Silly I know, but my house is stressing me!

I just can't seem to keep on top of everything. I can deal with clutter to a point but i like it to be a bit tidy.
I know with kids it's hard, i get that, but every night I come home from work i'm stressing about getting it to a point I can go to bed knowing that it's at least tidy.
DH thinks i'm strange but i'm struggling. I try and do some each night. He helps with cleaning the floors, kitchen etc but it's just the general clean/tidy up and the continual clutter around the house. I have hardly any furniture but it's still cluttered - junk sitting on the book case etc. I can't cope with it at the moment, i'm trying to de stress etc, but i cant because i feel anxious walking into my house. GAH!
The girls help to a point to tidy up because we are a "happy family" and "thats what we do to help each other" (DD1s reason for helping)
How do people do it??? Work, be a mum, study, housewife but still somewhere have time for themselves??

No advice. Just a :hug: because I know how dispiriting it can be when you can't get on top of the mess.

:hug: I have felt like this sometimes. I find washing baskets awesome.

I bought heaps! LOL! I often walk around the house with a washing basket and collect the clutter that seems to get eft everywhere and then sort it out. Sometimes if I dont have time or energy to sort it, I just put the washing basket full of stuff somewhere and at least all the clutter is in one place. I know it is only temporary solution but it helps me. :hug:

I second the washing basket - I throw random things in and put them away when I have 5 seconds... Although sometimes it takes a few days!
Another thread a while ago suggested you leave a basket in each room for a week and add things to it you don't actually use or take up space and cause clutter. At the end of the week be strong and throw the contents out. I did that and got rid of silly things on my bookshelf & random toys that were broken, not part of anything... I felt good! Looking around now I may need to do this again.

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:hug: I have felt like this sometimes. I find washing baskets awesome.

I bought heaps! LOL! I often walk around the house with a washing basket and collect the clutter that seems to get eft everywhere and then sort it out. Sometimes if I dont have time or energy to sort it, I just put the washing basket full of stuff somewhere and at least all the clutter is in one place. I know it is only temporary solution but it helps me. :hug:

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I second the washing basket - I throw random things in and put them away when I have 5 seconds... Although sometimes it takes a few days!
Another thread a while ago suggested you leave a basket in each room for a week and add things to it you don't actually use or take up space and cause clutter. At the end of the week be strong and throw the contents out. I did that and got rid of silly things on my bookshelf & random toys that were broken, not part of anything... I felt good! Looking around now I may need to do this again.

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I have baskets then get frustrated because I have to put it all away LOL

I know the feeling :hug:

Have you googles FlyLady? She has some great tips for keeping a house clean & tidy.

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How do people do it??? Work, be a mum, study, housewife but still somewhere have time for themselves??

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firstly love, most people don't! I've learnt that 'having it all' and being "supermum" is a load of rubbish. You can have it all, but you can't have it all at once. something has to give! can you create a 'junk room' or space where you can hide things away from yourself and get to them as you can? it might keep the main space a bit tidier for you. That or just to a massive cull of toys and books and various things that are cluttering up your home... maybe buying some storage to so the stuff can be put away easily might help?

I find i also that i get stressed in a messy hosue and stress myself out with my terrible "house wifeyness" but at the end of the day, I try to just keep it in perspective - i have a 1 yr old, a 2 yr old and study... So i do the bare minimum every day and one or two little extras when I can... means my whole house is never clean at the same time, but i've come to accept that's just the way life goes!

keep an eye on your need for a perfectly clean house too sweetie, maybe ask yourself if there's something else going on there if you hubby thinks you are going over the top with iykwim.

anyhoo, not sure if any of that helps you. but I hope you will be kind to yourself and rather than run around like a beheaded chook cleaning a house that will be a mess again within 12 hours, that you boil the kettle, grab a treat, put your feet up and watch some Olympics/movie/trashy tv/read a book

Cleaning a house is like groundhog day, so a day or two missed in the cleaning won't really have any affect on the level of mess! lol. (drives me nuts, the CSIRO should study it cos its a phenomena!)

I came across a great idea if setting a timer. 15mins and see what you can do- the kids can kinda grasp this too. Then you stop for 30 mins than set timer again :)

Sorry if it doesn't make sense, the barefoot princess is covering me with kisses

Best tip I can give:
"A place for everything and everything in its place."
We follow this rule in our house. If something doesn't have a place it gets discarded or donated/sold. Once something has been used, it gets put back in its place.

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How do people do it??? Work, be a mum, study, housewife but still somewhere have time for themselves??

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If you find the answer to this question can you let me know??

And big :hug: I too am trying to juggle all of the above and it's tough, very tough. I feel like I'm falling behind in every aspect and it's all gonna come tumbling down soon!

Agree with not having it all at once. I have consoled myself with having a calm/clean-ish bedroom and lounge as the key to escaping! The kids stuff is in our living room and their rooms and we do a quick tidy it of an evening and on the weekend. xxx

ETA - It is easier now my 2 are older, much better in the last 6 months and I can see it will improve when they are both at school.

Oh my gosh! I get the same feeling. I get so stressed out when my house is a mess. I like it neat & tidy with everything in a specific spot.

When my husband comes home he turns it into the biggest mess! Grr!

With a baby, pets & a husband and working part time its so hard to maintain!

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I am soo in the same boat.

maybe due to crazy pregnant nesting but a just did a HUGE clean-out. And i mean epic! i had over 15 bags to charity plus that again in rubbish!! cleared out craft drawers and got rid of faded pens, broken crayons, drawn on bits of paper, ripped paper, loose stamp pieces that once belonged to a set.

Then i started on the girls' cupboards and got rid of clothes that i had just been holding onto because they are convenient for kindy etc. so all the slightly too small stuff, crappy stuff that we had too long, stuff that i have been given but dont like and felt too guilty giving away. I totally fell into the trap of keeping too much for the other girls down the track: and some stuff just doesnt keep well.

Also went through all our bookshelves and got rid of books that i had no need or attachment to anymore (old gardening books, magazines, torn books etc).

The the toys. got really ruthless. anything broken, or with missing pieces were gone. toys that annoyed me...gone. faded toys etc etc.

I was amazed (and horrified lol) at how much we had been holding onto!

You're not alone Sunshine.

I find that when the house is really messy, it brings me down. I'm on edge, fidgety and can't relax. Until I have the time to clear it up, I just put everything in a huge pile squished into the corner, and make the area within 2 metre radius of where I'm going to plonk myself reasonably clean.

Are you in a position where you could hire a cleaner, even just for a couple hours a week to get that backlog of dishes and mopping done?

Thats a good rule Bbug. If it doesnt have a place then out it goes

Sorry if it doesn't make sense, the barefoot princess is covering me with kisses

I am a fan of the washing basket trick too. Also I try to keep one room neat and organised (living with my parents at the moment so that room is our bedroom, but in our old house it was the lounge) so if I start to feel scattered I can hang out in there and just pretend the rest of the house is the same. Ha!

my big thing that helps me keep some cool is that i HAVE to have the beds made. it's really weird, but somehow that makes me feel like i have been a good housekeeper when they are done :rofl: