Just wondering when you all find the time to clean your houses :? My house looks like a mess all the time, it is so embarrasing when people come over unexpected. I try to do the meet them on the porch and by any means possible don't let them come in approch. I really do the best I can but with a family of 6 there is always dishes and laundry pilling up. Then there is the kitchen which is homeschool central. It isn't a very big kitchen to begin with, so it ends up looking so cluttered. Then there is the mountain of baby toys in the living room. For the most part I can keep it picked up, but I can't seem to find the time to do the bathrooms, mop, dust and all that kind of stuff. I have a son turning 1 next week. Between running after him and HS'ing my 2 younger daughters during the day, I have no free time left. Then in the afternoons we are going to their sports practices. I did have a routine going for a while where on Saturday mornings everyone had a job and we did one big cleaning together. But now their games are played on Saturday :roll: I know I probley should get my daughters to help out, but I think it is kind of unfair for them to do it and their older sister (who goes to PS) doesn't. They are responsible for their room, and do help with the dishes and laundry for me, sometimes.
I have my kids to a lot of the cleaning. My ds 12 takes out the trash, loads the dishwasher, and feeds the dog. My dds 9 and 7 empty the dishwasher, feed that cats, and dust. All three take turns setting and clearing the table, wiping bathroom counters, picking up their rooms, picking up the family and living rooms, making their beds/changing sheets, dog-pooping the back yard and watering the plants. That way all I do is toilets, floors, and the kitchen counters, and vacuum. It really helps keep the mess under control and teaches my valuable lessons about caring for their environment, repsonsibility for where they live, working as a team with the family, and teaches them life skills - when my kids go out into the world, they will know how to take care of their own home and make more than mac and cheese for dinner. We all live in the house, why should I be the only one who has to care for it? Just IMHO.
I prioritize. Housecleaning isn't the most important thing to be accomplished during the day. I chase a toddler around so housecleaning is difficult. My boys do have daily chores, but I don't give them too much. If they don't dawdle their chores take about 15 minutes. We will occasionally all pitch in and get the house in great shape. But day to day the basics are done. I always make sure the kitchen is clean for morning so we can start the day off right. Laundry? Well, I've been behind on that for 5 years. For me my basics are cleaning the kitchen before bed and rotating other areas of the house to clean thoroughly. For instance if I have 20 minutes to clean I would clean one room thoroughly and the next day I would focus on another room.
With the house being torn apart for construction mine is a constant mess. I focus on areas and make the kids help. Bedrooms one day, kitchen and main floor another day, basement and bathrooms have their own day too.
I try to always keep the first room company will see as the cleanest. Everything else will get done when there is time.
Yes, you are. NOT!!! LOL Mine is USUALLY a mess....clean but cluttered. Usually. Sigh. We have too much stuff. And I have no time to get through it all so it gets shoved. Anyway...my kids help a lot with cleaning. My oldest does the bathrooms (except the boy parts of the toilet...lol). My middle helps with trash. My youngest helps by dusting. They are all responsible for their own rooms. They are all responsible for the school room. The living area is usually "okay" but clutter. I'm working on a good schedule for us that works in some chore time each day, but it's tough!!! Does it help to know that there are others out there, and it's okay???? I'm actually better at cleaning, keeping up with laundry, etc. in the summer. But during the school year, SCHOOL is my priority. It has to be. (((HUGS)))
This summer, my house was very messy. I didn't know when it was going to look livable again. I didn't care, because my family comes first. My mom always told me, if the dishes are done and the beds made, the house looks ok. I have trained my children from the get-go when they get up, make their beds and put dirty clothes in the basket/hamper. I try to keep the dishes done, sometimes that is not done because we grab something to eat and head out the door. Remember, your family is number 1.
No! my house is messy also, I try to keep the kicten and living room looking nice, but since school has started and books are everywhere it looks like a mess. My hubby said it was time for a cleaning day, but school comes first and by the time we are done, i have the 2yr old that I babysit now, and I am too tired to clean. I am thinking of taking a day off of school and having a cleanning day, really deep clean , make a list of what each girl has to do and get it done. I was going to do it this past Saturday, but :cry: did not happen, some things came up. so may be this week.
Oh boy. I read your headline and almost spit out my pretzel. :lol: Ladies, if you could see my house you'd disown me...I won't even get into details, but no. You're not the only one with a messy house!
okay I had to laugh at this thread! At the moment my ds' things are in my living room and the family room.. and the kitchen.. its been like this for about a week and a half so I stopped cleaning because it was like where am I going to put this box so I can move that dresser and sweep? We have been remodleing for about a year now and are coming down to the last room, family room! Wee! THe boys are getting things slowly put back in their room and I am deciding what is NOT going in! so... at the moment yo couls ay my house is trashed... sure
I have seriously decided I need a maid..... and now I just need to figure out what days not to feed the family so I can have one I just want all my toilets clean on 1 day!! We have way too much stuff - and I really just need to get rid of all of it! I'm thinking a yard sale is in the near future on one of the days that I also open up the farm - double dip on the sales But no - not everyone's house is clean.....
I'm with Coloradomom - I'd be disowned as well. My husband and daughter apparently think that the floor is the garbage can. After 16 years of marriage I've quit trying to get him to understand otherwise. We wade knee deep in clean clothes, dirty clothes, books, newspapers, whatever. Should I ever get a burst of energy, I go through and bulldoze paths putting things in their proper places. Then 2 days later (and sometimes 2 minutes later) I turn around and all is as it was. My daughter helps with cooking, dishes, and laundry - sometimes. My husband will wash and dry clothes sometimes, but then he always makes piles - on the bed, on the kitchen table, on the sofa. I can't get it through his head that he is not helping when he does this - he is creating more clutter. I too greet people on the porch - no one, and I mean no one is allowed into my house. We never go to people's houses and they never come to ours. However, last night we had to deliver something to one of our homeschool buddies houses and ended up staying 2 1/2 hours. My daughter now wants to have people over, so maybe, just maybe, I will get some help against the never ending battle against the garbage, pile ups, and so on. I recently read somewhere that a good idea is to write down things that could be done in 10 minutes or so on slips of paper and put them in the jar, then when anyone has 10 minutes to spare, they pull out a slip and do it. This is really small chuncks that might be managable. Things like - wash a window, clean the sink, load the washer, etc. I'm going to give it a try. IT CAN'T HURT!
My husband does that too, it drives me nuts !! And now he has taught our 13 y/o that way of doing laundry Speaking of unexpected guests.... To make a long story short, my oldest dd had a softball tournament yesterday and the catchers equipment was left at our house. One of the parents was riding by our house and offered to pick it up. Since we were 45 min. away we had no choice but to let them. I was so embarrassed, we left the house at 7:00am in a frenzy and figured we'd clean up when we got home. Ugh there were breakfast dishes still on the table, clothes all over the living room and dog poo on the front porch
Well we have a routine now. My house was a huge cluttered mess, then we got into a routine. What we do is pick up the mess when we are done no matter what. Also chores are done before school starts and the house is clean before we go to bed. This way in the morning we only have poop duty, make beds, start laundry and such. Also everyone helps with everything. My youngest helps where ever he can.
I am trying to get rid of things we have stored and never use. That is one of our biggest problems as far as keeping things clean. We just have way to much. Our former living room is now a school room. I love it. Nobody used the living room except Freddy and we made him a den in a smaller room. Now everyone hangs out in the school room. It is organized and kid friendly. I love it! Now if I could get the upstairs looking good!
My house is normally "lived in" as well call it lol. Messy well if you walked in my kitchen right now you would see dishes that need washed lol. But I am taking that lovely few moments to myself. I try to keep the front room clean just in case I do get the visitor. But the bathroom needs polishing, the kitchen needs an overhaul, and don't even ask about the rest of the place I haven't looked lol.
Na, lol, as I see it we are all in the same vote, no time, and no room for what we have. Oh , to have a huge house and a MAID! OH, how i wish the house could clean itself.
My house is clean at the moment, though I dont imagine it will stay that way for long. With a large family, it is almost impossible to keep it clean but we try. I find that giving the children chores as part of their schooling helps. Each child has a few chores they do each day for life skills. Each weekend, usually Sunday afternoon, we clean bathrooms, dust, sweep, mop, vacuum, etc. Each child has tasks to complete on this day as well. By the end of the week, I would hate for someone to show up unexpectedly but its the best we can do right now. I think someone else said it perfectly, its all about priorities.
Mine is okay I don't hs yet, but I do preschool at home. I have three children, dd almost 4 and dds 2.5. I have a long long list which has broken up the house chores into chores that take 20 mins. I do one in the morning and one in the evening. The list ranges from cleaning ea bathroom to washing windows etc etc. I do this by getting up at 5am every day. We also clean the kitchen and pick up all the toys at the end of the day, I find this helps. I like my big long list bc I get to do a variety of work. Although my house is never "spotless" end to end it stays reasonably clean. Clean enough that I wouldn't be embarrassed if unexpected visitors dropped by. In fact I make no extra effort when expected people drop by. I figure they are here to see me (us), not my house. I have also started a "Big Girl's list of chores" for my eldest daughter. Her chores are to make her bed, get herself dressed, empty the cutlery from the dishwasher, let the cats out in the morning (of the basement) and pour the cereal for herself and her sisters. When she turns 4 I'll be adding more to the list. I have the list posted on the wall where it can be referred to often. This way there is no argument with the list on the wall and expectations are clear. Yes... you guessed it, I'm "Mrs List" but hey, that's what works for me . Kat,
