Organised mum method

[Thewrongtrouserss]

I’ve been trying to get into this for ages but finding it so difficult. Does anyone successfully use it to keep on top of their house?

DH and I work full time, we have a 1 year old and I’m pregnant again so low of energy! I do wfh so try to do bits in my breaks but find it so hard to keep on top of. The basic level 1 daily tasks seem to take forever, plus it doesn’t account for things like washing the highchair, cleaning up spills etc that just suck up time? For example today isn’t kitchen today but I haven’t yet got round to bedrooms because I’ve had to mop the kitchen floor after my baby had an accident and then just bits like emptying the dishwasher etc have taken the rest of my time.

What's the secret if you’ve had success with it? Or is there a better method? I’m desperate to get on top of mess.

Gemma number one tip is to make sure everyone in the house is pulling their weight. Is DH doing this with you?

I don't see how it can possibly work unless you have an awful lot of time to spend cleaning every day. It's nice to have a structure but just not realistic. I'm increasing my working hours soon and I think I will work harder to get the kids doing some jobs and I will make my own plan I will try and stick to.

I am sure it is fine if you want to be constantly obsessing about cleaning, but with a baby and another on the way you could be having much more fun

I recommend the organised dad method

Top tip... stop worrying about it until the youngest is at least 5..

DH did a 4 day week and I was part time so 4 day week... we would take one major task... his was the bathrooms, mine washing..... during the week we would make sure surfaces were wiped and floors hoovered.... only when we had a good clear weekend or hosting would the house get a proper clean.... even now with the kids older under the sofa or the Wiping skirting boards is done once every month if that or when it really bothers me....

Ive had to stop caring so much.... I'll get a sudden burst every so often and sort muddles

I have got better at putting things away when they are in my hand but it doesnt always happen... stairs always have something that need to go up.

Friends tell me to get a cleaner but they wont sort muddles to clean under or put stuff away like laundry

Honestly my dcs are now 6 and 3, dp and I both work full time and it’s still a constant struggle to keep on top of housework never mind diy projects or home improvements. We’ve resorted to little wins like today downstairs is a tip but the washing is away and the upstairs carpet has been hoovered so it’s a win.

I used to try to keep on top of a system a bit like this by the sounds of it as it was also trying to do a room a day etc.

Tbh, I hardly ever stuck to it which made me feel like I was drowning even more. When we had our second (two under 2), I finally agreed to getting a cleaner and I regret not doing it years ago. My SIL gets one every other week as can’t commit to a weekly cost but this is still really helpful. Nowadays, we just do a daily reset every evening after dinner by wiping counters etc. We might hoover quickly if there are crumbs on the floor. If we don’t keep on top of this, I find we’re back to square one pretty quickly with it really untidy here.

I do this, I have built it into my routine so it has become easier but was harder at first when the house was dirtier. I have 3 kids under 4 and I basically made my own version of it.
So once a week in the evening I clean the whole of upstairs on one night then the whole of downstairs the next, (this includes windows/mirrors, hoover, mop, tidy) it takes me an hour to do this each day. The rest of the days I do: clean and tidy each room, quick kitchen clean including speed mop floor after each meal (i have toddlers so it gets messy!), quick wipe over bathroom (4 bed house takes me less than 30 mins) Then the other 3 nights I choose to either deep clean bathroom or kitchen or pick a "project" like decluttering an area, sorting toys or clothes, rearranging kitchen, decorating etc for an hour if I want to. (4 bed house so lots of jobs i can do if im in the mood). Weekends I keep free. I also put washing on timer night before and hang it out before everyone wakes in the morning, put meal in slow cooker or prep meal for dinner in the early morning so its ready, have to get up before everyone else.
My tips would be keep it simple, I have cloths and cleaning stuff in the bathroom and kitchen ready to go, hoover always emptied after ive used, meal plan and shop same day each week, broom and speed mop/wipes for kitchen floor, have a place for everything so tidying is easy.
I don't feel like I spend my whole time cleaning and its so much easier than letting it get in a state then having to do it as literaly 30 mins/1 hour depending what your doing is enough

Does your DH agonise over his role in this? I bet he doesn’t!

You work f/t, have a small child and are pregnant. Why do you want to burden yourself further? If you feel the need to get organised, sit down with your DH and share the load. Don’t role model ‘trad wife tragic’ to your little children.

Cleaning systems only work as a ‘guide’. You have to adapt to what you have to do in your home. The Organised (Mum) Method saved me when I was drowning in washing and baby puke and baby led weaning (aka food on floor).
Once I’d declutterred, it became easier. Mondays I sort out the lounge. I don’t clean it, I just make sure everything is put away, Ditto Tuesday (bedrooms), Wednesday (Hall - big job, everything lives there!), Thursday ((kitchen) and Friday anything obvious. Once you keep on top of putting everything away, the actual cleaning is easy.

Make a chart on word. All the essential domestic and childcare jobs down the column side, then days of the week at the top. And just tick things off as you go. I did this but with both mine and my partner's name above each day of the week so we could actually see who was doing what as we both felt we were doing more than we actually were.

I also think carrying the mental load of 'what needed doing' was weighing on me more than the actual tasks. Getting it on paper, out of my head and seeing it spread out made me feel less stressed about it.

I don't allocate certain days to certain things, because things just 'need' doing at different times. Having a level of flexibility with it is helpful.

It wasn't your kitchen day, but you mopped the floor and emptied the dishwasher. You had a kitchen day. Do the bedrooms a different day.

My partner goes out with my son on a weekend day to do errands and food shopping. I get on top of whatevers got out of hand through the week then. Put some music on if in the kitchen, or Netflix if it's the living room or bedroom, and get it straight in peace.

Similar family set up to you and my husband works away a couple of times per week. I tried but couldn’t really stick to it daily. But I loosely stick to the concept of 30 mins per room and do 1 hour sat, sun and Mon (my non-working days) either early in the morning or during toddler nap time if it’s a more in depth clean. Or use a nap time to crack on with a DIY job (of which there are many!)
I generally stick to the level 1s which is the main thing to keep house ticking over - washing machine on every day - bedsheets Monday, towels Tuesday etc. dishwasher on every night. We got a robot vacuum so that whizz’s round downstairs most days. Clean bathroom while LO is in the bath, method shower spray REALLY reduces how much you need to clean shower! en-suite gets done over a few days. I don’t always manage to get to the deeper clean tasks like scrubbing grout etc, but need to adjust expectations!
online shop delivered weekly, cook from scratch on non-working days (double up for freezer meal stash) and easier meals on working days.
we've just had a slight pay rise and reset the budget and are now getting a cleaner fortnightly, I’ll probably get her to focus on bathrooms, dusting all the surfaces we never do, mop floors and windows. We also have a window cleaner every 12 weeks, book to get carpets and sofas professionally cleaned yearly and oven clean twice a year. I figured the cost of outsourcing is cheaper than my sanity while my little one is small and I work 35 hours per week!

Are you WFH and looking after a baby too? It’s impossible!

No my baby goes to nursery,

Oh gosh OP. I felt like this when my first born was 3! You really need to take care of yourself. Just do what you can do and dont worry about the rest. I relied on husband and family alot. Get someone round to run the vacuum about the house or meal prep. Won't be forever x

Honestly just make sure the kitchen is wiped down after every meal, wipe down the bathroom every other day, make the bed and put dirty clothes in the wash basket every day and worry about the rest on a weekend! When I get ready that’s when I sort the bedrooms. I’ll run the hoover round when I have a moment but upstairs is a bit harder when little one is about! Put a wash on first thing in the morning and into the dryer when you get a chance. It’s an as and when type process with me, but my house is always fairly tidy and clean!

I agree with other posters sentiment: it's an "ideal" system (ideal as in "pertaining to the world of ideas, not the day to day life of real people with babies and small children to care for").
Maybe it will make sense once my children are adults. Then I'll clean and organise very neatly my home, and also will take up on gardening...
On the meantime, let the chaos reign!

Enjoy your kids. You will never ever be able to juggle all those balls and keep them all in the air at the same time.
Work out which one you want to drop
For me house came last
Kids and laughter and my hobby were 1st
I don't regret it. Now they are gone my house is tidy...but quiet

Or organised parent! I have 2 children and refuse to be default parent or default cleaner or default organiser. As someone else said: everyone needs to pull their weight

I used it as a starting point, I wouldn't stick rigidly to it. No way do some things need cleaning daily imo (maybe I am dirty but other than roughly making the bed, doing the dishwasher and wiping the kitchen surfaces in the evening after dinner, i dont do anything every single day). I also just think the concept of doing a little bit every day is a good idea to stay on top and focussing on one specific thing each time means it gets done quite well in a small period of time, but build that around whatever your home needs. So this week i did a proper clean of my kitchen for an hour Monday because i had the energy and time, nothing Tuesday except put a wash on and reset the kitchen after dinner which husband did as i cooked, but today I will do bathrooms for maybe 45 mins max, and tomorrow a quick bedroom tidy, hoover and change the sheets. I clean the windows maybe twice a year unless they're clearly marked, i hoover under furniture very rarely, only clean pet bedding if it smells, life is too short for some of it. Also, you're pregnant and have a 1 yr old, give yourself a HUGE break, don't expect/aim for a show home, make sure your husband helps a lot and don't stress because raising a baby whilst growing a human is really really tiring!

You say you are trying to follow the organised mum method.

Is your husband also following the organised dad method, which is the same thing only the person with the penis does it?

If not, that's your problem.