Can I ask those of you with little DCs and clean homes...

[everythingisawesomee]

To please share your wisdom?

I have one DC at home and one in reception.
Love cleaning/hoovering/mopping but hate tidying before being able to clean and doing mind numbing stuff like folding and putting away laundry.
It seems like my house is permanently covered in sticky handprints, Lego, stuff not put back in its place or everything piled on worktops and surfaces.

I've recently visited a new acquaintance who has twin toddlers and her house was like a picture out of a magazine. She's always so chilled and organised, in clean, uncreased clothes and a freakishly clean car so I guess the perfectly clean and tidy house makes sense but it's like black magic to me.
She also always seems to have lots of spare time when she's not working so it's not as if she spends days upon days scrubbing her house.

Can anyone managing to achieve a clean, tidy, uncluttered home without spending most of your emotional energy or time on it please tell me how you get it done?

@SleepingStandingUp anytime! I actually love it as well.

Nothing makes me happier than pulling out cupboards and cleaning them, then putting them back!

My husband says I'm crazy

I was very lax when all mine were small. The only thing I insisted on was that they sat down while eating and drinking, and had faces and hands wiped with a damp flannel when they had finished.

I only have one toddler and we both work full time from home, not sure how that compares. My house has always been clean and tidy and when the LO arrived I thought it would have been the end of it, but it wasn't.
Well, not completely. There are obviously many more toys around, however I am applying the same routine I had before.
First of all.... I have a cleaner (and I suspect your friend too!). She comes once a week, cleans toilets, floors and all surfaces plus she irons, empty the bins and changes the beds. That's A LOT in our house as takes away the most annoying and time consuming tasks.
I still hoover here and there when needed, wipe down the kitchen after cooking etc.
Another big difference for me is putting things away quickly after use and moving around always with something in my hands to be put back in its place.
I read somewhere that there are two ways of tidying up: you might want to do it 'ongoing' or at the end of the day/activity. I am annoyingly doing it as soon as I can. If DS has taken the Legos out but then gets interested in playing with his cars, I put the Legos back in their box (even if that means that 5 minutes later he'll change his mind and take them all out again!). When I cook, I tidy up/put things in the bin/wipe down as I go rather than waiting to do it after the meal is eaten.
Basically there are rarely big jobs to do in one go and that helps me.

Hope I didn't come out as patronizing, sometimes I don't write well and my intention was just to describe how I do it. Good luck!

I have two preschoolers and work full time.

I have a cleaner and my house is still a total shit-tip. Before friends come round (BC Before Covid) I will almost always do a mad hidy up - picking everything up and cramming it into the nearest cupboard so my house looks immaculate and I swam around looking totally together and sorted.
I am not. My house is not - it's a carefully constructed web of lies

Op seriously, don’t aim for immaculate. If it’s not in your nature, then just aim for ‘ok for a guest to pop in’
Just tidy up after every meal and activity. Have a laundry system.
Clean and tidy the living room and kitchen every night.

Is your acquaintance also very slim? I have a notion that it all goes hand in hand. Always on the move, constantly cleaning and putting things away. Stickler for detail. Well organised.

The total opposite of me basically.

My house is far from being an immaculate show home, but it’s always at its tidiest and cleanest if we’re expecting visitors. Your new acquaintances house may not always be as clean and tidy as it was when you visited?

You can be tidy and still have kids - without a cleaner. Or without child cruelty, like some posters suggest.

Make things easy to tidy away. A child can put toys in a toy box, so start there. Chuck a lid on it, done, out of sight.

Folding and putting away laundry doesn't really take long.

Put things back where you got them and don't let stuff build up. Make sure everything has its place so you're not at a loss where to put it.

Also, just crack on with the cleaning while the kid plays. Some people feel this need to STARE at their kid the entire day. Like, no, let it get on and play by itself, let it use its imagination and stuff, and let it also see that you are an adult who has jobs to do.

Just go and clean the bathroom, and the child will not expire.

My kids never deliberately made a mess, so I don't understand the "ugh my kid destroys everything" comments. I mean, if the child is literally smashing up your shelves you might want to tackle that. If they're just playing normally, again, make it their job to tidy things up after them.

[quote Mamawell]@SleepingStandingUp anytime! I actually love it as well.

Nothing makes me happier than pulling out cupboards and cleaning them, then putting them back!

My husband says I'm crazy[/quote]
I like it but it takes me forever and I now have too many babies to do it lol

@TheGriffle I love you!! Thank you for showing that picture, you enjoy your cuppa!

Tidy as you go worked for me.

Leaving stuff to put away "later" turns into huge piles on the stairs and massive stacks on the dining table frighteningly fast!

The only way my house looks clean and tidy is because I don’t let the children have more than one toy downstairs, upstairs its a tip but downstairs it’s fine, it’s all shadows and mirrors when it comes to clean and tidy homes with children.

@ChaBishkoot

1. I get the kids to tidy up every single day. From about age 2 onwards. Before bedtime we all tidy up together. It takes 20 mins but they don’t go upstairs unless the downstairs is tidy.

1. DH then does bath time. I run the dishwasher. And wipe down the kitchen counters and do a quick hoover if necessary.
2. We take turns to do the laundry. We try and do a small load every day or every other day. Housework should not be your job alone.
3. Change sheets and clean the bathrooms over the weekend.
4. Make sure the kids keep their rooms relatively tidy. Again I am a stickler for this. I I am not the family skivvy.
5. We have a cleaner once a month (but haven’t had one since the pandemic started).

Ditto. My DC are 3 and 5. One home full time and one in reception. They tidy up their own toys before we sit down for dinner. Always have done. Tidy thier own rooms while I run the bath.

I also have toys in boxes - all cars in one box, all trains in another - they know one box doesn't come out till the last is put away.

Gtech airram makes a quick hoover much easier.

If you are anything like me you spend too long on the internet. Hours I waste. And nap. I love naps.

I have 3DC. The playroom is always a tip (except the day the cleaner comes) but the kitchen and sitting room are always tidy. A bigger house is always easier to keep tidy, because there is adequate space for everything.

Mine napped. I used to tidy then.

My Health Visitor would assure me that my rather chaotic lounge was perfectly acceptable, and that mothers of small children with spotless homes had their priorities wrong.

I missed the cleaning gene too, , but it's the culture of my race for the women to keep a pristine home and they are judged by this.
God knows how they manage it, but they do.
Kids out of the way they start scrubbing and everything gleams including brass, silver and china. All out on display, kitchen with nothing out at all, sink shining. It's another world to me.

Also, just crack on with the cleaning while the kid plays. Some people feel this need to STARE at their kid the entire day. Like, no, let it get on and play by itself, let it use its imagination and stuff, and let it also see that you are an adult who has jobs to do.

Just go and clean the bathroom, and the child will not expire

My 2 year old needs constant supervision. No way could I just leave him and go and clean the bathroom

I have a 4yo, 30 weeks pregnant, a 7mo puppy and we're all working from home.
I tidy up as I go along, so just always put something back as soon as we've done with it, have a place for everything, have a play room which is a huge help as it keeps toys out of the living areas.
I have a cleaner for 2 hours a week but she didn't come for 5 months over lockdown.
I just don't sit still very often so it's in my nature just to tidy as I go along.
It also helps that my dh does the food shopping and most of the cooking.

My good friends house is pretty messy, we're no better or worse than the other at 'life'.

There’s no secret
No method
I just work damn hard at it

Because I want my family and I to have a lovely clean organised stylish and comfortable home.

It’s hard work.
Once you accept that, then it’s fine.

We have a cleaner - partly because she does the cleaning (of course!) but also because it forces my DH and DC to have to clear up the night before she comes each week. Before we found her the house was in a dreadful state as I just didn't have the time and energy to keep on top of it...even though in theory DH was doing the cleaning and tidying up, it just wasn't getting done as we both work full-time.

Some people are just that way inclined, very tidy. I'm not unfortunately and have to make an effort as I can't bear living in a mess but my house is nowhere near showhome standard. I also don't want to alarm you but IME older kids are worse for mess than toddlers. I absolutely despair at my 10 year old DD as she leaves a trail of mess wherever she goes.

Just go and clean the bathroom, and the child will not expire

Yeah, no. My 3 year old climbed out of his window onto a flat roof pretending to be a burglar the last time I left him to his own devices for 10 mins.

I find that this sort of comment usually comes from parents of incredibly docile girls.

I am always concerned when I see a tidy/clean house with young children in it - a home it surely ain't!!

How wonderful to have little children there as an excuse!!