to wonder how you juggle baby, job and housework?

[Christelle2207]

Am going back to work soon! 4dpw.
Other than missing my darling boy (9m) my next biggest worry is how the hell am I ever going to keep on top of the housework given that I can't even now and I'm not working. DH is very good generally and will be sharing night shifts with me and broadly do nearly his share but the truth is he works very long hours.
The baby will be at nursery 2 days so at least baby associated mess will be less on those days but the other two days grandparents will be looking after him in our house and I don't expect them to have time to clean up after his extremely messy mealtimes etc.
I am somewhat houseproud but have already lowered my general standards. DH thinks I need to lower them further but he grew up in a very messy house (with lots of siblings) unlike me.
Yes I will be doing it in the evenings when the baby is in bed but surely I will be too exhausted to do much (will be up at 6 and out 8-6) and I need at least half an hour nightly slumped in front of the tv
I also want to maintain exercising but think I will just have to forget about that for a while
We do have a fortnightly cleaner, who I may upgrade to weekly (yes I'm very lucky), but otherwise how do the rest of you do it?

If you have a dh then honestly between you there is hardly ever anything to do if your both out of work. I dont think we would even need a cleaner as nothing for them to do.

Exercisewise the 2 and 6 year old do killer bums and thighs, yoga, aerobics with me on tv after we get back from work and nursery. I love going to zumba but my mum has hurt her arm and Im pregnant so just do it all at home. I also run and walk a lot.

I quit my job.
It turns out I'm not terribly domesticated though. Even at my best the house looks as though it needs a damn good hoover. And dh has taken over the cooking after accusing me of attempted poisoning. I was never a very good cook. If i didn't burn it it had the wrong ingredients
in.
The garden looks lovely though, I can do that.

Right some very good ideas here thanks. The cleaner will certainly clean, my issue is more the tidying and she won't do that. DH will do his bit, often cooks for example but often has to do more work after dinner (is aware this has to stop). He does all the DIY, gardening and also sorts the allotment. He's not very good at tidying though and this what I'm worried about as there is crap lying around the house all of the time.
Currently doing as much decluttering as much as I can, and getting into the habit of online shopping and batch cooking. Cant exercise at work or cycle there as no showers but should be able to do admin from work. Exercise is mostly running which in theory should be relatively easy to fit in (?). Made it very clear to dh that we have to agree and develop a "system" as to who does what and he agrees.

We have soon to be 3 children and 2 adults in a 2 bed flat but the place looks twice the size from when we had 1 baby. Decluttering makes it easy to clean and helped when I realised most of the crap we owned we didnt need.

I'm a single parent to three children and work full time. Lower standards help a lot! After a few weeks of running yourself ragged, you'll find a routine emerges and you'll start to find things slotting into place. I thought I'd never manage but somehow I do and I do that by everything having a 'time' to be done and I do it and it all seems to be OK. If I miss something, I know about it 'cos suddenly the floor looks awful 'cos I missed the hoovering or I'm faffing about emptying dishwashers at 11:30pm....so now I just follow my routine and it all looks fine.

I have 4 DC and also work full time. I do have a cleaner and life would be very different without her.

The key in my household is ruthless efficiency. Always plan the next job, so while the kettle is boiling or I'm preparing dinner I'll wash the bottles and put them on to sterilise or put a load of washing in or tidy the junk on a surface.

Little and often is definitely the key.

Online shopping is also a lifesaver, not the most economical and sometimes things come out a bit odd (ordered a tiny bit of meat to feed 8 people as wasn't paying attention to sizes etc which wouldn't happen in store) but it's worth the compromise to me, for the sheer convenience.

A weekly wall planner is also useful and helps me work out what is going on so I can prepare in advance.

It's good he does stuff I suppose but gardening, DIY and allotment are kind of the 'nice to have' jobs. Get him to tidy the living room before he starts the gardening. Otherwise you're doing all the relentless, never-ending stuff which is not fair.

DIY is a necessity but not very often at the mo. He has agreed to empty dishwasher every morning - we tend to clear up after dinner and load dishwasher together. He'll make dinner while I bath and bed baby or vv. Bins and recyling are his responsibility. So he's not bad as long as he doesn't leave his stuff lying around. Allotment is his hobby (which brings home veg) so I let him do that on sunday mornings as long as he looks after the baby on sunday afternoons.

Really jasmine? Don't you eat meals, use the bathroom, play with toys/get out books/whatever is age appropriate in the evening? I am a single parent of one DD and we manage to make a mess every day. How do you manage that?

I'm afraid you just get on with it. You realise that you need to do some things around them and can't give them attention every second they are awake.

And you be OK with having a less than perfect house. As long as it's not grotty, who cares?! :o

Only thing I struggle with is washing, I can get it washed and dried but then end up with mountains in the bedroom. Honestly you will just fit it in. Iv become so much more focused now I'm back at work. I'm sure gp will clean up after themselves, if anything like mine they often pop on a wash, fold clothes or put stuff on hangers ready to put away of their own accord.

You don't have to bath ds every night so that can cut things down. Toys and stuff invest in some large toy box's to chuck stuff in. You can whip round in half an hour to tidy up ready for the cleaner. You could even split the cleaners hours into twice a week so perhaps the house gets hoovered twice a week ect.

The one thing I'd advise is to try and make your working days a bit more rubbish and do that extra half an hour in the evening even if you're quite knackered, so that you're more relaxed on the days when are off with your DC.

But as they get a bit older a lot of tidying can be made into a game for them, which helps a lot.

My mum comes round and does the cleaning! I never ask her to, she offers. She actually enjoys it /doesn't like to see us live like pigs in shit. Works for us.

Cardibach - not really. We are out 7.30/8 until 5.15. Children eat no meals at home. They have a plastic drawer thing in living room they get stuff out off and they tidy it away before bed. They are 2 and 6 and by 6.30/7 they are both asleep.

there will always be housework, always mess, no matter how many hours you or your cleaner spend doing it. Don't worry about it, a little bit here and there when it is needed is fine, spend your free time enjoying your family.