To be at the end of my rope with the state of the house?

[DrDoMore]

I just can’t get on top of it. I can’t make it nice. It’s a riot.

Two wee ones. Three and (almost) one. One year old crawls (and is batshit). The pair of them are trashing the place. It’s a small house and there are toys everywhere which is to be expected. But they get food everywhere. Water. Juice. Bodily fluids. Urgh. I am constantly mopping up after them.

House is dusty and needs a decent proper hoover but our hoover is shite and the pair of them are terrified of it so I chuck it round quickly while they scream. I am so busy making sure the one year old doesn’t die that I don’t have time to do anything through the day and then at night I either have to work or it’s a mental race against time to get the bare minimum done before bed.

Latest thing is we have mice. Fucking mice. We have put down loads of traps but they are eating the bait and not triggering them. So I’m going to have to book the council to come but they’ll put down poison which I really didn’t want because young children but I’m not seeing an option.

I feel so down. The place also needs redecorated so badly. A new carpet in the living room. But we are so skint just now. So skint.

Right. New rule re food being implemented from this lunchtime.

I second the playpen, it saved my sanity when DC was young. They were quite happy in their with their toys and often napped in there too. It meant that I could get on with stuff and know that they were safe

All packet food in Tupperware. If it’s not in a tin, it’s in Tupperware.

We use the chocolates left over from the Christmas tins in mouse traps. We cut them up small and they are sticky enough to squash right down so the mouse can’t flick them off without getting caught. Mars from the Celebration tins are best. Luckily we all hate Mars bars.

If I could tell my younger self two things it would be a decent bedtime routine and gets the dc to eat at the table - and stick to it. Mine are now 10 & 6 and they only eat when sat at the table, even snacks. And they go to bed at 8 & 7pm without fail, even at weekends. This way I only have to clear food off the table and surrounding splatter zone and I get a few hours to either rest if clear up once they are in bed

You’ve got it - take a day’s holiday ASAP and blitz. I know you are right for cash but you can get OK hoovers quite cheap in Tesco/Argos- I got one for 35 quid and it picks up better than my old Dyson was doing.

You can get child safe mouse poison, it’s in sealed boxes, search on amazon. We used it with a toddler in the house.

Good luck!

I highly recommend one of these. Sorted out my mouse problem within a day. www.primrose.co.uk/-p-36.html?adtype=pla&kwd=&gclid=CjwKCAjwsJ3ZBRBJEiwAtuvtlBfLkdjO4T0FhesqfKao-Oc4ggiMIYhrba-MUsjNt_i4cSVaZca13BoCYnUQAvD_BwE

Chances are, any poison put down will be in closed bait boxes so DC shouldn't be able to access it - just try not to let them move it (it may be put in cupboard etc which should make that bit simpler).

I know the feeling - had 2 DC under 3, tiny house, working full time and just me. It felt crippling, I had no money, house was a dump and I didn't know where to start. Eventually I decided on what my minimum standards were and worked to that. It meant no food anywhere in the house other than the kitchen table (so nothing in front of TV). They had to tidy bedroom at night time before bed. Food in kitchen was all put in tupperware (we had silverfish and weird flour bug things). I swept under table straight after eating using broom (similar hoover issues). Eventually - lots of saving - I replaced carpet downstairs and in their bedroom with cheap laminate and cheap rugs as meant could sweep rather than hoover. I cleaned one room each night. (I did do a day's AL to get things started though). It wasn't perfect, but it helped me to feel more on top of things and less like just sitting in a corner rocking. It does get better though. Honestly!

Could you offer to foster a cat for a local charity? They will provide food, litter etc and pay vet bills, kitty gets a place to live & you get a free cat for a few months...

dont get a cat. i still get mice. my cat gets them but it doesnt stop them coming. im the same 4 kids house is a tip, single parent so no partner to help. friend said my house should be spotless .

I’ve got three cats and they are useless mousers
I did try not feeding them but no joy

No other advice to add as I am pig sick of this too. I have three kids (all under five) and I am one week into no food elsewhere after the two eldest used the peanut butter in their sandwiches to “cement” duplo and Lego blocks together. When I’d come down from the roof, I did actually allow myself an (unseen by them) smile at their ingenuity

I have 4 cats so no mouse problem (!) but I have really struggled with mess, clutter & generally untidy habits for years!

I recently wanted to get the house valued & the thought of someone walking around it, judging it really upset me!

My fabulous mum came round & we blitzed it. I have a spare room so things i couldn't deal with in time (mostly paperwork) got put in boxes & neatly stacked in there. When the place was clear (took nearly 4hrs) I started cleaning.

I've been getting it back to 'Estate Agent ready' every day since then. Some days I don't get it perfect & my idea of perfect is probably not everyone's idea of perfect but I feel less embarrassed by it & much calmer.

We have a lot of work to do on the house & it's fairly shabby at the moment but money is tight right now so we're just making the best of it.

Definately all meals at the table & hands & faces wiped before leaving the table!

No food left out anywhere (clean crumbs from your toaster every day. They will get in there, believe me). Eat at table only. Either you or DH takes children to park while the other hoovers throughout. Do "damp dusting" - get an old tea towel and wet then wring out, use it for dusting and rinse in sink. Dust gone then not just flying around.

We just let a mouse go caught in a trap- a mouse the cat brought in!!!!

It's SO hard with a crazy 1 year old, dd2 was also such a busy toddler, but the good thing is that it will get easier and even now you can help with encouraging good habits.

Agree with taking a day off to blitz - you'll feel like you've had a holiday when you're living in a nicer house! Also, fewer toys = less tidying. Most kids only use a small % of what they have, can you put away most, keep out a couple of favourites and rotate the rest? Going through the toy basket for mouse poo is a good moment to do this! If you are skint, you could potentially sell some too, my 6 and 3 year old have just happily put some of their old puzzles and things up on local mum sale pages for their birthday funds.
We're also very tough about unused and uncared for toys - I'll always help with tidying, but they are in charge of this every night and anything left out gets donated to the charity bin to go to a family that don't have toys and will therefore look after it properly (obviously I do manage this and not dump favourites, but have actually donated a small bag of leftover duplo, my DD was furious at the time but had so much that it barely made a dent in the box, and she has been much tidier since).

Also where is your DP with all this? Can you write out a big job list of all the big tasks that need to be done and all the little ongoing ones and see how they split? In many relationships the one offs like bins sit with the man but the woman does the stuff that comes back all the time like hoovering - it's really hard and not fair. One phrase they taught my friend in couples counselling was 'noone sits until everyone sits' and that has helped us - previously I was often running around trying to catch up with the house while DH played games at night, it was a recipe for mess and resentment! Is he helping to sort the poo toys? He should be!
Good luck

Oh he tries to help. He’s knackered though. I only work three days so I feel like I should be doing most of it.

If I’m honest I’m a bit of a control freak over it.

I totally to your pain. X2 teen-agers X1high maintenance toddler, X4 days work a week, no help! Bric-a-brac everywhere, sofa (which transforms into my bed) permenantly covered in crumbs and sand?, Dust everywhere. Clothes piled into mountains which have not been put away and now mixing in with dirty clothes, bikes obstructing doors, redecorating needed. It's horrendous! I genuinely don't understand how working parents keep on top of it. It's IMPOSSIBLE.

I agree with blitzing one room at a time and de cluttering, makes life a lot easier.

Peanut butter on mouse traps works really well, and plugging any gaps with a cut up metal scourer works well too.

Good luck!