never catch up with it( housework)

[Ineedmetime]

Anyone else????
I always seem to have a side of washing up, its rarely all done.
then theres the clothes etc washing I have a mountain!
bathroom needs cleaning although my house is nowhere near as bad as the ones on kim and aggies tv show, the main rooms I can keep tidy are living room, dining room, bedrooms. although living room gets trashed by 2 year old daily I mannage to keep it fairly useable.
is anyone else like this?? I must admit though I do procrastinate a bit!

[AngelDog]

Yep. And yep - apart from the keeping some rooms tidy/usable bit...

[Ineedmetime]

hi angeldog glad I'm not alone!

[PhyllisDiller]

There is no point in catching up IMO...last night I was in a sate of 'caught up-ness' (first time in ages). Today it is raining, DH is working unexpectedly and the house is trashed again. There is crayola paint on the kitchen floor, paintings drying everywhere, mud in the bath and a huge pile of wet towels has appeared from somewhere. I am knackered DS is covered in banana and once again the floor is covered with toys....DD is busy watching a film and I should be looking for whatever it is that smells like wet dog.

I reckon I was 'caught up' for about 10 hours, 7 of which I was asleep.

[Ineedmetime]

Thanks phyllisdiller, I can stop beating myself up about it now I know other mums struggle too. just wondered how old your dc are? I have 2yr old and 7yr old. talking of which I must do ds school uniform shirts washing and stop procrastinating on MN.

[PhyllisDiller]

4 and 17 months... and soon to be 4, 18 months and newborn!! Am on strike resting today! I think when it comes to school uniform I will be ironing sleeves and collars only (or getting away with polo shirts!).

Getting anything done with a toddler in the house is just ridiculous IMO.

[Huffpot]

House work with children is awful - there's always something! I have a 22 month old and an 11 month old and as soon as I sweep and mop(in particular) they've trashed it again
It doesn't help that my 84 year old mother in law lives with us and is constantly fretting about the mess sigh

[TimeWasting]

Housework is never finished. It is only possible to do a good enough job.

I try and keep the place tidy and clean, by doing it as I go along, but it simply is a constant job.
Learning that it is never a completed job helps make it less daunting, and I don't feel bad if it's not as shiny as I'd have liked.

[Ineedmetime]

Thanks for all your replies, its good to hear how other people cope or not as the case may be.

[Teachermumof3]

I completely agree with the person that said housework is never finished! I really struggle with three children, the husband (who probably actually makes as much mess than them but would look all hurt if I pointed that out!), working and a house with too many rooms, but seemingly not enough storage.

I think the key is to keep on top of things and force yourself to do a bit, even if you don't want to then things become habitual. When I get up in the morning, I air the beds whilst showering/dressing, then scoop up any cups/washing to take downstairs whilst making beds and opening curtains. Whilst everyone is eating breakfast, I put the washing and dishwasher on. After the schools run (when I'm not working), the washing gets hung out, dishwasher emptied and then I usually clean bathrooms and hoover. I'll try to attack one extra thing a day-changing beds, cleaning floors, windows, ironing, dusting, sorting out old stuff. Lunchboxes are emptied as soon as I get in, and refilled again whilst I'm making dinner and put straight into the fridge ready for the next day. Bathroom is cleaned and washing put away whilst they are in the bath!

I'm probably a bit OCD about some things, but I wish I had time to 'properly' clean; I'm pretty sure that if you lookedmy under or behind furniture-it would be quite revolting! I'm a bit useless with cobwebs, too as I'm very short and never seem to look up!

Try getting a room sorted and then just quickly putting it back to normal every time you leave it-then you don't have to go back into a messy room! Do you have a dishwasher-that makes a huge difference, I think as you don't have piles of washing up to look at!!

[Ineedmetime]

Thanks everyone,
Teachermumof3 you sound really organised, I feel after reading everything you manage to get done I need to give myself a bit of a kick up the b**
How do you find time for you aswell as doing all that? Are your'e dc all school age cause I feel it is a bit more of a worry if you have a toddler,( don't like to leave her alone for long as she is up to allsorts )
please keep posting everyone as its good to hear how other people manage, right I'm off to try and do some housework.

[Ineedmetime]

I don't have a dishwasher

[Teachermumof3]

I agree- a dishwasher is fab as they are so good for keeping everything out of sight!

I've got one toddler and two at school-I agree it can be a nightmare! She sort of plays around me and 'helps'!!

Good luck-how's the housework going!?

[Teachermumof3]

How do you find time for you aswell as doing all that?

Ha ha-I've only just seen this bit! Erm, not sure about 'me time'-I think that's probably way down on the list. I sort of see my time at home as 'work' too (as DH doesn't get any 'me time' whilst he's working either) and we both slob about in the evenings. I read in the bath and in bed and go out in the evening with friends.

[Ineedmetime]

Here's an up date on today since I was last on mumsnet ( hope I don't bore you all)
did lunch( dd wouldn't eat much). did some washing up(but not all). went to a toddler group with dd. then went to school to pick up ds, came home, dc fighting over train set. I did some more washing up( still not all done) cooked tea, eat that, went to asda, came home dc bedtime, watched 30 mins tv then had shower, now on mums net

[AngelDog]

Sounds pretty like my day - only mine's more filled with trying (and failing) to get stuff done!

[Ineedmetime]

Hi Angeldog, I'm feeling a bit demoralised (if thats the right word), after the crapiest nights sleep for a while. I really feel like I can't be bothered today!
Kitchen has piled up yet again with washing up, and have endless requests from dd about setting up train track(which I have now done) Oh bugger she has just demolished it! When ds comes home later we will probably have more fights over the trains and train track( they are both mad about thomas the tank at the mo.) dd hit ds with a toy train yesterday so ended up on naughty step. she said sorry within two mins witch was quite good!

[turbochildren]

thanks for this thread! my life in a nutshell :)
now two at school and one baby at home, it is easier, so for you with toddlers at home: there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

this made me smile though, as I sit here in a front room full of washing, scooters, bike and pushchairs. baby is being fed, and is sleeping/eating whilst I read news/mumsnet/work on computer.

btw, dishes are forever piling up, and kitchen in a state. wonder if it's because I clean too slowly? partner does it much quicker, but then food still stuck on dishes...

this too shall pass, though. you'll have a really neat house once they all have moved out ;)

[Ineedmetime]

My dh is the same when it comes to washing up, he does it much quicker than me but half of it has to be done again cause it still has food stuck too it. but I suppose its good he tries to help cause some men wouldn't even try.

[AngelDog]

DH does everything faster than me, but that's because I'm really slow at everything!

I'm trying to do FlyLady, but I simply don't think I can fit everything in. I have a dishwasher but there still always seems to be loads of washing up to do by hand.

It's always worse after a rough night, isn't it?

In the mornings I can generally manage to put a load of washing on, and possibly unload the dishwasher, but 18 m.o. DS and I can never make it out of the house before 9.30am, let alone get any more housework done before I go out.

[AngelDog]

My washing machine is broken too - so I'm building up a huge backlog, especially since I was only two-thirds of the way through the post-holiday washing when it broke (and we use cloth nappies).

[roundtoit]

in a perfect world we would all have immaculate homes but to be honest as long as your dc are healthy and happy the rest does not matter, before you know it they will be at school or uni or living away from home so bugger the house and enjoy your kids while you can. All this from a v old mum whose DS now has his own place.

[lightsandshapes]

I don't even have a dc yet (6 months pregnant at the moment with DS1). Already I have this issue. I want more time to socialise, be creative (write and take photos) and perform at work.... but feel my energy is always being drained by trying to get the house looking like I want it! I feel like other people judge me by my house and want it to be nice!!! But it always seems aspirational! Help!

[Ineedmetime]

Roundtoit, you are right, its the dc that matter the most.

Angeldog, and Turbochildren, you sound like me,I'm slow at everything too!
it might be cause when I do something I like to do a good job.

Angeldog, what is FlyLady? I've heard other mums mention it on MN but I don't know what it is.can anyone explain?
you're right about things being worse after a rough night!

[AngelDog]

Here's the website for Fly Lady. It's an online 'housework coaching' system - it takes a step-by-step approach to getting organised and decluttering.

Washing machine is fixed now. :)