How do you stay on top of everything with kids? Really how?!

[FlyingDucks]

I want to start a thread that will be full of useful ideas and tips for becoming, and staying, on top of everything when you have kids. I know similar thread have been done before, but I'm in need of some new inspiration to get us through the Summer holidays and into a new and very busy school year in September.

I have 2 DC that are not yet at school, and 2 DC in infants school. We live in a 3 bed with no outside space and a tiny kitchen.

While we are lucky to have what we have, I still find it challenging sharing a bedroom with our 1 year old, and having to constantly manage a 2 and a 5 year old sharing a bedroom and toys. My 5 year old needs/loves his own space and quiet time alone. He hardly ever has the chance for this sharing a bedroom with his brother.

These are my 'problem' areas that I want to get on top of. If you have similar issues or are one of those completely organised people that I aspire to be like, please come and share your thoughts!

1. Our kitchen is a constant mess. I could spend an hour in there 3 times a day to keep it spotless. How do you keep your sink free from dirty dishes always? My oven and fridge hardly ever get a proper clean - probably once every 6 months for the oven and it's always dirty ...
   

1. Toys are everywhere, always! My DC's bedrooms can go from tidy to bomb site in 20 minutes. We only have few toys and they all have a place. DC have 4 small accessible toy boxes each. But still toys are always muddled up with no one having a 'full set' of something to play with.
   

1. I never, ever find time to clean all the hidden spots (as highlighted in another current post!). Behind furniture, outsides of bins etc never get done. Where do you find the time? I am shattered by the evening, and really don't want to give up a Saturday or Sunday to do it.
   

1. House admin/banking/paying bills etc. When do you get the time to do all this? I still have school photos from last year I haven't yet ordered :(
   

Please come and share your tips for success, or just come and commiserate with me.

[Whattonamemyselfnow]

I have two under 3.

Every night I make sure the kitchen and living room are reasonable. No pots in sink but drying rack is full. Table is wiped.

I keep on top of washing clothes also.

The rest is awful. Bills and letters and other crap is in the hall way. I maybe sort that once a month. Random DVDs and letters and receipts everywhere. Bathroom and toilet are barely passible.

[Momagain1]

The Reasonably Clean House

This lady really put into so many words what I didnt really absorb from my mother, who always had a clean and organised house. I lived in it, I helped out, but I didnt really grasp the big picture.

The blog is written by a big family on purpose Catholic, so there is a bit of prayerfulness, but not so much that you cant skim if it bothers you.

She divides housekeeping into 3 categories. Cooking, Clothes and Cleaning. This link goes to the cleaning, but the first thing she says is, you cant clean if there is laundry in the way and you have no dinner plan, and she posts links to a series of posts to help you organise those. Dont try to organise all 3 at once, get one under control, then the next, then the last.

She is also good at helping teach you how to rope the kids in, which really is a must in big families. It is in smaller families, for the sake of the child learning, but I admit, it is easier to just do than to get bogged down teaching . i must try harder on that.

all the Kondo threads are helpful for the organising of stuff and reducing your workload aspect. i wonder if a thread on living like Auntie Leila would be as popular?

[Clutterbugsmum]

I agree get rid anything from the kitchen which you don't use.

2, Cull the children toys, give to children school/nursery or charity shop.

3, Get rid of clothes you don't wear/fit. Box/bag up clothes to be passed down and put up in the loft mark ages on the bags.

4, Try to have a routine for example I do the washing Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Monday's I give the kitchen and all the bathrooms a deep clean.
Tuesday I hoover, dust and tidy upstairs. Wednesday is my day so I don't do any housework. Thursday I do downstairs, Friday I do the Garden and hoover through again. Other then cooking, clearing up I don't do housework at the weekends.

The key is to get rid of as much 'stuff' that's not being used as possible.

[idiuntno57]

I ban kids toys from certain rooms in the house. Kitchen is one of them. Kids know that if a toy is brought into the kitchen then it will be taken right out again.

Reclaiming some bits of house for adults is my way of keeping sane

[Blazing88]

1 yr old and a 2 yr old here..every day is like groundhog day. Mess then i tidy it all up. Then it starts again.

I've decluttered loads - that definitely helps.

I have only seen the bottom of the wash basket once in the last 12 months. Ironing pile is huge. I do a bit at a time most nights.

I try not to stress about it. Once the kids are at school it will be a lot lot easier. (currently I'm at home with them in the day but work evenings, so don't get the bliss of putting them in childcare where they make a mess elsewhere ha)

[toffeeboffin]

Ha, I was wondering this yesterday!

We have one DS and both work full time. I do not know how people find the time to clean etc. For me you have to prioritise, for me this means cleaning takes a back seat over cooking from scratch.

I only tidy once DS is in bed, otherwise I just repeat tidy.

We really do need a cleaner.

[formerbabe]

Do you have a dishwasher op? If not, if you can afford one, get one! I give myself 7 mins to blitz my kitchen...set a timer! In this time, I empty and re load the dishwasher, empty the bin, wipe surfaces, sweep floor and run the steam mop over it.

At the end of the day, go from room to room with a carrier bag and any collect any rubbish that may have gathered over the day.

When kids are in bath, clean the sink, toilet, bathroom mirror.

Make beds as soon as you get up...makes you feel in control!

[sunshinerunner]

I have the time but not the motivation. I love the house to be tidy but hate doing it and would always prefer to be reading a book by the wood-burning stove than cleaning the floors.....

I'm a lazy slattern and need to step up to the plate don't I?

[Momagain1]

Sunshine: the link I posted is a book reader.
I need to go back through following her list of posts again. Ever since we moved, I have been disorganised. I thought it would improve when we moved from too small first rented flat to big enough and we own it flat. But i just spin in circles, and spend too much time in books/online.

[spillyobeans]

Watching with interest as im due baby anytime now so if i get any tips ahead of time i will be happy

One tip my mum gave me that since ive stuck to it has helped is to just do lots of little bits each day/tidy/clean as you go. For example rather than put cup in sink load it in dishwasher straight away or wash it straight away. Might feel like your constantly doing stuff but at least then you dont really need to do a 'big clean' and house is always in a constant state of moderate cleanliness. (Dont know how practical this will be with kids to be fair)

Also one thing that i find works for me is to never go out leaving mess, as in if im going to supermarket or whatever il do a quick 10mins to just clean dishes/shove things away so you come back to a clean house - suprising how much happier i am coming back to a clean house (sad but true)

Lastly i think with kids around clutter and mess is ok, i think if you just try and get main/important bits cleaned when you can then thats fine!

[PumpkinPie2013]

Loads of great tips on here so apologies for repeating. I only have one ds ( 19 months ) but we both work full time and have work to do at home (we are teachers ).

I load the dishwasher every night and unload in the morning so that all pots go straight in when used.

I set the washer before I go to work so that it's done when I get home and just needs hanging up.

I try to cook simple meals that don't use as many pans/utensils. or cook and freeze at weekend so that it's just a warm up in the week.

Ironing - I send some of it out to be done which I recommend if you can afford it. The rest (mainly ds clothes) I do as it dries to avoid it building up.

Admin - bills are done by direct debit and other stuff is done at work during my lunch break.

We are just having a big declutter and are being strict with ourselves.

Otherwise, I try to do 30 mins a day (as does DH). It’s hard and our house is far from perfect but we just do our best.

[Handsoffmysweets]

I couldn't agree more with other posters who have said declutter. I hate hate hate clutter with a passion and regularly go through the house getting rid of things we don't need/use. Could you get someone to have the DC for a day so you could really get stuck in? Sounds totally 'woo', but it honestly does quieten your mind and bring you inner peace!

[cookiefiend]

I need to do this. My DH does the lions share of the chores which would be fine except I work part time and he full so it is very unfair. I need to be better at keeping on top of it. On the plus side we are about to move from a small flat to a large house so there will be space to put everything away- but more to clean. Also baby number 2 in November.

Those who mentioned a steam clear- any brand recommendations? I would love one, but don't want something so fiddly I never use it.

[misssmilla1]

Washing up; load d/washer or do the dishes after every meal. Feels like a pita but makes it manageable in terms of volume, and also less chance for food to stick to the plates. Nothing worse imo than starting a new day coming in to the kitchen and seeing a heap of dishes to be done
Washing; same principle. When you have a full load, stick it on and do it
Bills etc; we sort stuff that comes in, in to piles for filing, needs something doing etc, needs paying etc and try to go through once a week so we don't miss anything important
Cooking; invest in a couple of cookery books that are 1 pot or slow cooker; usually takes less time / involvement to cook it, and gives less washing up to be done

[BlueBananas]

Place marking!
I seriously need some help

[OwlsEscapade]

OP, you mentioned that you don't want to give up your Saturday's and Sunday's to do the hidden cleaning. Could you just do a two or three hour blitz at the weekend to catch up.
It's a bit relentless not having any days off but with 4 young kids it's just part of the deal. It won't be for ever.

[Wotsitsareafterme]

Agree about no go zones for toys. Mine arnt allowed toys in the kitchen or in my bedroom and the kids arnt allowed in the spare room full stop. I need the sorting space without them going through it all and making a mess. I am strict about doing one thing g at a time. If they want to put a film on before bed then the toys have to be put away and no mess is allowed during!

[VolumniaDedlock]

i'm not sure how realistic toy no-go zones are with 4 DC in a 3 bed house. we have a small house and this really wouldn't work for us.

[Katedotness1963]

As much bill paying as possible is done through direct debit/standing order/whateveryoucallit.

Dishes are dealt with right after meals and kitchen wiped down quickly.

I bought as many cleaning products as I could in those handy wipe packs and kept them all over the house. Quick wipe, chuck cloth, done!

Fridge got wiped out the day before the "big shop" when there was hardly anything in it.

DH did the bathing and story reading most nights. I could run around with the Hoover and start laundry.

I decided on the once a month "boys day out". My husband had to take our sons out for the day, the whole day! I had time to deep clean the house, soak in the bath and have some time to myself. And it was takeaway night too!

[LotusLight]

Work full time if you don't already so some other poor muggins can get lumbered with the dull domestic stuff! It rocks.

[fiorentina]

I sympathise, I presume there is no way you could move to a slightly bigger place?

I try and keep super organised, I'm very much into tidying up as we go along, not leaving a room empty handed so I always carry and put away the washing, carry another load down to put on, not leave things on the stairs.

Bigger jobs like cleaning the oven/fridge/ironing etc all get done in the evenings. And I file paperwork regularly so it's all taken care of, but pay most things by direct debit and moved to paperless billing to keep down on paperwork.

Really encourage the kids to help, my son clears up his plates, helps hang up washing and sort it, will help dust even in the tricky places. It's all good practise and he's only 4..

[staceybrown3dd]

I am very tidy and clean. I make sure that my kids put their toys away, if not, they're thrown away! If you say it, you have to stick it out. It only takes once then they'll start tidying after themselves. I put washing on as soon as I'm up in the mornings, usually do three loads, one after the other. Hang it out or put in the dryer as soon as it's done. Give everything a good clean and then just keep on top of it. Everything else is routine, Once you have routine everything else seems to fall into place. Good luck!

[birdofthenorth]

Watching with interest. Also 2 school age and 2 preschool kids here, and DH works away. House a mess. I wash a load at least once a day. I would love the Putting Away fairy to visit...

[lexy2009]

1. Accept it, this was me 1 yr ago somethings you can't change
   

1. Get yourself a dishwasher even if it means loosing cupboard space. I would cry everyday without mines. I even wash plastic toys in it.
   

1. Get ur kids to put thier dishes in the kitchen and routinely put dirty clothes in the basket. Get 3 if needs be one for each bedroom.
   

1. Batch cooking yes a ball ache but a real time saver in the long run.
   

1. Floor the attic, put all the toys the kids don't play with but may want later (again a lifesaver for me )
   

1. Check out on google life hacks like putting hooks on the inside of ur kitchen cupboards of saucepan lids and putting quilt covers in side the matching pillowcase.
   

1. NEVER worry about cleaning the outside bin unless the council has issued a notice for hygiene ;)
   

1. Set aside 30 mins a week for household admin. Pretend you are in the loo if really can't get the peace
   

Finally be regimented its not in my nature but I had to learn and it's helped me ten fold.

[lexy2009]

Oh yes I forgot I put a lock on the outside of the kitchen and bathroom door. Low enough for the older children to use but high enough so the wee ones couldn't get in. The kitchen n bathroom are how I left them, usually a state mind ha ha!