That jobs are never-ending

[Truestorypeeps]

Is it just me, or is there always a literally never-ending list of things you have to do each day? Looking around the house, I just have so much to do, I'm always flat out doing this and that when I'm not working, but I think if someone came into my home, they'd think I was always watching TV the state of the place.... Two young children and no, I don't get to watch much!! Am I being unreasonable to think it shouldn't feel like this?!

DH and I are still in bed, no jobs to do today, retirement is good.

OP isn’t retired

I know, I’m saying it goes on that way until you retire.

Yes, it is like this for most people. Envious of @DustyMaiden. I find that instead of having a to do list of 20 things to do each day and feeling dissatisfied that you haven't been able to tick them all off, have a list with 4 things and you can get everything done and feel a sense of achievement.
The problem is that the constants like washing and cooking biff the other jobs out of the way all the time.

I feel the same. Its a drag sometimes.

It’s the 2 young children part

I’d have a lot less to do in the house if I lived alone, or just with DH. My kids just seem to make so much mess constantly!

Useful.

Yes OP, I feel the same. Once every few weeks I have a meltdown over it; stamp around the house cleaning and ranting at DH.

I’ve got a 1 month old and just had my first meltdown since he was born. The kitchen is now clean and mopped and I’m about to take my anger out on the bathroom 😂

I can’t bear mess and clutter, so I have to keep on top of it, this isn’t saying that I judge anyone else (My best friend describes her house as “looking like she’s been robbed”) so I have to have a routine.
I do a deep clean once a week when I’m off work (I get 1/2 days a week off, depending on the week) then I do all the cleaning and tidying once the DC are in bed, so 30-60 minutes an evening. I find that the once a week deep clean helps me to keep on top of it, I always appreciate that not everyone has the time/inclination to do this. If I happen to have a rare week where I work every day, I do my deep clean one evening and just put some music on.
I am very conscious not to let my issue with cleaning affect my kids, they can make as much mess as they want to and they either help me tidy up before bed or I just do it once they’re in bed!

The list is never ending, naturally, as you have to live in your house. But if you're doing as much as you say and your house looks like a mess all the time, then yes, something is wrong

Have you got a lot of clutter OP? The only untidy thing that's pretty constant in the house should be toys. Otherwise you don't have an efficient system going that's really strict

What's your version of a deep clean?! A deep clean in my house would take several hours.

Yeah, it's like herding cats 😂

Both kids have had a growth spurt. So I've got them a few new bits. But then that means I need to clear out their chest of drawers and wardrobes of all the old stuff, which then gives me piles of clothes, some are going to a friend with a dd of similar age to my youngest, so they need to be dropped off. Another pile is to be photographed and put on vinted, some just needed taking to the rag bin thing.

2 weeks and I've nearly got rid of them. Involved a lot of my time coordinating things like dropping off parcels for the ones sold on vinted.

I could probably pick off the top of my head 10 jobs that need doing without even having to think of it. I won't get to most of them.

I've managed to get a decent routine going for the day to day stuff, but things like sorting out wardrobes, toy decluttering, cleaning the stupid blinds in the lounge 😬 can just get fucked.

Definitely. I pick one or two big-ish jobs that need doing each day and then kind of ignore the rest. Today's big job was to wash the kitchen bin outside with bleach because the bag had broke inside it and it was rank. That was tough. But I got it done. And I've also washed up some pans.

Other than that I am kind of ignoring the rest. Dishwasher unloaded and reloaded and washing machine the same. Not doing anymore. I prioritised going to the gym this morning while DD at preschool and am meeting a pal this afternoon. My advice is do what you need to do to maintain basic levels of hygiene but put your own needs very next on the list!

I go for quick wins. A couple of things each day that are achievable and anything else is a bonus. I also have a list of things to do that aren't urgent but if we have spare time we'll do it, arranged by length of time it will take so me or dh pick off things when we can.

My ADHD brain will not engage unless there is a dopamine reward, some days I'll do nothing at all and others I'm hyper focused and will do things like a machine- although usually not anything I'm supposed to be doing or I get distracted midway through. One day the dc will be grown and that list will be smaller but for now, if they want to bake or paint or build a blanket fort I'd rather do that.

There is always stuff to do but if you prioritise it and just do urgent things or those you really want to it’s less daunting than thinking about it all at once. As long as house is basically clean, you do a quick sweep round to pop stuff away of an evening it doesn’t get too messy.