AIBU to not be able to keep on top of there house

[FairyContrary]

How do other Mums do it?! I feel like I’m drowning I’m a SAHM to a 20 month old (who isn’t in nursery) and we also have pets and I just can’t seem to get the house clean. Where am I going wrong? Don’t get me wrong it’s not a hovel in terms of hygiene, but it definitely isn’t clean/tidy enough.

We go out each morning and come back for lunch/nap, but before we leave the house ends up a tip because my toddler pulls everything out from everywhere and I’m trying to rush to get ready. I then spend most nap times tidying up and then trying to clean but can only really keep it half presentable - for example I only have time to do one or two tasks such as wiping down the kitchen, mopping etc. Then by a day or two later the floors look grubby again. We are fortunate to be able to live in a nice decent detached house - but I half think what’s the point if it takes that long to clean!

I feel like every spare minute of my life I’m tidying and it’s still a mess because I don’t seem to ever have the time it takes to deep clean anywhere and it doesn’t stay clean if I do! I can hoover whilst our toddler is awake but some things can only be done whilst they’re asleep.

Any tips?! We can’t afford a cleaner at the moment whilst I’m not working. Rant over haha.

I use an app called HomeTasker. It's really good for listing what needs to be done each day. Then I do the kitchen stuff when I'm making breakfast for my 4yo and 2yo, bathroom when I'm showering etc. Also have a dog and sahm who's out a lot, but we have big boxes for toys (that are grouped for instance dressing up stuff, large cars, small cars, trains) so everything just gets chucked back in but is sorted by box so not total chaos.

Less stuff means less to tidy

floors should not be grubby after 2 days - get a cloth for underneath the high chair for eating and no shoes in the house - is the problem the pets ?

I WFH a couple of days a week whilst toddler at nursery. I use time around work to clean/tidy/laundry. At weekend, one of us will take toddler out swimming/soft play and the other will clean etc. We rotate / limit the toys that are out so it's not totally chaos.

Either your standards are dysfunctionally high or you just need a better routine. I quite like the TOMM routine.

I notice you say ‘we’ can’t afford a cleaner which implies you have a partner?

If so, use the weekend to get ahead while they do some of the parenting.

Also, don’t allow your toddler to pull everything out.

I’d suggest restricting the toddler’s access to so much mayhem making. Use cupboard locks, move a lot of stuff away and keep a small but regularly rotated box of toys.

Keep most rooms’ doors closed and only allow eating in one space. Keep the wet wipes nearby at all times and mop up as mess happens.

it sounds like more work but will reduce your work by a lot if you are strict about it.

Move the stuff out of reach and only play with one thing at a time. At the weekend take it turns to look after the child whilst the other one cleans. Whoever does bath/bed, the other does dinner and a quick hoover (as you have lots of pets you might have to do this daily) and both do dishes/clean the kitchen. Do the mopping before bed, whilst the other puts clothes away/sticks a load of washing on.

Presume the pets are the biggest problem with hair being shed etc? I can't help with that as we don't have pets.

I always clean the kitchen after we've all eaten tea.
Clean bathroom before shower twice a week.
Try to take a microfibre cloth upstairs with me to do the skirting board/ banisters on my way upstairs when they need doing.
Toys I'm less bothered by, so long as not all over the living room floor.
Lower your standards some days as it's difficult with a small child. You need a team effort to keep on top of things, so that could be your partner and child going out to the park on a Sunday morning so you can hoover etc.

Put all the toys in one of these, easy to pull out and put away. Make sure everything else is out of reach.

We’ve got a Dyson Wash G1 for mealtimes, hoovers + mops in one go, perfect for food debris, very quick.