I am 34, I am single for the first time in my adult life, I have no idea how to keep a house clean - HELP

[shakinstevenslovechild]

Dh and I have recently made the decision to split.

I have been with him since I was 19/20.

He is moving out soon, and I am really worried.

In our relationship I have worked, dealt with the cooking, washing and our dc, he has worked and dealt with the majority of the housework.

I am ashamed to say that I don't even know where to start with keeping on top of the housework because he has always done most of it.

Please, please share your hints and tips with me.

I have a 3 bedroomed house, 4 dc, and work from home mostly.

I am that I have got this far in life and relied on him so much, so please be gentle

It'll take some time but you'll find your stride and get into a routine eventually.
Don't be hard on yourself in the meantime. As long as you're all clean, fed and happy (and there's not the beginnings of a penicillin farm developing anywhere) that's all that counts at the minute. Use the threads on the GH section to give yourself a starting point and I'm sure people will be along soon with helpful tips (not me though because I'm an absolute slasttern and my dining room currently looks like it's just been turned over in a police raid. Oops).

*slattern

Don't put pressure on yourself, mainly because you'll be going through a hugely emotional time.

My top tip for not allowing things to get on top of you: if you look around the house and see something that needs doing, do it as soon as you can.

Sorry you are going through a tough time.

Flylady is good

here

Some of the language is barftastic but the underlying system is sound.

Start with the baby-steps (hate that phrase) first. Just do the ones that sound sensible to you. Then start building up a few routines. YOu need to adapt the system to suit yourself.

And you can join us here if you want company whilst doing so!

Good luck!

Give yourself a break, you're going through a tough time and it won't matter if your house isn't spotless.
Do what needs to be done, dishes, washing, hoovering, etc and you'll find you'll get into a routine. I don't think anyone actually knows how it do it we all just learn as we go along.

Have you ever heard of Flylady it's a website run by an American woman to support people in running their households, it's a system that breaks it all down into small steps and regular routines. The tone of the site is a bit gushing but the principles are sound. She sends out an email every day with the days jobs (but if you sign up for the emails you get a lot of others which are of the gushing type). There's a long running series of threads in GH called Fledglings where someone posts the links for that days tasks every morning (and we all chat a lot). Most of us follow it semi-diligently, but it does really help. Also you can avoid signing up for the emails that way.

And don't feel embarrassed, it has been a steep learning curve for me through adulthood, my parents showed me the basics, but I didn't really have a clue how much was involved and how often when I left home.

Just marking my place as I am not single but probably worse than you

Thank you so much, I'll check out flylady when I get on the laptop, sounds like just what I need.

I'm on a mass decorating mission first of all and then I want to do a big spring clean, but it is the general day to day stuff that worries me most.

I have been really terrible for all these years walking past dishes in the sink, or noticing a mark on a window and leaving it because dh will do it while I get on with what I have to do, but now it will all be up to me eek.

I'm thinking of investing in a dishwasher to make life easier for now.

You sound like you're doing great. Decorating, working and looking after four kids is no joke, so the housework isn't going to break you. Give yourself some slack while you learn what's really needed, and where you can afford to be more relaxed. Like, keeping on top of washing and tidying is a good idea, otherwise they build up into a daunting task. But hoovering, or cleaning the oven... It's nicer when they've been done, but you're not storing up extra work for yourself by skipping them here and there.

How old are the children? From quite young, they need to take a little bit of responsibility for keeping things in order. That might start off with following rules about where they're allowed to eat, so you don't end up with half-eaten sandwiches down the back of the sofa, or milk and cocoa pops spilled over your persian rug; or restrictions on how many toys it's reasonable to get out at once. As they get older, they can take on more responsibility for their own stuff (putting toys/books away, tidying their rooms), and eventually, they can contribute to general household maintenance (tidying up kitchen and living rooms; feeding and grooming pets; cleaning the windows; vacuuming etc.)

Actually, if you have a chart that says, these are the things that need doing daily/weekly/monthly, it'll keep you going in the right direction and it's a useful prop to tell your children "here are the things that need doing, everybody pick one and do it before dinner."

Get a cleaner.

Good luck.

Oh, and definitely get a dishwasher if its an option... Keeps the place tidier as well as saving you time. Children can be quickly trained to put their things in the dishwasher as soon as they've finished.

It is amazing how great dishwashers are, fabulous for labour saving.

Did your dh never want one?

Dh was the dishwasher

My dc are 3, 6, 9 and 13, the older 2 have some chores to do already, I have a list pinned up, they have to do one small job a day (put the rubbish out, tidy the couch up, sweep the stairs type jobs) then one big job to do on a Saturday (tidy and hoover the living room, sweep and mop the kitchen floor type things) to earn their pocket money.

Maybe I should do a list for myself until I get into a routine for now.

I wish I could afford a cleaner, there is no chance, although maybe I could negotiate a discount in maintenence with dh if he comes and does the cleaning once a week

I quite like this lady although she can be annoyingly American and clearly doesn't have a job. She did finally make me see that if I didn't do it, then it wouldn't do itself!

Good luck, I'm sure you will get a routine going soon.

I have 4 children too and although my house is clean and tidy, it's not pristine! As I said before I'm rubbish at cleaning and housework, ironing, sorting wRdrobes, vacuuming etc. I've been known to cry

Give me cooking, playing anything creative Any day! Cleaning I hate. My DH I am ashamed to admit vacuums the house. And washes up

Could you possibly afford a cleaner once every two weeks??

Thank you again.

I really don't think I can afford a cleaner. Maybe if I try and physically can't do it then I could cut back elsewhere, but I'd like to try it first,

I am definitely more arty and crafty than tidy, without a doubt, my whole business is based on mess and disorganisation really.

I have had a chat with dh about how I will cope and he says he will help, but I do feel that I need to learn, so I think I will make a rota for myself for now. I feel a bit shit and childish for having to do it, but it is going to be a steep learning curve for me so I need all the help I can get really.

I can do this, I can I can I can

What I'd recommend doing first is getting rid of as much stuff as possible, be ruthless.

Apart from possibly the 3 year old the kids are all old enough to sort their own rooms out and the older 2 can change the beds every week.

We don't have a dishwasher but I wish we did so if its an option I'd go with that.

Have a cleaning pack in each toilet if you have more than one containing (well in mine) bleach, loo brush , bathroom wipes, spray, floor wipes.

Keep a similar pack in the kitchen and keep work tops as clear from clutter as you can.

Make sure things like bags, shoes and coats are somewhere designated that the kids can put away themselves.

Don't aim for things to be perfect an dont get bogged down in tiny details. To start with I prioritise:

Emptying bins
Keeping kitchen clean
Keeping loo : sink etc clean
Bed changed
Keeping some order in the living room or wherever you sit to chill out.

Don't panic, you'll manage.

Thank you.

I have 2 toilets, so keeping a cleaning pack in each is a great idea.

From the advice here I think little and often is the key is it? Or is it better to do a massive clean in the morning?

Finding a place for everything is key, so you can keep surfaces uncluttered. I don't subscribe to the get rid of everything ethos, I like my stuff and it give me a comfortable feeling knowing that everything I need is tucked away somewhere, but do get rid of rubbish, it does accumulate in cupboards, drawers etc.

I would hate to be without my DW, do get one and have a routine of putting it on at the same time every day, my DCs (8 and 10) empty mine every morning (with a little help to put away high up stuff).

Yes to keeping cleaning stuff where you need it, I keep a spray of cleaner in the bathroom and use loo roll roll to give the loo a quick once over daily and also wipe the floor round the loo. Give it a proper clean once a week.

If possible, try to clean the house properly-this will probably take a good few hours, but after that you can just keep on top of things/maintenance.

How's this for a plan?
Day 1 clean whole house.
After the initial clean, why not just do one room every other day from then on in. Shouldn't take more than 20 minutes.

Wash-up every day.

Do washing loads every few days (as required)

Take rubbish out once a week?

Once you've got the initial big clean and tidy done it's little things, like making sure everything gets put away as soon as it's finished with, spillages are wiped up straight away. Another vote for a dishwasher, if you pack as you go when you're cooking or whatever it takes so much less time to clear up.

I'm sorry, Shaky. I know from the other thread that you have a pretty fantastic pair of older DCs. How are you?

Thanks for all the advice. Dh is still here for now so I'm trying to have a practice while he finds a place to live.

I'm quite lucky that I can rejig my work schedule around whatever I need to do so I think clearing a Monday so I can do a mass clean is a good idea and I'm going dishwasher hunting today, I definitely need one, I hate dishes (and ironing, but there isn't a machine to do that for me )

I do about 4 loads of washing a day at the minute, but I'm going to look at how I can cut that back because I won't really have time. I change beds every day at the moment so I might cut that to every 2nd day for a start.

Empress thank you for asking, things with dd are just great, she is a happy, confident little girl, she has told quite a lot of her friends now and they have been really supportive, she has had a few negative comments, but the school have been right on it, and dd is getting pretty good with her comebacks now too, plus her friends stick up for her. Unfortunately I think that her coming out was probably the thing that highlighted just how different dh and I are, he took a phase of being supportive, or acting supportive anyway, but he keeps telling her that she should keep it to herself, or hide it away, grow her hair so she doesn't 'look' gay (whatever that means) or wait until she is 14 and then 'decide' if she is gay and it has just been constant arguments. Thankfully my dc are taking it quite well, dh will stay close by, and they are excited about having 2 bedrooms and 2 lots of presents at birthdays and Christmas they are so shallow Thank you (again) for all the support on that thread, I really don't know how I could have supported do without your help

You're really welcome, I'm so glad I could help. (BTW it doesn't sound like it's needed but I also have a lot of good stuff to counter the Christian anti-gay arguments, if you ever need help there PM me).

We change the beds once a week TBH. And iron hardly anything.

Hi, my top tip with small dc(especially if you have boys!) is do the bathroom first. Loos get pretty smelly ridiculously quickly.

I don't iron unless there is a special occasion where a shirt needs doing.

Try to make your bed immediately, the room looks much nicer.

Do laundry at night to save electric.

Clear the kitchen worktops.

Get gorilla tubs or similar for dc toys (and secretly give stuff away regularly)

Hoover when it looks bad!!

You'll be fine. Clean is more important than tidy.

Well that is a mass house clean done yesterday and a living room decorated and a slightly shell shocked stbxh

I have made myself a schedule, so I have cleared a day off work on mondays to do a mass house clean, which I'll need to after the weekends. I think I'll do half an hour then 10 min break, until I get into the swing of it.

Cut down to 2 loads of washing a day, put one in when I get up and one just before I go to bed.

Do a quick clean and hoover/mop of the kitchen and the living room every morning

Kids tidy their rooms after school for 10 mins a day and carry on with their chores which will keep the halls and stairs tidy and keep the dishwasher (which arrives next week) stacked.

I thought I was the only person in the world who doesn't really iron, dh does it all meticulously but I'm quite happy to do it when I need to, so that is one less job to do.

I'll look into more storage for the kids rooms, that's a good idea (as is giving toys away, I'm surrounded by bloody Monster High dolls just now).

Hopefully that will mean the place is pretty tidy most of the time, and written down like that it seems perfectly do-able.

Thanks for all the tips, I feel a bit more confident now, it's a change, but change is good... right?