Has anyone collated MN housekeeping shortcuts (or can we on this thread) as I need all the help I can get

[sedgiebaby]

I'm a new mum, trying to adapt to things and maintain my home. This means being efficient during her naps so I have 2-3 hours a day.

Are the MN shortcut gems saved somewhere, e.g. Dont go upstairs empty handed, save a bedding set in one of the pillow cases etc...

Otherwise, please post your shortcuts here! Thank you

PS I'm working on a schedule of daily and weekly tasks I just need tips to speed things up as much as possible!

Ohh lets see

make sure everyone in the house has their own sock bag and when they take off their socks they put them into the bag and then straight into the washing machine and tumble drier - no need to waste time pairing them up

Have baskets above the washing machine/tumble drier for each member of the family and fold clothes into their basket easy to sort out, less ironing and when DC are bigger they can put away their own basket of clothes

Plan a monthly menu and sort out monthly shopping lists on line and just order appropriate saved month list.

As you can tell I am no domestic goddess but will keep thinking.

sedgie, you probably don't want to hear this, but when I was a new mum, I decided to lower my standards (not that they were very high anyway!). As long as we had clean clothes, fresh homecooked food, that the beds were changed reasonably regularly and the kitchen was clean, then I didn't worry too much. You've got enough to worry about getting to know your baby and plenty of time to get back on top of things once the babies have grown up a bit.

My DS2 is now 3 and I do now actually have time to do more jobs, so for instance today, with his help, I managed to clean out the proper cutlery drawer, check the cutlery and put it all back tidily. It's a little job, but hasn't been done for some considerable time. Glad it's done now though.

Google austerity housekeeping and you will find a wonderful blog telling you everything you need to know.