to say its rubbish, that WOHMs dont have so much tidying to do...'leave a tidy house, come home to a tidy house'?

[KhallDrogo]

I've read it on many a thread now....WOHM don't have so much to do, because kids are in childcare setting all day, get picked up, brought home-dinner, bath bed- no mess

I reckon mess-made can be plotted against time, and there is a maximum mess, where no more mess is possible, when everything is out of the cupboards and on the floor already and covered in crumbs and spilt juice. Here the graph plateaus

My kids can reach 'maximum mess' in approximately an hour. Mess saturation point

On the days I work, I definitely have as much/more to do than the days I am at home, and less time to do it in

backtobedlam- I work full time and there is no way I can pop out in my lunchtime, or even on my way home, I have to work through to ensure I can leave early to do pick up and have time to do tea, chat, homework, reading, bath bed!!

I find when I'm at home during school holidays (so DC available for mess making) the house is much tidier. TBH I think this is just in the fact that I am around so much more. In an average working day, I'm just not at home for long enough to do more than stay on top of the washing up/clothes washing and cleaning anything really awful. Whereas when I'm at home I (e.g.) spend the odd 5 minutes doing something and more things get done almost without me realising it. It's stuff like, I'll wipe down the cupboard doors or put the dishes from the dishwasher away while i'm waiting for the kettle to boil.
And if you can do stuff as you go along it's much easier than trying to do it all at once.

working parents still have to clean as much though, do meal planning, tidying up, organising other household needs. Maybe there isn't as much mess than would be if you and dc were home all day, but surely this is the same for sahp's. If we all go out to work, college, groups, shopping etc all day our house is tidier and I'm sahm. When dc are on school holiday if they are at home they make the same mess whether parents work or not. I also agree that small dc will make the same mess if they have a few hours or all day. The toy box is emptied and scattered in seconds,

Mine are older now though so have best of both worlds sahm and they clean up and manage stuff for themselves mostly.