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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To spend a whole day cleaning each week when I am looking after my two young dcs?

95 replies

Littleonesgettingbigger · 09/04/2015 18:19

I have two dcs under 5, one only a year and a half old, I have tried cleaning little and often which hasn't worked as I'm constantly spotting things that need doing so can't relax, and tried cleaning in their one hour nap time each day, but to be honest I need that time to recharge and it's the only break I get so I feel miserable if I loose my one hour to clean. I tried last week blitzing the house on a Monday, it took me 5 hours that included hoovering everywhere including moving furniture and doing skirting boards, mopping, dusting, tidying, three bathrooms etc, four bedrooms, office etc. the dcs seemed ok pottering about for the day, obviously I had a break to give them lunch and get them off for a nap. Would I be unreasonable to to this every week with two children who are so small? Does anyone else have a cleaning day?

OP posts:

beginnerrunner · 09/04/2015 18:23

I don't see why you need to do skirting boards and moving furniture etc every week. Why not do a normal clean once a week and a deeper clean once a month or so.

Original poster

Littleonesgettingbigger · 09/04/2015 18:24

For some reason our house gets very dusty?

OP posts:

Original poster

Littleonesgettingbigger · 09/04/2015 18:25

Or maybe it was dusty because I just never get round to the dusting

OP posts:

DisappointedOne · 09/04/2015 18:27

Why not just enjoy your kids while they're young?

beginnerrunner · 09/04/2015 18:28

Does it matter if it's a little dusty every now and then?

drudgetrudy · 09/04/2015 18:29

I don't think its unreasonable to have a big blitz on the housework once a week-but be careful not to set your standards too high.
The fly lady (website) is quite good to follow. She does a superficial houseclean weekly but divides the house into zones and only cleans one zone in depth. eg-kitchen one week, bathroom and office next week, dining room and entrance next week-slowly moving round the house.
All she does in the other rooms is hoover the middles, dust round and empty waste bins.
You want a hygienic house but also want your kids to spend time having fun with you.

WhiteConverseSkinnyJeans · 09/04/2015 18:30

I do this and I work 3 days a week and have 3 dc (although only one is a baby)

I can not stand a messy house

amothersplaceisinthewrong · 09/04/2015 18:31

I have not moved furniture for about a year and I have no children living at home.

Life is too short.

LittleBairn · 09/04/2015 18:32

If your at home with them every day I don't see why not but I would be impressed if you regularly managed to get them to potter around for 5 hours.

worksallhours · 09/04/2015 18:32

Honest question here: why are you cleaning three bathrooms every week?

If there is only three or four of you in the house, surely you can shut one of those bathrooms off and just use the other two? Or just one?

LittleBairn · 09/04/2015 18:34

I'm another that needs to dust skirting boards every week and our wooden staircase.

LittleGreyCar · 09/04/2015 18:34

If you can afford it get a cleaner. I do the basics in the house and have a cleaner twice a week to do other things. Once a fortnight she comes in to help me do under the furniture, skirtings etc.

DisappointedOne · 09/04/2015 18:34

I hoover about once a month, dust around every 4-6 months and clean skirting boards around once a decade (if the room is getting decorated).

Joyfulldeathsquad · 09/04/2015 18:37

I clean as I go otherwise it's gets too much.

I tend to clean and tidy in the morning while dd is pottering around then go out after lunch for a few hours.

TheAuthoress · 09/04/2015 18:41

I'm the same, 4.5yo and 20mo, and I find housework difficult as they're either under my feet or I'm feeling guilty for ignoring them.

I work three days a week, nothing is done on those days bar filling and emptying the dishwasher.

In my days off during the week I try to do one thing each day, usually dust and Hoover upstairs and clean the downstairs loo. I also run the Hoover round downstairs on those days.

At the weekend, I Hoover, mop and dust downstairs on a Saturday while DH plays with them in the playroom or baths them. That just leaves cleaning the upstairs bathroom which is a bit more ad hoc but I do try to do it once a week.

Stuff like hoovering the stairs, cleaning the inside of the windows, cleaning cupboards etc is just done when it's grubby and i have the energy.

You've got a bigger house than me though (I'm in a 3 bed semi) so more rooms to clean. But I do like having a routine, otherwise I feel like I'm constantly thinking about what needs cleaned and when it was last cleaned. I couldn't do it all in one day though.

dietcokeandwine · 09/04/2015 18:44

I sympathise OP as I like my house to be clean and tidy where possible and can't relax when it's messy, but I am not sure your plan is realistic in the longer term. Most DC would not be able to tolerate just pottering around for 5 hours solid on a regular basis. As a one off, maybe, but not every week.

I suspect you will either need to do more of a rota (so focus on a specific thing each day rather than just randomly doing little and often) or get a cleaner.

As long as you are careful with cleaning fluids etc there is nothing wrong at all with cleaning whilst small DC are awake (I have to do this as my 2yo no longer naps) but I really don't think solid 'cleaning days' with such young DC in the house are feasible.

MaudGonneAway · 09/04/2015 19:33

It's not quite what you asked, OP, but frankly I think that that level of preoccupation with the tidiness of your house is verging on disordered.

CremeEggThief · 09/04/2015 19:47

I think you need to lower your standards. Why not vacuum (NOT under furniture), mop kitchen floor, dust upstairs one week and downstairs the next and clean your bathrooms (a previous poster's suggestion for using one or two is great)? Surely that's your basics covered and it shouldn't take longer than 2.5 hours maximum?

Meechimoo · 09/04/2015 19:52

Lower your standards.

Mintyy · 09/04/2015 19:58

Yabu, and ignoring your children for something that doesn't really matter.

We have a cleaner who does 2.5 hours per week for us and our house is fairly large (although only 1 bathroom), and everything is perfectly nice and hygienic and healthy.

Obviously we do the kitchen/dishes/laundry as we go along.

NerrSnerr · 09/04/2015 20:17

Why move the furniture? If you can't see the dust then why would it bother you? In my opinion life's too short- I'd just take my kids to the park instead.

lotsofcheese · 09/04/2015 20:32

I have 2 DC, work p/t & have a DH who works long hours/travels a lot

No way would I spend 5 hours a week cleaning!

We have a cleaner for 2.5 hours per fortnight. During this time she cleans a 4-bed house with 3 bathrooms.

In between times, I tidy as I go, and only clean when I have to eg kitchen floor after DD has chucked her lunch over it.

OP, I think you need to lower your standards. Life is too short.

Philoslothy · 09/04/2015 20:36

I spend about three hours a day on housework. Despite the popular view on MN that this is bordering on neglect my children are happy and in no way deprived of human contact.

You can clean your house and be a good parent

Joyfulldeathsquad · 09/04/2015 20:36

Having a cleaner if you can afford one really isn't the same though is it?

It's right up there with "book a spa day!"

NerrSnerr · 09/04/2015 20:39

What do you do for 3 hours per day? Do you live in a 10 bedroomed house?

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