to think that you can either have a clean, tidy and uncluttered house OR happy children but not both?

[GreenTeapot]

Or can you manage both? How do you do it?

I am best at painting and lego-opolis. And I tidy up after...unless it is a work of art!
Actually, Dc are teenagers and I Don't get to play messy stuff nearly enough

Haven't had time to read the thread yet, but...

I think you can have both - to a degree. It's the extremes that are the problem. A very messy, dirty dysfunctionally chaotic home will impact on a child's wellbeing in a different (albeit equally damaging) way to growing up in an obsessively tidy and restrictive household.

Luckily most of us find an acceptable healthy balance somewhere along the line.

Im not working now but before i left my last jobs where i worked 4-6 and 7 till 1 i still tidied as i went and done things with the kids. All i am saying is because you have a tidy house the kids dont miss out on doing stuff.

Agree that teenagers are probably worse than 3 younger ones. I was the messiest teenager ever

i have the cupboard from doom

My house is certainly no show home but it is clean and tidy and my two dc's (nearly 4yo and 2yo) are very much happy.

Once a month (like today) I go through the entire house and sling anything broken/not used/bis of tat etc etc.

Hoover bedrooms once a week. Hall and Living room are hoovered 3 times a day

Bathroom and kitchen floors are hoovered and mopped every other day.

Polish all surfaces every 2-3 days.

It is easy once you have had the clear-out of crap.

LOL at Petisa, remember you from PG thread, but yes as my children are same age, same scenario

when chilldren are older you have time to tidy , when 9 months and three, you dont!

and loves the "have a play room" advice, as if. I wish!!!!!

Ooh, fellatio , you are being a bit reasonable and balanced for AIBU.
Are you sure you are on the right thread?

That's the spirit fifi

We also had a Tunnel of Terror for a while underneath the stairs in the basement where DH had thrown all our camping gear, and then old baby toys and outgrown clothes were piled on top

All gone now thankfully. I got mad and organised the dudes from Any Junk to come and take it all away then got cleaners in to spring clean, spent a week before hatching DC2 tidying, organising, putting away and filing and ta da, all sorted. Phew.

now whos being smug?(it was you who accused everyone of being smug wasnt it)
i have actually said that my house isnt tidy all the time.i work evenings,i have hobbies,i have 3 children,we make alot of mess.but we try to tidy as we go and have mad cleaning sessions,whether its 10 minutes or a few hours.

Who actually cares anyway? Seriously?

I couldn't give a toss if a friend's house was cluttered etc.

I'm there to see the friend, not their house.

cheese not aimed at you.
I have friends who come to my house and sneeeeeer with catsbumface because I have left the washing up from yesterday or that the lawn is 3" high.
Some people will judge everyone. I am here to provide the judged-upon.

Extremes of cleanliness and filthiness are what's disturbing when visiting surely? I don't want to feel uncomfortable taking my toddler and baby in and worry if one of them drops a raisin, but equally I'd like to be able to sit down on an uncluttered sofa and drink tea from a clean mug...

Hello knickers , fancy a cuppa? Just move that pile of laundry and you can sit down

sorry,misunderstood.

my cupboard of doom never gets any tidier even when i tidy it. Its got 3 bikes, sledges, coats, shoes and toys in. It also has my chest freezer in which is a nightmare. I have to wade through and rive the door open

I just push everything back in and shut the door. Out of sight out of mind

crazy pull up a chair (if you can find one). No extremes here, we are chilled but really friendly

Oh god I forgot about the freezer! I am bordering on obsessive about the fridge - dairy shelf, veg shelf, meat shelf, all bottles facing label forwards, no spills etc... but the freezer. It is my dirty secret (no 532)... hasn't been defrosted EVER and I have no idea what's at the bottom of it.

fifi love the ' cupboard of doom'
We have 'box from hell' which contains all paperwork and all electronic gizmodry. It is awful!

thank you norks. I'll put the kettle on .

Crap. My delusions of cleanliness and tidiness are crumbling around me.

Ive got a 'chargers draw'. It has ds and phone chargers in. I just pull a charger out with another 2 attached plug it in then put them back in the draw. See im not that tidy when i think about it. The house just looks tidy providing you dont open doors or draws

My freezer is cleaned when we move house (rather more frequently than I would like at the moment)

Last time I found a duck with BB date of 2005. It was delicious

We also had a definite Situation with regards phone chargers and the like. DH works for a mobile network so you can just IMAGINE the number of spare blackberrys, iphone headsets, chargers and crap that he brings in through the door.

We had an exodus, then I allocated a small basket which lives on the shelf in the office. In the basket are several small bags, each with a label - one for chargers, one for spare phones, one for headsets/earphones and one for other random unidentifiable electrical parts. If I find a charger or other random electrical item lying about or in a drawer it goes in the bin

Waaaah, norks that reminds me of finding a packet of lemon meringue pie mix in the back of my mum's larder that was 25 years out of date. And had moved house with her 5 times, including once across the Atlantic.

at crazy's labelled bags

yabu we all have messy days, but in general my house is tidy, and always clean. My children are happy too. They have storage for their toys and I don't see how me saying to them , ok tidy up now, means that they would be unhappy. I think its unfair to children to have a chaotic house, they need to feel organise for school in the mornings, and know where to find stuff. I have storage everywhere, hooks and rails on backs of doors, tubs and basket for toys, shoe racks, shelving for pe gear and school bags. I don't mind jigsaws and lego being laid out hen its being played with, but then it gets tidied away.