I cant stand the mess and i'm going to snap!!!

[zephyrcat]

Please tell me that mine isnt the only house that looks like a compete shit-hole?!?! I'm sick to death of all the crap everywhere. DD's toys and clothes that she just dumps everywhere. dp's clothes on the floor that he cant be bothered to pick up and wash. No matter how many times i tidy it the house looks awful and its really getting me down. I dread anybody knocking on the door because its too embarassing to open it! I know you cant expect to have a toddler and an immaculate house but surely not this bad??? I dont know anyone else with little ones so i havent had any other experience of it. I've just filled a black bag with a load of toys pens figures and chucked it out and thats only one room!! Do you think it would be cruel to throw it all away? (obviously not all of her stuff!!)

Storage, storage and more storage! Just bought one of these from Argos and it is fantastic. I also have baskets in different sizes and various plastic tubs and boxes. I am trying to impress upon ds2 the idea of putting one thing away before getting the next thing out but it is an uphill struggle.

At least with adequate storage you can just go round flinging stuff in boxes at the end of the day and make it look tidy relatively quickly. Though my house is still a pigsty while my children are awake! Once my kids are in bed I really need a child-free space - with no evidence of the little blighters, sorry, darlings

Whilst it is one of the most irritating things on the planet, im actually laughing out loud reading some of these..you could all be living under my roof its almost parrellell.

Although I am shocked that no-one has mentioned the stairs. Does anyone else put things on the bottom of there stairs eg, new toilet rolls with the intention that the next person up the stairs takes it up with them????? does it ever happen???? I placed the washing basket to block the stairs so there is no excuse and what happens??? DH moves it out the way and then proceeds empty handed!!!!!

The list is endless.... Never throwing away empty toilet rolls or toothpaste.....leaving his shoes about.....clothes on the bathroom floor...opening cupboards and not closing them.....wet towels on the bed..... My DD is nothing compared to the other half!!!!!

Agree with you on the things on stairs problem. I'll put things at the bottom of the stairs and DH will go up and ignore them. Then I'll take them up, which is probably what I should have done in the first place!

zeph, guess what, i did exactly the same with dds toys the other day. she has a big toy box full of shite, she hardly ever looks at. i filled a black bag full of the ones mentioned and she never even noticed. i am dreading the day she asks for any of the toys chucked but i doubt it cos she still has loads. defo chuck it - i have become ruthless recently and if things dont get looked at for a certain period of time they are out. this includes clothes too. its coming up for xmas too so that just means more shite! its hard to keep the house tidy drives me nuts too. take a deep breath and count to 10 (or 100!) if anyone comes to the door dont care what they think - they probably wouldnt be bothered if they are a decent sort anyway

there is a differnece between mess 7 filth, but if it's messy you can't clean, so my house atm is both & it's getting me down big time. maybe if I spent every waking moment cleaning instead of on mumsnet?

but seriously, how do you clean or tidy with 3 little ones under your feet. I don't know how to do it. computer ok - they can sit with me, cleaning or tidying - impossible - any ideas?

I'm with you krisked. Our bathroom is downstairs so its noit like he has to go upstairs but wont put toilet rolls away. Leaves shoes and clothes lying around, and dont even start me on leaving cupboard doors open!! That really really really bugs me! Another one is leaving empty packets and boxes in the cupboards or on the side when the bin is less than 6foot away!!

where do you all live??? my house is a shit tip and i can't find anyone with anything as bad as mine. everyone i visit seems to live in a show house!
maybe we should all live in the same road

Agreed! Lets all move to S**thouse Street then none of us will mind so much when we're all the same!! Everyones house i've been to with kids is immaculate - even if they havent had a chance to do what i do and have a manic tidy up beforehand!!

What about empty milk cartons in the fridge????

my dp has a foul habit of stuffing crisp packets under sofa cushions, also if he baths ds he leaves the nappy upstairs! Enough to make me screech.
And yes, my house always looks like armageddon regardless of how much (or little) I tidy up

ooh it feels good to read all these!!

Ditto that, when I visit anyone else with kids, I wonder how they do it. Cos their houses look clean and tidy.

time:
I have a pile of clean washing sitting on a chair in our bedroom. It has been there for more than a month. If dd (5) wants a speciifc top I have been heard to say 'oh it's in the wash', when I really mean 'it's in that pile I have been avoiding'. I keep thinking of it in the evening, after dd2 (7mths) has gone to bed in there, and it would wake her to put it away. hmmmm....

Cleaning the house while the kids are still growing Is like shovelling snow when it's still snowing
Zephyrcat I feel exactly the same as you but bought a plaque that says the words above. I had to buy it as it makes so much sense!!!!

But they grow for quite a long time don't they.

Bloss I'm going to print that out and nail it to the front door

We are basically fighting a losing battle

thats excellent blossomhill!!

Mine are both at school all day so what is my excuse?

lol one of mine is in a bouncy chair and the other is a tiny little 3 year old! My problem now is mumsnet and actually getting off of it do do anything!!!

I know, I know zc. I am weaning myself off at the moment. Had a nasty experience on the breast v bottlefeeding thread and got really upset. Made me realise that mn was taking over a bit too much and now I am really limiting how much I come on here!

My ds1, aged 10 says that the main thing he likes about Christmas is that the sitting room is tidy.

doesnt sound good? I avoided that thread i heard it was getting nasty so i was too scared to come in!!

My house is so small it is virtually impossible to keep it really tidy. I must spend nearl 1.5 hours tidying up when I get back from dropping them off at school.
I know people who walk out of the door at 8.45 to take the kids to school and there houses are immaculate - how????? I want to know the answer

zc - you didn't miss anything, it was playground stuff tbh. I will never, never get involved in anything like that again. I felt so silly getting wound up with a complete stranger!

same here! I tidy up as soon as i get up otherwise it puts me straight into a bad mood but by lunchtime its all wrecked. I painted and washe most of the walls in july where dd had drawn/painted/smeared food on them - they're all wrecked again!