To ask how full time workers how they hell they can stop spending all their weekends doing bloody housework?

[therewillbetime]

Boring but serious question- work all week, leaving house at 7.30 and getting home 6.30 ish. DP, who also works all day gets home slightly earlier and always cooks, feeds cats etc. He does his own ironing.

I do little housework during the week apart from those everyday things you have to do or course as a) I’m knackered and b) I frequently have work related paperwork to do or study (I’m studying for an MA part time as well). I also go to the gym most nights so I admit that I cram a bit in.

This weekend I thought I was pretty much on top of things at home. Dp and I did all the food shopping yesterday but still I realise that this weekend I’ve done tons of washing (I have a teenage son), ironing, tidying, hoovering, dusting and cooking. I’ve been to the gym but combined this with my college work (reading on the treadmill) and we did relax and watch a movie last night. Dp did a load of stuff in the garden.

I am just really interested in how full time workers manage it all with the result of saying they had a weekend, or most of a weekend to do stuff not related to the home. Or maybe, everyone lives like this and I’m a whinging git!

We live in flfth.

I prioritise eating well, sleeping lots and dressing well. The dust can wait.

What's all this shit about tagging? Is it new or something, never seen that on here

Blackoutblinds, if you don't like being tagged you can change your settings so that you don't receive emails when people do it.

Thank you Gersemi. I have done that. However it doesn’t stop someone tagging me when I have asked them not to. Which is rude. I might ask hq what their view is on it.

Haven't read full thread but here's my tips.

Load washing machine ready in morning, switch it on when you get in from work and hang out following morning. Then DP or DS can take it off airer and fold in to basket or drawers following day. I have ironing basket and then 2 smaller baskets for stuff that can go away.

So a list of jobs for each day and assign to different people. Eg dusting - Monday. Bathroom - Tuesday. Washfloors - Wednesday. All 15 minute jobs that can be fitted in easily and be done by whomever is on that evening.

Online shopping. Get it delivered Friday evening so it's done and you can all have a nice fresh breakfast Saturday morning. I don't online shop but I've started my shopping mid week (Tuesday) and do a top up of fresh stuff Friday evening.

My life is pretty much like yours. It's just ds and I. Our house at 8 and home at 4. But 3 evenings a week we are out as he's a swimmer and also 2 mornings (1 week and 1 weekend) and Sunday evening. We also have competitions 1/2 weekends a month and sometimes they are whole days or whole weekends.
I've found by using a organiser (write on one for week) including jobs etc at the weekend I've done more than I think I would during week!

Also I find some jobs don't take as long as I think they will!

It's just me and teen ds here.

@hellosnow that wasn't actually her question.

@winniestone37 yes it was. Getting her teenage son to help with chores (more than reasonable!) would help reduce her workload at weekends. How on earth is that not answering her question? And if you RTFT you will see lots of PP suggested it.

Same as previous PPs. Dishwasher and washing machine on every day; non-iron clothes; meal planning and grocery delivery; half an hour housework (dusting and tidying) every day before I go to work; clean bathroom every day after the last person showers; clean toilet every day, takes seconds. Wash bedding a bit each day - duvet cover and pillow cases on a Thursday, bottom sheet on a Friday. Then it's not such a huge task and if you do them before work then they can go back on that night. Then it's just hoovering on a Saturday, use the attachments for cleaning everything.

How do you expect to fit household tasks during the week when you are not at home from work and gym and then studyiing. You seem to expect to be able to do everything.
Can you put washi g on before gym? Ready to hang/dry by ti.e you are back. Are there tasks you could do before gym and studying? Do tasks later at night (I basically did this apart from hoovering when everyone else was going off to bed - 3 kids). Get a cleaner ( also did this at teenager stage and it was great coming in to a tidy clean house. Still have the heavier tasks to do unless you pay extra eg windows, oven but these don't need doing every week. Given the commitments you have time for chores will be short no matter what you do. When do you socialise?

I am wondering whether instead of our current system (one laundry basket for all) it might be better to have one per bedroom - minuses being each one takes longer to fill up and needs emptyingx3, plus being once they are dried there’d be no sorting - straight back to correct room.

I have a dishwasher now which has helped enormously. I often bung a wash load in before I leave in the morning and the dishwasher load in the evening. Sometimes will empty it before I leave and re-fill with breakfast dishes, I hang the washing when I get home or DP does. Everyone in the house is in charge of putting their own washing away, if my six year old does it your teenager definitely should. Your DS needs to pull his weight more by the sounds of it. My DC are in charge of keeping their own bedrooms tidy. I mop downstairs every other day which takes 2 minutes in all honesty, not a big job. Change bedding fortnightly, that’s definitely a weekend job. Vacuuming upstairs also tends to be a weekly job at the weekend. I wipe round the bathroom with anti bacterial wipes and stick some bleach down the drains/toilet every other day, again that takes me two minutes.

I’d rather give up lunch than give up my cleaner

I have 2 teenagers and they have a list of chores to do during the week. Put a wash on & hang up to dry, hoover, dust, clean bathroom, we as a family also alternate who does the washing up. Its all about divide & conquer.

Same as many PPs: cleaners twice a week, online shopping.
Laundry: I don’t sort colors (to my mother’s horror), everything at 30 except towels and bedding.

Have less stuff! DH and I have got into the habit of getting rid f anything that isn't being used any more (I.e. Outgrown kids clothes - straight to the charity shop) which makes it so much easier to keep things clean and tidy. Also a little bit every day goes a long way - washing machine on as soon as you get home, clothes hung up to dry before bed.

I don't have kids but I seem to spend my entire weekends cleaning. dying for a cleaner, were moving soon and I said to my DH im either working part time or were getting a cleaner I cant live like this!

Cleaner is a must have , gardner is a must have , do laundry everyday so it doesn’t build and in between cleans focus on one room a day to stay on top - also helps if dp and dc make the beds and today after themselves aswell .....🙄

Do you think anyone on Dadsnet is writing in with top tips about managing the household while holding down a full time job, and trying to be a great mother friend / daughter /wife /employee ?

I am quite guilty of taking responsibility of all the mental load as well as the general house load..... but yesterday after dinner I said to DH ' Do you want to do the kitchen or supervise homework'. Usually I do both. DH did the kitchen.

girlflies I hear you! Today I asked DH to change our bed cos overdue to have the bedding changed.
He said ‘is that a priority? We need to make lunches/ iron clothes for tomorrow/ have dinner’

It’s never a priority though. So I’ll keep it on my to do list, and ask him again, or more than likely, do it my fucking self.
😡

Haha, I’ve just come back to this thread and can not believe someone has called someone else disgusting for changing bed sheets fortnightly. So funny! Whist massive proportions of the world don’t have clean, running water (and tbh a lot of them probably don’t even have a bed with sheets), a mumsnetter thinks it’s disgusting to sleep in two week old sheets!

girlflies ..... I’ve started that recently too and works a treat

“ dh we have to do x y z before we can both sit down and watch
‘ current Netflix ‘ ... which do you want to do so we can get it done faster ? ... after the initial dissaproving expression.... he’s then onboard 🤗

Cleaner. And our washing machine is on most days, get up stick a wash on, get home stick a wash on. We don’t iron. Me and DW do equal hoisework. Kids help, or at least pick up after themselves as they’re still a bit small for actual cleaning.

Online shopping for most stuff too. Food, clothes...

I do bits during the week (evenings) so its not so full on at the weekend, I have also learned to clean faster on the weekends, and I will get up early on one of those days and blitz as much as I can.
A takeaway once a week also helps I find!

I work full time and have 2 small DC. My dad would scoff but these days it's pretty normal to have a cleaner. My cleaner does 2 hours a week and I do the rest (she focuses on the jobs I struggle to get to). Weekends aren't entirely free (dishwasher loads, kitchen wipe downs, laundry etc) but it DEFINITELY helps! If you can afford it, do it.