How the heck do you find time to clean your house??

[overcome]

I'm baffled. I was not good at this before DD and I am pitiful now...

I decided Thursday would be cleaning day (night, really, since I'll be returning to work next week). I will clean the kitchen and dust the whole house while DH does the bathrooms and vacuuming. Tonight was the first night.

I am 80% done with the kitchen and I feel like it is hopeless. ANd I didn't even do everything in there I wanted to, like clean out the fridge and wipe it down. And I don't touch the stove/oven b/c that is DH domain.

Forget about the dusting!!

I think it must have a lot to do with attitude and mine STINKS! I am PERFECTLY WILLING to hire a cleaning person, but DH works at night and sleeps during the day, so that won't work. Maybe I should look into a service who could come later in the day, like 3 or 4...

How do you do it?

[ohiomom]

Flylady (flylady.net). I don't follow her system perfectly, but it's the ONLY way and we can't really afford a cleaning service at this time, though I desperately would like one!
DD 7/03
DS ^|^ 5/05
DD 9/06

[table4three]

I sometimes work nights and if I'm sleeping the day that the cleaners come, I have them do everything except my room and no vacuuming upstairs. They are only here for 2-3 hours, I don't hear them too much when they are on the main floor, so my sleep isn't too disturbed, and i can manage the master bed/bath and upstairs vacuuming (usually).

I know my cleaners do my house from around 9:30-12:30 and have at least 1 house after mine. I bet you could find someone to come later.

[megs4413]

if you can swing getting a service, DO IT. it is a lifesaver (or so i hear....). otherwise, SCHEDULE SCHEDULE SCHEDULE. and remember, sometimes you don't get it done. you have to forgive yourself and cut yourself a break. i have "goals" everyday, but sometimes i don't get everything done....and i've learned not to beat myself up about it. i'm less productive when i'm hard on myself.

i'm sorry you had a rough go of it.

[KrisM]

Similiar to flylady, but in paper form, there is a book called "Sidetracked Home Executives" that has you use notecards to write down all that needs to be done and divide it by daily, weekly, monthly, etc. activites. You then arrange the month or whatever the first time and just do that day's worth of stuff. So, you might have a mini-task of wiping the stove front. Do it on the phone and move the card to the next week/month.

I liked it much better than Flylady. I couldn't handle all the e-mails.

[daniele_ut]

I work full time and there's no room in the budget for a cleaning person. I spend 15 minutes each night *right* after DS is in bed picking up the house and cleaning one room. I usually do the kitchen on Sunday after dinner.

[maestramommy]

Wow, I never clean out the fridge! All I do weekly is vacuum the whole place, mop the kitchen and vestibule floor, and clean the bathrooms. If I get to it I also dust (I HATE dusting). Once in a while I'll do the windows, scrub the shower walls, and kitchen countertops.

That said, we are hiring a cleaning lady because pregnancy is making me a mass of aches and pains. Along with Carpal Tunnel syndrome and it's just getting too painful to clean thoroughly.

[bubbaray]

I don't. Cleaning lady does it. If one of us is home sick when she's here, I have her do our room first, then go hide in there afterwards. I think you could work around your DH's schedule.


Melissa

DD#1: 04/2004

DD#2: c/s 01/2007

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

As roseanne said-"at the end of the day if the house is still standing and the kids are still alive I've done my job."

That said, don't stress about it. As long as noones getting sick and nothings getting damaged-you're good. Enjoy the kids, i sometimes feel bad about the piles of laundry,unwashed dishes and foul smells coming from the diaper pail but dh always changes the pail right before i'm about to and the dishes eventually get done. We do a load of laundry at sometime during the day and that's pretty much it unless someone important is coming to dinner.

jen

[jadamom]

When I had just 1 DD, I would clean during naptime or while DH was home on the weekend. When I had 2 DDs, I started to have my mom come to watch them while I cleaned. Finally, I just gave up and hired a cleaning lady. She doesn't mind if DH or DD is sleeping while she works. I just have her skip that room until next time.

[candybomiller]

I don't. I figure DH will get sick of cleaning after a while and we'll decide to get a cleaner.

[punkrockmama]

^^ LOL. Yep, that's us. I just gave up, and then shortly after Dh said "Um, do you want to call someone, or should I?" ;)

[dawell0]

I have gradually given it up. I used to have really high standards but they have gone out the window, particularly since my last trimester. The past 2 months since my son has born have flown by and I realize that it is more important to spend time and cherish my boy than to have a perfect house. I also choose sleep over cleaning.

[karolyp]

I agree with Daniele. I also pick up the house and do the dishes before going to bed (and after DD goes to bed). Friday night, I'll usually start on the laundry, and I even ordered this rolling laundry sorter basket thingy from Target that has made that chore so much easier! And Saturday is my day to clean. I start in the morning and I'll wipe down the kitchen while DD is eating, then I'll dust (and usually give DD a toy duster so she can "help"), wipe down the bathrooms, vaccum (by this time DD's ready for her nap) and then mop while she's sleeping.

I do light cleaning and then every few months or so I'll do a heavier cleaning where I scrub down the bathrooms, clean the couches, windows, etc.

But they key for me is not to let it pile up. But when DC#2 comes around we'll see how this all changes lol!

[nfowife]

I just hired a cleaning lady and let me tell you, it is the best $$ I've ever spent! She cleaned things I never would have thought to bother with, like the grimy soap holder in my shower. She couldn't come this week because of ice storm- it would have been her 2nd time- and I am already missing her! I still vacuum nearly every day and do tons of tidying and all the laundry, but that is just peanuts compared to the whole house stuff that I cannot keep up with.

[elliput]

I do little bits everyday, so there are only rare instances when my house is showroom ready. And like some of the other PP's, I do a quick straighten up of the living room/playroom after DD is in bed. DH helps quite a bit too, he is pretty much in charge of keeping the kitchen clean (except he never remembers to sweep or mop x( ).

[brownlesa]

ITA w/ everyone else. I'd get a cleaning person. Sometimes DH is home when ours comes and he just hides in his office. He won't let her clean it anyway.

Ours only comes once a month and by then the floors are really really bad. I really should vaccuum more often. Oh well! :)

Leslie
DD 9/13/05

[brittone2]

I've read this book and it is great. I also liked Confessions of an Organized Homemaker.

I haven't read through all of the posts, but I've heard good things about Motivated Moms as well. I think it is $12 a year to subscribe. It seems less overwhelming that Flylady.

ETA: I'm not really too on top of the house just to be clear LOL. I was finally at a point when it was just DS where I was able to keep up pretty well, but with DD's arrival it is much harder. I expected that, but it is still hard. I do the daily essentials like load/unload the dishwasher, try to wipe off the table and countertops, laundry, and sweeping the kitchen floor up. The rest is harder to juggle right now. We're on the fence about a cleaning lady right now.

[brittone2]

I've read this book and it is great. I also liked Confessions of an Organized Homemaker.

I haven't read through all of the posts, but I've heard good things about Motivated Moms as well. I think it is $12 a year to subscribe. It seems less overwhelming that Flylady.

ETA: I'm not really too on top of the house just to be clear LOL. I was finally at a point when it was just DS where I was able to keep up pretty well, but with DD's arrival it is much harder. I expected that, but it is still hard. I do the daily essentials like load/unload the dishwasher, try to wipe off the table and countertops, laundry, and sweeping the kitchen floor up. The rest is harder to juggle right now. We're on the fence about a cleaning lady right now.

[kijip]

The thing about the planning and the lists in house keeping guides is that in most cases, they only work for people that would have dreamed up something like that on their own. I read housekeeping books not to learn to keep house but to see if I can get some wisdom to tweak what I am already doing. It is like a day planner book. If you are not inclined to use it, you are not going to for very long. so I say get a cleaner. If you can't get one, spend 30 minutes each day on the task and see how it goes. I am a clean as I go person and my home is very, very small :). Which (cleaning as you go) is unfeasible unless you have a cooperative child at the moment you are cleaning and the inclination to clean. I have loosened up certain standards since becoming a parent but frankly, I gave up the things that made me a freakishly obsessive compulsive person. I am still generally neat and tidy on a day to day basis. Part of that is I will lose it if there is a huge mess and I know that about myself. But I firmly believe that you can only do what you have the time and the inclination for. I think you should be able to get a cleaner to come in the afternoon, perhaps a college student that has classes in the morning?

[kijip]

The thing about the planning and the lists in house keeping guides is that in most cases, they only work for people that would have dreamed up something like that on their own. I read housekeeping books not to learn to keep house but to see if I can get some wisdom to tweak what I am already doing. It is like a day planner book. If you are not inclined to use it, you are not going to for very long. so I say get a cleaner. If you can't get one, spend 30 minutes each day on the task and see how it goes. I am a clean as I go person and my home is very, very small :). Which (cleaning as you go) is unfeasible unless you have a cooperative child at the moment you are cleaning and the inclination to clean. I have loosened up certain standards since becoming a parent but frankly, I gave up the things that made me a freakishly obsessive compulsive person. I am still generally neat and tidy on a day to day basis. Part of that is I will lose it if there is a huge mess and I know that about myself. But I firmly believe that you can only do what you have the time and the inclination for. I think you should be able to get a cleaner to come in the afternoon, perhaps a college student that has classes in the morning?

[DrSally]

little bits of picking up during the day, but vacuuming and bathrooms on the weekend when DH is home (studying though) so he can at least be in the same room as DS. After dinner I do the bare minimum and finish while DS is eating his "finger foods" breakfast. I wish the house was cleaner though.

[DrSally]

little bits of picking up during the day, but vacuuming and bathrooms on the weekend when DH is home (studying though) so he can at least be in the same room as DS. After dinner I do the bare minimum and finish while DS is eating his "finger foods" breakfast. I wish the house was cleaner though.

[bisous]

I'll take a stab at this. This is something that I've struggled with, that I care very much about and that is actually working for me right now.

First, I think it would be great to hire a cleaning lady. But I'm so poor right now that sometimes I am the cleaning lady to other people to make a little extra cash. That is decidedly not an option for me.

I found that what works is to have a baseline of things that need to get done each day. This will depend on the person. For me, the downstairs of my apartment must be tidied each night, the dishes run in the dishwasher, the kitchen counters wiped down, the kitchen floor swept and downstairs bathroom spritzed. The whole process (because I live in a pretty small place and tidy as I go) does not take me more than half an hour each night. Usually I turn on the TV and resign myself to pick up during commercials. Usually my zeal for cleanliness overrides any program that I am watching.

Then, in the morning when my DS (age 3) is very occupied, once my baseline is accomplished, I can vaccuum a small area, wipe down the upstairs bathroom, pickup lots of toys etc.

The way that I tackle everything else is by having my basics in place every night.

To summarize, figure out what is really important and "clean" to you. Do that every night. It doesn't really take that much time. Then during the day, try to spend 1/2 and hour to an hour in small increments. My house is pretty clean doing this regularly and it hardly cuts into "my time". Because I like a clean house, the 1/2 hour I sacrifice at night is totally worth it. When I wake up, walk downstairs and see a clean house, I have a whole different kind of day.

I hope this helps!

[niccig]

I agree with the little bit here and there approach.

Laundry - A load goes on every morning, into the dryer somtime during the day, sorted as we watch TV at night.

Kitchen - fridge gets cleaned before I put away the groceries. I pull out things for the trash, quick wipe down of mostly empty shelves, and then I put things away. I try to empty the dishwasher first thing in the morning and dirty dishes are put in there rather than the sink. DH cleans up the kitchen after dinner, which means dinner mess and wiping down counters.

We pick up before we go to bed and put things away to their spots. Actually, putting things away when you've finished saves so much time, it's still hard for DH and I to do this but it works.

I've started to clean when I'm on the phone. I was talking to my sister while DS was napping the other day, and I dusted the house at the same time.. I just walked around with a feather duster and I was surprised at how easy it was.

Bathroom - chlrox wipes and wipe down counters and toilet as you brush your teeth. My mum makes the last person in the shower wipe down the walls so no soap scums builds up. I've been meaning to do that to cut down on cleaning in between.

None of this is a deep clean, but it does go a long way to cutting down on the mess, so the deep clean doesn't take long.

Nicci

[C99]

I don't. When something is annoying me (dirty rug, toilet needs cleaning), I clean it - right then or that day. Otherwise, unless we have company coming, I don't worry about it. I use vinegar, hot water and occasionally bleach to clean just about everything in our house, so it's safe for me to clean w/ the kids around. Both kids like to "help" me, although it's easier for me to do most things while DD is napping.

I keep meaning to hire a cleaning person, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

[justlearning]

One thing I found that has helped me no longer dread house cleaning is the speed-cleaning system and products from www.thecleanteam.com I got their package with everything in it and have found that their system (as shown on the video but you can also read about it in books), apron, and other products (including a feather duster) has enabled me to clean the house much quicker and better than I ever did before.

[KrisM]

I got a three-color laundry sorter for Chrismtas (how exciting, huh?). I love it. It has made laundry so much easier to keep up on. Each morning, I make sure all the clothes are in the bags. If one is full enough for a load, I toss it in. If none are, I do towels, sheets, or diapers. One load every day makes it so much easier than 7 loads at once!

[gina]

As the flylady says, ANY amount of housecleaning blesses the family. Do what you can when you can. Even 10 or 15 minutes--you will be amazed at what you can do in that time.

I concentrate on the important things and the rest can wait until the weekend or until hubby is home. I also am a pack rat and letting go of a lot of clutter has helped the house look cleaner.

One of the biggest things that helps me is cleaning up after myself. I leave messes and say I will clean up later and then I get overwhelmed by the amount that has to be done later and just leave it.

Simple routines have helped me alot. I empty the dishwasher in the morning then all day I put the dirty dishes straight into the dishwasher then all you have to do at night is run it. It keeps the sink cleaner and you avoid having to load all the dishes at once.

I try to do one load of laundry a day and if I get more done, great, if not then there is always tomorrow.

I also have a 15 year old who loves to shop so I can usually get her to help out (either cleaning or babysitting my 11 month old) if I wave a little cash at her. She also has regular chores too. Maybe you could hire a sitter for an hour while you clean. Sitters are much cheaper than maids. And you will be close by if they need you.

Gina E
DD 15 yr
DD 11 mo

[Corie]

What? Are you serious? Clean my house?!

[blueeyedb]

That's what I was thinking! In my world a clean house, a one year old and a pregnant mama do not mix!

[dules]

What a sweet DH! I am hoping to be able to afford a cleaner if I go back to FT work, as I feel like I can barely keep up with it and DD as it is - add in more work hours and forget it.

I find Flylady helpful, also Amy (daisymommy)'s schedules. But I don't beat myself up (much) when I backslide.



Mary

[hillview]

We hire a cleaning person who I love. If we didn't we'd live in squalor.
/hillary

[overcome]

Thanks to all the responses. YOu mamas gave me some great advice. I am going to ask around at work for recommendations of good cleaning people (not services). There must be someone who can come later in the day once dh is up.

I am going to do my best and look up flylady...

Thanks!