underlying organisational stuff that had been let slip. So overwhelming. But just take it step by step and you'll get there. I found it helpful to ask DH to do very specific things which were small things but helped me tackle the bigger task (eg he took the flyscreens off and cleaned them while I did the inside of the windows). So make sure you include those things on the list too. Things like cleaning the inside of the fridge or sorting a cupboard is "invisible" work (DH will come home and not notice) but if it's there on the list and ticked off as something you've achieved you can feel better about your household successes.