How clean and tidy is your home.

[Shithole101]

If you have children. How tidy Is your home? What does tidy actually mean , in my head i always think people's homes are really tidy and visitor ready all the time. I see posts on Facebook and it will say please excuse the mess. When there is no mess.

Then there's tiktok videos with trashed houses that says let's normalise this. And they do a tidy up thicktok/video.

Handful of people on here may know I struggle with keeping on top of my house stuff and there's times it's Been trashed and shamefull. But im thinking it's not good to normalise that.

Some people manage to keep show room looking houses . How do people do that ?

I don't work but still struggle alot so how do people keep their houses really tidy but also work.

@Getonwitit Mine is pretty much only ever 10 -15 minutes away from being ready for visitors. I don't use instagram or tiktok. For me keeping on top of the cleaning and tidying is not only good for my mental health but also good for my physical health as daily activity as well as structured exercise is good for our health.

Mine would be a lot tidier if I tidied DH away somewhere.

My house is in the middle. 4 kids here. Some friends are worse and some are better.
It frustrates me as I would love it to be pristine but lack the energy and will.

Biggest thing that helps me was not having stuff! No ornaments and stuff cluttering everywhere up!

I have a toddler, 5yr old and 7yr old. My house is only tidy when they are in bed lol. My standards have dropped with every child. We both do shift work. Lots of toys but lots of IKEA storage. As a min daily I hoover, do a load of washing, clean bathroom and kitchen worktops, wash and put dishes away. My mental health cannot cope with doing any less. Not always visitor ready, but the visitors that come here aren't here to see my house, they are here to see me or the kids.

Me too 😵‍💫
The house is basically clean and tidy albeit a bit cluttered because I have the contents of the ‘shed’ in the living room while the garden room is being built so hopefully in another month all will be done.
DH is quite frankly the most untidy person I’ve ever met, it drives me mad! I completely blame his mother who who was a martyr and ran around after him and his father 🤬

No one is coming upstairs in my house!

Usually 15 mins to visitor ready
I mean I wouldn't turn anyone anyway any time but the cat rolls round on the carpet so I would like to be able to hoover and put clean dishes away before anyone came over

I like to set a timer for 30 mins and do as much as I can in that which is usually a decent amount (kitchen and living room or bathrooms and bedroom can be done in that time)

Not. Cluttered. My mum friends who have super tidy houses have loads of storage and things like a utility room. We do at least one load a day, no tumble dryer. We also have no garage for things like the drill. 3yo and 13mo.

🤣

OP I've seen some of your previous threads and I'm have to say I think it's admirable how much effort you put in to trying to keep your home nice, it really is. Clearly you also care a lot about your kids too.

I am very lucky. I have a lovely home, I work full time and have a cleaner house once a week and a lady who takes the ironing to do. I work less hours than my husband so in those few extra hours I just about keep my head above water with all the washing, feeding people (healthy if possible, but sometimes fail!) and shopping, and family errands like returns parcels and taking library books back etc.

So I would say my home is not too cluttered but it isn't show home tidy. And the cleaner does a pretty superficial clean so things like wiping bannisters and door frames aren't done regularly. There are always stuff on worktops, piles of washing to put away, toys all over the kids bedrooms.

But do you know what, I think everyone on this planet is doing the very best they can with the resources to hand. Stop comparing yourself to others and give yourself some slack. If I visited your home I would be be looking how nice it was or how tidy it was, I'd go away commenting on what a lovely person you are, or how kind you are, they're the sort of things that matter.

Aaahhh clearly that should have said 'wouldn't' not would. I would NOT be judging the tidiness of your house!

I am educating DS…

Tidy yes, I have a blitz ever evening and ds has to put way anything on the floor (toys), generally clean, hoovered, dusted, polished, kitchen and bathroom clean, beds are made etc, can get a bit cobwebby in places (high ceilings) and I don't do things like zoflora my skirting boards and I don't think I've moved my sofa to hoover under it for months

Ah thank you so much. But if you came today you would not go home commenting how lovely it is. Today is a trashed day . But im also in an I don't care mood today.

I love all my kids to bits . 😭

I'm not really telling myself off like that today. I do sometimes because it makes me do something. Especially if I have said on MN. That I'm going to do it.

I was just thinking today really about how other people's homes may be.

Food situation has been a bit slap dash here recently.

Sounds like you have a good pattern that works for you.

Thsnl you for the lovely post 💐

Thank you, much appreciated. I'm doing ok considering. DH is a diamond and I've got brilliant family and friends.

Not very. I have a high needs baby that screams hysterically if I stop paying attention to him for two seconds and won’t nap except for in my arms. I have no childcare and he is with me 24/7. So I try my best with housework but there’s honestly only so much I can do as I struggle to even eat or take a shower most days. He is asleep on me right now or I wouldn’t even be able to post this. I know people do keep on top of housework with young babies and I’m not saying it’s impossible. But I do think they must have either more support than me or easier babies.

I tidy upstairs before I go to bed - put the children's books back on the book shelf and tidy the bathroom. Sometimes laundry is put away then.

In the morning whilst the children (both under 4) play I tidy the kitchen from breakfast and put some washing on. Empty the dishwasher and maybe hoover.

During nap time on my non working days I prep dinner and tidy up the surfaces from chopping. It makes the post dinner tidy quicker.

The children are encouraged to tidy up after each activity and don't question it as it's a normal routine for them.

When my dh is home for bedtime we tag team - he sorts the dishwasher and washing up whilst I get the children in the bath and then I put the washing away/hoover/tidy up whilst he does bathtime and starts getting them into pjs. When I do bathtime solo I clean the bathroom whilst the children play in the bath.

We don't buy lots of things and I regularly have a sort out for the tip and charity shops throughout the year. Before birthdays and Christmas I organise the toys to see what can go or what is too young for the dc.

We have a wonderful cleaner once a fortnight and I ask her to do the additional cleaning jobs I don't get regular time for like cleaning the ceiling lights and inside the oven.

Personally, I think it's all about having a routine that works around your daily schedule.

I get stressed when the house feels disorganised. I seem to tidy and clean all day but I love coming home to a tidy and clean house. I could have the house fully guest ready with 20 minutes notice.

Not at all. I don’t give it a second thought. I’d give our cleaner more hours if it bothered me.

Mine is very often messy and a bit dirty! I have animals, teenagers and work away from home a lot so 🤷‍♀️. When the dc were small i used to run myself ragged worrying about what people thought of my house but now i couldn't give a shit!

It’s taken me years to work out that it is clutter. Everyone I know with an immaculate home has a lot less stuff than others. I’m sort of jealous but also love all my little interesting bits everywhere. Makes it harder to clean though.

I do one room per day,

so one bathroom and clean everything I can in 30 minutes then stop

next day spend 30 minutes cleaning bedroom, change sheets & put for laundry, dust, clean window, hoover - then stop

next day another bedroom- same MO

then sitting room, hoover dust windows, tidy up

kitchen is last room of week to coincide with dustbin day and grocery shopping the following day. Clean out empty fridge ( much easier than fill) one kitchen cupboard gets emptied and wiped down, counter tops window sill, hob top and oven

if you have more than 2 bedrooms or 1 bathrooms you’ll need to work at the weekend

then the following week they’ll be less dirt, less tidying up as you tell children to tidy their rooms and strip beds themselves

by week three you should have it at around 20 minutes a room, bar the kitchen which is likely to be 30/40 minutes

Tidy and fairly clean given we have a cat and a large dog. Our children have grown up, only one is still at home. None of us have MH or physical issues that pose a barrier to keeping the house tidy or clean, we have a cleaner once a week (she doesn't tidy) and no overcrowding issues, so obviously those things really help.

Like a PP, I don't like it getting beyond a certain point, so I manage it before it gets there. Wiping surfaces after use, tidying things as I go etc. Leaving things to pile up would easily to get a state of overwhelm and not only would I find that difficult to live in, it's also be a lot more work to sort out, so I nip it in the bud early. I had this approach when the children were small and we didn't have a cleaner, obviously there was more work but it definitely helped to make it less stressful.

I agree with minimising clutter. Get rid of it and don't replace it.

This is going to sound so stupid . But I think I also lack motivation to keep it reasonably tidy . Because I don't get any visitors at all . So it feels like what's the point

5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms so looks like I’d be working overtime as well!