OK so it's 1:40pm and I have a two yr old about to wake up and school run to do, my house is still disguisting despite me having spent the last 1 1/2 hrs folding washing, putting stuff away etc. How on earth do you keep a clean house! My 6yr old is complaining I don't spend enough time with him and his sister seems to spend most of her day trailing around behind me while I do washing, wash up, vacuum etc.
I have tried to do more before we go in the morning but but the time I do lunches, get the kids ready for school and then we have the usual swimming lessons, mothers group, sports etc, DD comes home for a nap and then it's back to school and after school activities - how on earth are there enough hours in the day! I spend the evenings studying (and OK on the computer - it's my downtime right) but I desperately would love some time to myself to just relax and do something I enjoy - how is this even possible. It's normally 9pm by the time I finish cleaning up after dnner and getting the kids to bed.
DH really had high hopes of me being this domesticated wife and SAHM but I seem incapable. Please help!
I make lists and have set days of doing things. Not everything gets done but the main things do like vacuuming and mopping etc. Right now, I still have 2 baskets of clean washing that I did on the weekend to fold and put away.
So Mondays and Thursdays I do the vacuuming and in between days I give the floors a quick sweep. A load of washing goes on sometime between Friday and Sunday. Every morning I make the bed (this one I do without fail, makes me feel tidier LOL), sweep the floor and the dishes.
And I try and do it all before I even walk into the study to turn the computer on, otherwise I end up procrastinating about housework
I try and follow the tips in the Spotless book by Shannon Lush. She has some really great ideas.
Have a morning routine, an evening routine and an afternoon routine. Put out hotspots (messy areas) when you see them (but only give them 5 mins time each time... otherwise you get bogged down with one thing).
Tidy tubs for each child. Get the child to fill their tub with all their stuff that is around the house and not in their room and then take the tub to their room to put the stuff away.
Laundry sorter, put on a load in the morning or before you go to bed if you have a timer. Break up the folding to 15 mins in the morning 15 mins in the afternoon and 15 mins at night. You'll find your washing will disappear gradually.
Try not to do everything in one day, ie ALL the vaccuming, ALL the washing, ALL the bathrooms. Have little routines each day and you'll slowly chip away at it and you'll find its less overwhelming, easier to maintain and you'll have more time for you without the guilt of what should you be doing next!
yep i'm with laranna and niliac. i have 'days'. so both DH and I have set days for what gets done. we do washing of clothes on wednesdays and saturdays. vacuuming is usually done on monday (and sometimes a saturday). here is a rough idea of how the basics get done....
Monday: vacuum (am or pm)
dishes (am)...we dont do dishes at night...night-time is 'our' time...so yes, do go to bed with dirty dishes in the kitchen...
Tuesday: nada. (or rather just the usual picking up and general tidying that you do everyday ikywim)
wednesday: wash clothes
thursday: groceries
Friday: nada (as in tuesday)
Saturday: big morning clean: this where DH and i go hard or go home LOL! this is usually vacuuming, clothes, mopping and bathroom morning. pretty boring for DD but by 11am it is usually all done and we get out of the house for awhile and it's so nice to come back and see it clean!
Sunday: nada.
Last edited by Cassius2; May 6th, 2009 at 02:21 PM.
: funky tech issues
I agree with the other ladies make a list and don't try and do it all on one day.
I do a load of washing everyday (I start the washer as soon as I am up and the kids are awake). I do DH & my washing one day, the kids the next and towels & sheets on the other days. I always make sure I fold/iron everything that was washed on the day that way it never piles up and at the end of the day there is nothing in the laundry to do.
I always put the dishes in the dishwasher straight away and it goes on every night. Once up in the morning I try and get everything I can done while the kids are happy playing together as I find this is the best time that they will play by themselves. So in the mornings I have a routine where I unpack the dishwasher, make the beds, give the floor a quick sweep and take the bins out if needed.
I just try and keep everything reasonably tidy the rest of the time so it only takes 10-15 min to clean up at the end of the day. And then I do a big house clean once a week where I do the bathrooms, vacume etc.
Ooh, I am following this with interest. We're about to move out of a 2 x 1 dogbox into our brand new 4 x 2 and I think I'll have to be really strict about a cleaning routine so I get optimal time with DS and DH.
I'm not too great at it.
TBH, folding is the one thing I have the most trouble with. Clothes usually sit in the bottom of my wardrobe & I have to dig through to find clothes every day. I'm hopeless
After dinner is my down time. I leave it for the next morning. My house is never clean for more than a few hours, but I think its a bit much cleaning 24/7 to try & keep on top of it. My house is mostly tidy. Its rarely clean. If it is, there's always at least one room over flowing with mess.
I do the major cleaning at night time when the kids are asleep, I vacuum every 2nd morning and mop once a week, I clean the bathroom while im in there for a shower, I give the girls chores, I do the dishes as i go and dont let them pile up, i cannot stand waking up to a dirty kitchen.
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