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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To need some sort of domestic coach?

113 replies

Embarrassinglyuseless · 19/12/2024 22:40

I recognize this comes from a position of extreme privileged but I am drowning! I married a man who has become extraordinarily financially successful - I stay at home and look after our two children (no.3 on the way) - the deal being that I have a pretty unlimited budget, but I need to manage the house and I am TERRIBLE at it

I have a housekeeper who comes for 6 hours twice a week - she does and puts away all laundry, changes beds / sheets - and does all the usual cleaning

I have gardeners who come in weekly and do the yard work

my oldest is at school five days a week - youngest at nursery three mornings

I CANNOT get it together or stay on top of…

  • keeping the fridge clean and stocked
  • keeping things basically tidy
  • making sure the dog has everything he needs (annual check ups / insurance)
  • managing all the crap about the cars (mots, insurance etc)
  • keeping my car clean and tidy (it looks like I live in it full time. It’s embarrasing)
  • paying all the bills etc
  • making daily beds
  • feeding myself sensibly (the children always have nutritionally sound meals at appropriately scheduled times
  • Managing all the homework and reading
  • scheduling play dates
  • hosting dinner parties occasionally so people keep inviting us
  • scheduling travel and holidays
  • trying not to be a terrible friend
  • occasionally schedule a date or two
  • working on house Reno projects

basiclly I feel like life happens to me rather than me happening to my life. I feel like I’m constantly working to fight fires rather than working to a system - I know that I have more time than most people but I really really need help getting it together.

YANBU - take a domestic management course! Or find a coach (bonus points for pointing my useless ass somewhere)

YABU - no one can teach you this - you just have to do it.

OP posts:
Olympicscandal2024 · 19/12/2024 23:11

Sometimes the lists themselves are overwhelming. In your situation, I'd start at the top and work down. Just go to the top floor of your house and choose a room to start in. If you come across the car documents in that room, set up your reminders for a month before they're due, etc.

You need to get on top of this before the new baby comes. It's not that hard once you have a system in place, especially because you outsource laundry, general cleaning and garden maintenance, which are the most time consuming jobs.

My husband has ADHD and reading your description sounds like him. So I will caveat the above comment and say, it's not that difficult, unless you have some neurodiversity that makes this kind of thing difficult to manage and organise.

TryingAgainAgainAgain · 19/12/2024 23:12

I stay at home and look after our two children (no.3 on the way) - the deal being that I have a pretty unlimited budget, but I need to manage the house

Do you actually want that 'deal'?

Would you be more content working outside the home? With you and DH working out what level of management the house needs and employing people to cover that?

TheSecondMrsCampbellBlack · 19/12/2024 23:12

Also, you need to enjoy your life and do what makes you happy. Stop stressing about the boring crap and pay someone to do it. Prioritise your happiness and wellbeing, that of your kids and your dh. This is when money comes in incredibly useful IME.

cansu · 19/12/2024 23:13

These are basic things that most people do while working and with no staff. It is not that you can't. It is that you don't really want to. If you can afford get a housekeeper and a nanny. You can focus on socialising then.

IncessantNameChanger · 19/12/2024 23:14

I feel your pain op but I'm skint. I feel like the ability to adult has passed me by in life.

I think you need to write schedules. The dog stuff just but in next month diary what needs doing when an on that day, forward the list again for Feb so it'd a monthly task.

Car - grab five things each time you get out. Can't offer any more advise as I'm currently drowning myself.

SwayingInTime · 19/12/2024 23:16

I'd get a job you like, retrain or go to university. All would allow you to shake off the guilt about doing a substabdard job in the house or buying in even more help. Could your housekeeper be bad at her job perhaps?

Loveautumnhatewinter · 19/12/2024 23:16

Can you treat the ‘house’ like a job? If you were working, how would you organise your time and prioritise the tasks that needed to be done? And then apply this to the house. Work out how much time you actually have each day to do these tasks and plan accordingly. Get an A4 page a day diary and put tasks in for each day, with less scheduled in when your child is not in nursery. Anything that doesn’t get done and is still outstanding, gets allocated to another day. Write down a month ahead of time in the diary when car insurance/mot etc is due to give you some time to sort it out.

My suggestions might be a bit too methodical, but that’s how I tackle the shit I need to get done.

All the best OP and happy to provide mentoring services. 😀

LetsNCagain · 19/12/2024 23:17

Op reminds me of my mum when she stopped working (retired youngish at 60).

She went from being very capable of managing her home, very busy full time job, active social life... to dithering and pontificating about every tiny "dilemma" and becoming quite helpless, worrying about how to navigate public transport in London etc. She used to travel all round the world by herself, even as a single mum to young kids.

The less you do, the less you're capable of.

This is not a dig against SAHMs in general. It is a dig against SAHMs who have their kids in childcare and have housekeepers and gardeners and have little else to do. The little else they have starts to seem insurmountable.

Making to-do lists that include making the beds? I mean come on. Might as well add brushing your teeth and going to the toilet, op

EveryDayisFriday · 19/12/2024 23:19

Being organised is definitely a learned thing. My Mum was very organised so I learned from her.

Online calendar, Google works for me. Add everything; birthdays, anniversaries, insurance renewals, driving licence renewal, MOT, school activities, passport renewal, broadband contract end etc.

Stock take your cupboard, fridge and freezer to meal plan and create a shopping list.

Have spares of non perishables, light bulbs, batteries, bin bags, cleaning products etc.

With finances I have a spreadsheet with a cash flow with account balance, payments due out/ income due in and end balance at the bottom, this goes to savings.

DidILeaveTheGasOn · 19/12/2024 23:23

What do you want to do with your life? What did you do before? What are you good at? What do you enjoy being good at?

I'm only really good at cleaning when I'm stressed. I'm never organised or on top of the house or the car, and when I had ample time, I actually achieved less than I currently do, working full time.

Lots of people can give you tips here. For example:

Keep a small roll of bin liners in your glove box, then when you suddenly realise your car is a tip (this 'suddenly realising my car is a tip' experience happens to me whenever I'm in it, but I'm usually unable to deal with it) you can sort it out.

Set timers. Count things. For example, my dishwasher holds at least 20 plates/pans and my airer can hold almost fifty garments, depending on who they belong to. Timers for 20 minutes are great. I think of them as that part of Moana where they need to go beyond the reef (I'm hoping you've seen it, apologies if not). Once you're beyond 'the reef' - whatever the reef is, the inertia, the complexities/perceived difficulties of the tasks ahead, the very real tiredness of having children - a rhythm settles into place and it should be possible to keep going for an hour. That could be a couple, several even, really tidy rooms.

But I'm really interested in what the plan is, long-term. Could you outsource even more and go to university, do something different? Volunteer?

PermanentTemporary · 19/12/2024 23:23

Sorry I didn't vote, because I don't think either of those things. I think you should get a job you're good at and stop trying to make your house your job, or just lower your standards. With a housekeeper at least the toilet and the kitchen won't become health hazards (that was always my mum's minimum aim).

I'm pretty terrible at housework, though I've got better as I get older and most of all as ds has grown up. So mostly I don't do it. I pay a cleaner, and otherwise we prioritise. And most of all I have a highly domestically competent partner.

Imo if you have a filthy car (so do i) it's because at least there's one place you can stop struggling and nobody tells you off. It's still better to have an organised car, but it won't kill you either.

Wibblywobblybobbly · 19/12/2024 23:23

Up the housekeeper. Honestly. I have someone in 5 days a week. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, errands. Life changing. Admittedly I have a full time job. But if you have the money why not?

A virtual PA could deal with dog scheduling, booking restaurants etc.

EasyComfortDishes · 19/12/2024 23:28

If these things bother you I would after Xmas put littlest in nursery adhoc for a few days and just project manage it.
Get a car Hoover and bin that live in the car. Alternatively book an at home valet to deep clean all the cars then put a car Hoover and bin in each one. Set phone alarms for all the MOTs and taxes and get all the paperwork in one place and edit the alarm thar comes up so it shows where the paperwork is. That’s one day.
Ask housekeeper to start cleaning the fridge
another day sit down with Ocado/your preferred delivery app and add all your usuals to a shopping list - all the normal bread fruit milk etc and bits for kids dinners and your lunches. Every week set a phone alarm and just add the shopping list. All the apps have this function where you just click “add my usual list” or whatever
Sign up for gousto or hello fresh for you and DH dinners. That’s another day.
For socialising, spend an afternoon just sending WhatsApps to the relevant parties - would x like to come for a play date on Thursday etc, we need to meet for coffee how about the 14 th blah blah. Aim for one play date per half term per child and set them all up at the beginning of each half term.. Aim for one date set at some point in the further for each adult friend/group.
Once the event is passed, set up the next one. Put aside a couple of hours every first Sunday of the month to review your socials.
Beds/keeping things tidy - meh. Your house is clean. Just do your best.

Embarrassinglyuseless · 19/12/2024 23:39

Olympicscandal2024 · 19/12/2024 23:11

Sometimes the lists themselves are overwhelming. In your situation, I'd start at the top and work down. Just go to the top floor of your house and choose a room to start in. If you come across the car documents in that room, set up your reminders for a month before they're due, etc.

You need to get on top of this before the new baby comes. It's not that hard once you have a system in place, especially because you outsource laundry, general cleaning and garden maintenance, which are the most time consuming jobs.

My husband has ADHD and reading your description sounds like him. So I will caveat the above comment and say, it's not that difficult, unless you have some neurodiversity that makes this kind of thing difficult to manage and organise.

when I lived in the USA I was diagnosed with ADHD - I just dismissed it if I’m honest because I seemed to manage better than most people pre children (held down a job + a relationship etc) - but maybe I need to use some of the tools available to people who have it…

OP posts:
Embarrassinglyuseless · 19/12/2024 23:40

EasyComfortDishes · 19/12/2024 23:28

If these things bother you I would after Xmas put littlest in nursery adhoc for a few days and just project manage it.
Get a car Hoover and bin that live in the car. Alternatively book an at home valet to deep clean all the cars then put a car Hoover and bin in each one. Set phone alarms for all the MOTs and taxes and get all the paperwork in one place and edit the alarm thar comes up so it shows where the paperwork is. That’s one day.
Ask housekeeper to start cleaning the fridge
another day sit down with Ocado/your preferred delivery app and add all your usuals to a shopping list - all the normal bread fruit milk etc and bits for kids dinners and your lunches. Every week set a phone alarm and just add the shopping list. All the apps have this function where you just click “add my usual list” or whatever
Sign up for gousto or hello fresh for you and DH dinners. That’s another day.
For socialising, spend an afternoon just sending WhatsApps to the relevant parties - would x like to come for a play date on Thursday etc, we need to meet for coffee how about the 14 th blah blah. Aim for one play date per half term per child and set them all up at the beginning of each half term.. Aim for one date set at some point in the further for each adult friend/group.
Once the event is passed, set up the next one. Put aside a couple of hours every first Sunday of the month to review your socials.
Beds/keeping things tidy - meh. Your house is clean. Just do your best.

Thank you for this hugely practical breakdown!

OP posts:
Embarrassinglyuseless · 19/12/2024 23:43

Loveautumnhatewinter · 19/12/2024 23:16

Can you treat the ‘house’ like a job? If you were working, how would you organise your time and prioritise the tasks that needed to be done? And then apply this to the house. Work out how much time you actually have each day to do these tasks and plan accordingly. Get an A4 page a day diary and put tasks in for each day, with less scheduled in when your child is not in nursery. Anything that doesn’t get done and is still outstanding, gets allocated to another day. Write down a month ahead of time in the diary when car insurance/mot etc is due to give you some time to sort it out.

My suggestions might be a bit too methodical, but that’s how I tackle the shit I need to get done.

All the best OP and happy to provide mentoring services. 😀

Not too methodical at all - I am a scattered person - I need methodology - thank you!

OP posts:
Heyyoupleasekeepgoing · 19/12/2024 23:43

IME a large part of being happily married to a high earning spouse is working out how to effectively outsource all the stuff he’s not got time to contribute any effort at all to - but can’t he at least do the cars or the dogs or something from your list?! Is he doing nothing at all?
It’s hard as well to retain your self confidence when he’s out there running the world or whatever & you’re at home… all the time. It’s vastly preferable to work yourself so this stuff doesn't take up your whole life, maybe something to think about after some time with baby 3 (congrats). I hate housekeeping but me working makes him arrange to have some of it done at least.
The book “How to keep house while drowning” was a useful read for me. Good luck!

SnuffleTruffleHound · 19/12/2024 23:44

Yeah your adhd!

healthybychristmas · 19/12/2024 23:46

I was thinking ADHD all the way along and then eventually you mentioned it. Did you really think it wasn't relevant? The whole thing just smacks of it. You have the money, see a doctor about what you can do about this.

bringmorewashing · 19/12/2024 23:46

I dislike a lot of these tasks too, so they either fall to DH or just rarely get done. Some you could outsource to paid help. But others I'd just forget about - dinner parties and renovation projects? Playdates? Keeping the car spotless? No mere mortal has the headspace for all of this. Sounds totally overwhelming!

I wonder where the expectation is coming from that you need to do so much? You or DH? Why should you be some sort of super housewife/professional estate manager? Unless.you've married into the roysl family or something,.I suspect you can probably relax a bit.

MildredSauce · 19/12/2024 23:51

TheSecondMrsCampbellBlack · 19/12/2024 23:09

I am excellent at throwing money at problems so this is what I’d do!

  • Keeping the fridge clean and stocked HOUSEKEEPER / COOK
  • keeping things basically tidy HOUSEKEEPER / COOK
  • making sure the dog has everything he needs (annual check ups / insurance) SCHEDULED
  • managing all the crap about the cars (mots, insurance etc) SCHEDULED
  • keeping my car clean and tidy (it looks like I live in it full time. It’s embarrasing) HOUSEKEEPER / COOK
  • paying all the bills etc ALL ON DD, I NEVER LOOK AT OURS
  • making daily beds HOUSEKEEPER / COOK
  • feeding myself sensibly (the children always have nutritionally sound meals at appropriately scheduled times HOUSEKEEPER / COOK
  • Managing all the homework and reading FORGET IT FOR LITTLEST, DEAL WITH BOOK BAG IMMEDIATELY EVERY NIGHT
  • scheduling play dates FORGET THESE
  • hosting dinner parties occasionally so people keep inviting us TAKE THEM TO RESTAURANTS
  • scheduling travel and holidays ENJOY THIS
  • trying not to be a terrible friend BOOK IN TIME TO SEE PEOPLE
  • occasionally schedule a date or two SCHEDULE IT
  • working on house Reno projects FORGET IT OR HIRE EXPERTS

Loving this list. Delegate what you don't want to do and keep the chores you'll enjoy.

Also love that op suggested herself she might need a coach. It's good to learn, even if you can afford not to!

Managing a household no different to managing a business. Did you work before kids @Embarrassinglyuseless ? If so, what did you do??

Olympicscandal2024 · 19/12/2024 23:53

Embarrassinglyuseless · 19/12/2024 23:39

when I lived in the USA I was diagnosed with ADHD - I just dismissed it if I’m honest because I seemed to manage better than most people pre children (held down a job + a relationship etc) - but maybe I need to use some of the tools available to people who have it…

Definitely follow it up. Reading your post, ADHD jumped out at me straight away. I didn't want to post and ask because MN posters often 'diagnose' everything! I have a DH and DCs with ADHD and work in a related profession. There are lots of things that can help, you just need to find what will work best for you.

venusandmars · 19/12/2024 23:55

It's interesting, I have found in my life that periods when I've had more time available I have been at my most disorganised. When I'm on a tighter schedule everything else becomes more structured.

I don't know whether it's because when I'm busy I know I can't put anything off, I just have to get on with it? Or whether the busier activities give me a structure that I can build other things around. e.g. my library books need to be returned - if I'm not busy I just have it on my list for the whole of the week. If I'm on a tight schedule I can spot an opportunity on Wednesday afternoon when I'll be passing the library so i schedule it in for then. There's also something about urgency... If scheduling the car's MOT is something I can do anytime in the next 3 months I feel no urgency, so it remains on my to-do-list and I just feel the burden of it being always on my list. If it needs done next week, I do it.

If you look at your current daily schedule, is there a fixed time when you can make the beds (e.g. as soon as you return from taking dc1 to school), kids reading - maybe in the 15 minutes somewhere between teatime and bedtime. Can you have one 3 minute tidying blast (involving dc) and another 3 minute blast as soon as they go to bed - that means before you do anything else. It is amazing how much you can get done if you put a timer on.

If you look at your weekly schedule are the fixed days and points when you could clean and stock the fridge, clear the car? e.g. one of the days when you've dropped dc2 at nursery you immediately deal with the fridge, another day you immediately deal with the car, another day you arrange to kick back and meet you friends for coffee, or schedule future playdates, or plan dates nights with dh (i.e. all the nice stuff).

Is there one morning (or day if dc2 does to nursery for a full day) every month that you can commit to 'big admin'. Check the timings for dog insurance, car admin, pay the bills, schedule dinner parties.

I know that sounds quite structured but if you don't have the structure of working hours then using the structure of you other activities can be a good starting point. Once you get into the swing of it, it soon becomes an easy habit.

Re your own eating - do you make a weekly meal plan? even a rough one that's open to change? You say your dc eat good meals are there things you can swap up to make those more adult friendly e.g. they eat fing fingers and veg, you eat salmon and veg. They have sausages and veg, you have roast duck and veg. Always make an extra portion that you can have for lunch another day. (sliced salmon and salad; shredded duck and salad).

If your dh is working long hours then most on the above is on you, but holiday plans should be about both of you. Make one of your date nights about the next couple of holidays, get a shared agenda then fix the research, planning, booking somewhere into your next week's activities.

There's also a lot about you, how you like to do things, what you enjoy, what makes you feel satisfied. Also how you like to process information. Do you work best with paper lists that you can visualise, or do you like digital reminders on your phone? Do you like to do any of the domestic activities - cooking, gardening, flower arranging, crafts, DIY? If you prioritised them would it help you fit other tasks around it? Do you have other beautiful passions - playing music, drawing, writing? Where do you fit those in.

@Embarrassinglyuseless although you seem to have a fortunate live, you don't sound like you are doing enough that really makes you happy, that thrills you and gives you joy (family and children of course). Find that, and find how you can fit your domestic responsibilities around it.

EasyComfortDishes · 20/12/2024 00:03

Ideally you want to frontload everything and set it up and then let it run itself.
Get all the bills including car/pet insurance onto a DD that auto renews and that’s it. You literally never have to think about it again. You just have to find the energy time and brain space for one day to sort it.
Get your food loaded onto a shopping list and a Gousto delivery coming and that will just come every week and you never have to think
about it again.
Holidays - I use a company called Charter Travel but I’m sure there’s many more. I email them where (as in what country) I want to go and when and they sort the options and then I choose the one I want and pay.

mathanxiety · 20/12/2024 00:09

Embarrassinglyuseless · 19/12/2024 23:01

I chase my tail. And then spend the whole day feeling like I’ve been working without actually achieving anything.

and sometimes I’m totally paralysed by the list so I make more lists…

Have you ever been assessed for ADHD?

I know this suggestion is so typical for MN but the paralysis and the lists are a red flag.

If you're looking for motivation and some kind of road map, FlyLady (online) might help.

How is your sleep?
How long has it been since your younger child started sleeping through the night?
Any sleep apnoea?
Do you get any regular exercise?

It's very easy to become engulfed in brain fog.