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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To try and keep the house tidy in the holidays?

30 replies

clutterfly · 02/04/2015 09:40

How does everyone else deal with messy houses during the school holidays? I've got a 5 year old, 4 year old and 1 year old and I'm a self-confessed neat-freak! But it's wearing and stressing me out, the constant trail...

Do you just resign yourself to it and do a mass tidy up at the end of each day? Or tidy as you go? Any helpful tips please - or ways to make me feel better about MESS would be most welcome.

OP posts:

Discopanda · 02/04/2015 09:46

Embrace the mess! I'm a SAHM to a 3 year old and we tidy up some of the toys when she's got too many out, she helps me with some easy chores like wiping down surfaces then at the end of the day we have a big tidy.

TwoOddSocks · 02/04/2015 09:49

I have an almost 3 year old and mainly embrace the mess. I've started insisting that we have to put away toys we're not playing with before new toys come out but we definitely never have a clear floor at any point of the day.

Original poster

clutterfly · 02/04/2015 09:50

I suppose it just feels worse for me at the moment with the 1 year old pulling everything out of the cupboards! I feel I'm relentlessly tidying up behind them all. Perpetual cycle. Perpetual.

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rebelfor · 02/04/2015 09:51

I'm a 'neat freak' too, but just have to suck it up in the holidays and do it all in the evening. It's like swimming against the tide if I try during the day.

Original poster

clutterfly · 02/04/2015 09:51

Or maybe I need to take the kids out more - is that the answer?!

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Original poster

clutterfly · 02/04/2015 09:52

Ah yes, "swimming against the tide". That's just how it feels!

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Passthecake30 · 02/04/2015 09:53

Take them round someone else's house for a play date oops that's a different thread

Original poster

clutterfly · 02/04/2015 09:59

I like your thinking passthecake30 trash someone else's place!

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ShootPeppaPig · 02/04/2015 10:00

I'm probably really really cruel

I kondo'd my house. Rearranged DS (2.5) room with all his toys in removed everything but art supplies from elsewhere and found them a place in his...

And told him he can bring up to 2 books at a time or a jigsaw into the living room, but any other toys stay in and get played with in his room, as if found elsewhere they go in the bin.

I have a small pile in a kitchen drawer that he thinks have gone in the bin that will slowly be returned to his room when he's not looking, BUT ITS WORKED!!! Toys are staying in his room

KillmeNow · 02/04/2015 10:01

Trying to keep the house tidy when the kids are around is like trying to push back the sea.

But I understand how annoying it can be when all you can see is mess and more mess.

I didnt do any real tidying during the day when my DC were little. I saved it for after they were in bed but during the day before mealtimes and if we were going out I would start a quick tidying up time for the DCs to throw toys into baskets and clear the floor at least. That way when we came back it looked reasonably tidy on the surface .

I also did lots of activities with them at the table which is so much easier to tidy away. I know I was lucky as some children are just not interested in table top play .It wasnt all crafts though as we got all the small world stuff out and made villages etc .They liked this as they could see the layout properly and walk round the table to interact. Not so good for a one year old though...

Original poster

clutterfly · 02/04/2015 10:09

shootpeppapig sounds very ordered! I know my kids wouldn't let me get away with that. killmenow table play sounds good. But that sounds suspiciously like inviting PlayDoh to me…!

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Original poster

clutterfly · 02/04/2015 10:10

I love it how we all have our ways of working around the problem…

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Stinkersmum · 02/04/2015 10:11

At 5 & 4, they should be able to attempt to tidy up after themselves a bit. One toy out, another toy away. Put your rubbish in the bin etc.

madmomma · 02/04/2015 10:13

Good luck. I can't do it, but then I'm soft with the kids and don't make them help much.

Original poster

clutterfly · 02/04/2015 10:15

Yes, they do tidy when prompted to be fair, but it's the dens and things. They like to leave these little worlds for us all to enjoy…

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Dionysuss · 02/04/2015 10:53

I have a 9,6 and 1 year old. My plan is to keep it tidy as we go along. All dishes will be put straight in the dishwasher, shoes and coats to straight in the cloak room. I'll pay the older two to dust and Hoover.

SylvaniansKeepGettingHoovered · 02/04/2015 11:32

It gets a little bit better as they get older, mine are 8 and 6 now, we have a lot less of the big toys, but more teeny lego pieces and all the sylvanians, but the kids keep most of their toys in their bedrooms.

They are less messy when eating now too, so less wiping down surfaces and less food on the floor!

What we do have a problem with is pens, pencils, rubbers and notebooks. Tons of them. Also, books seem to get everywhere, but that's got to be a good thing.

I do find the cleaning tiresome (toilets, sinks etc) and the amount of clothes to put away and socks to match up.

crazykat · 02/04/2015 11:49

For me there's two types of messy, one is toys etc all over the place and the other is toys everywhere with added crumbs, dirty plates, clothes and dirty surfaces.

I don't worry about the mess, by which I mean toys/books etc as long as it's clean underneath the toy carpet. I have dcs aged 7,6,4 and 2 and don't have time to worry about a few toys on the floor. It takes ten minutes tops to tidy away at bedtime.

I get the kids to tidy their toys away when there are too many out and before bed. I clean the house top to bottom first thing on Fridays before they've had time to wreck the place.

I sweep/mop the floors when needed and clean the worktops when used. It's messy but not dirty.

SurlyCue · 02/04/2015 11:56

I cant cope with mess, it makes me incredibly snappy and not pleasant to be around so for me i have to tidy as we go along, set some rules like tidy up the play dough before you bring out another toy/game. Also good idea to plan some days to be out of the house so that you get ready and leave in the morning and spend the day out of the house. If you have a garden, use it, lots of toys can be brought outside and played with. Also, get a couple of those flexible buckets with handles so you can dump all toys in and set them in a corner/cupboard until you get a chance to tidy them properly. Encourage dcs to do a quick tidy round every so often. Set an egg timer and make it a game.

maninawomansworld · 02/04/2015 13:08

Mine have bedrooms and a nice big playroom to make mess in. The rest of the house is MINE and is to be kept tidy.
If they bring things into the living room or any other part of the house to play with then they must be put away again immediately once they're finished with. If they want to leave stuff all over the floor then they have a playroom for that.

Original poster

clutterfly · 02/04/2015 15:07

A playroom that isn't attached to the kitchen, ah that's what I need. I don't mind mess if it's contained! And sylvanians we too are breeding paper, pens and pictures here. I don't like to throw out their creations, which doesn't help matters...

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BsshBosh · 02/04/2015 15:54

I'm a neat-freak too. I encourage DD to tidy up after herself if it's obvious she's not going to return to a particular game but more often than not I want her to enjoy her holiday so I relent and we all do a big tidy up before her bedtime. She is nearly 7 though and easy to get to tidy up (and just the one child!).

BsshBosh · 02/04/2015 15:55

My school holiday motto: don't sweat the small stuff!

Squitten · 02/04/2015 16:00

I generally embrace the chaos but I make mine (6, 4 and 16mths) tidy up before meals and before bed. It means it generally doesn't get too out of hand!

alteredbeast · 02/04/2015 17:02

I am intrinsically a neat freak but have a 9,6 and 1 year old. During term time I indulge this, because I just have the baby during school hours.

However I want my kids to relax and enjoy home, so during the holidays I embrace chaos a bit. I do dishes regularly, put laundry away as usual. But toys, arts and crafts at the table, the garden etc I just tidy as best I can (with kid's help) at end of the day.

It helps if everything has a place and although I don't make the kids tidy up one toy before another comes out, if rooms are total chaos we all muck in and have a periodic tidy.

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