The Organised Mum Method

[IcanDorisIwillDoris]

Does anyone fancy joining me in following the organised mum method?

Back to work tomorrow after the summer off (work term time only) and need to get on top of a house work routine after struggling this last year or so to stay on top of things.

I suffer with anxiety and can easily get lost in my mood without structure and I like what I saw on the website. Will probably tweek the method as I go but it's a good structured plan to kick things off.

I work odd hours around the kids being at school but have a clear hour each day to dedicate to this. Plus I am sick of losing my weekends to playing catch up when I could be doing nicer things with the kids!!

Four of us in a 4 bed semi which is clean, just full of stuff that comes with having kids. It can get pretty messy!

Have done the odd bit of decluttering over the summer which has made a bit of a difference!

Looking forward to having a house that doesn't embarrass me on the odd occasion a guest arrives unannounced

Been meaning to say - my new favourite product is definitely “Elbowgrease”. Oh my god it’s amazing! Can’t wait until I Bootcamp the kitchen now!

JessicaPeach no I’ve not watched any of the videos, maybe I should, it might speed up the whole Bootcamp process

Thanks so much for starting this thread op! I've been busy learning all there is to know and I'm 4 days in and feel like I can cope and it feels so flipping good. Can't believe how excited I am about cleaning. I'm having to hold myself back from doing more! I'm thinking of getting one of these babies, who said a tabard can't be sexy eh?! It'll be good though, to save having to rinse cloths I'll just put 2 or 3 in the big pocket and other cleaning bits I'll need.

Bedroom day - argh! My toddler was up for 4 hours in the middle of the night so today is going to be a push!

Yesterday was day one of TOMM and it went really well.

I did my lounge and dining room and it took 30 mins for each room but that was a thorough clean and wash down of all the chairs sofas cabinets and mirrors so not too bad and I’m confident next week I can do both rooms within the 30 mins.

I have polished tile flooring throughout downstairs and getting the steamer out for 2 rooms seemed a right faff it’s on my list of to do jobs for Thursday rather than Friday focus. But that spray mop looks like a absolute game changer so I’ve ordered it. The bonus is it shouldn’t pull the grout up like the steamer.

Bring on day 2

Friedeggs The tabard is a genius idea! Think my husband would think I'd gone mad but you never know, he might like it

Another rainy clean sheet Tuesday here, I did all the bedding last week though so possibly won't do it again this week (until I found TOMM/Mumsnet I didn't realise people washed their bedding more often than fortnightly )

The baby had me up in the night for an hour and one of my cats is having an operation today so need something to distract me, plus the spare room is going to be used this weekend and currently holds all the old baby stuff for charity/the loft, so think I'll spend longer cleaning and sorting that bedroom today.

Bedroom today go through wardrobes, drawers, summer stuff away, winter stuff culled. Boots, shoes out sandals away. Sort out scarves I have a special hangar but they are muddled. Make up clear out. Jewellery sort out. Hubbies stuff not so easy he clings on to worn out clothes

hodgeheg I was thinking the same thing but I don't care! I'm going to buy the brightest one and wear it with pride! Anyway must crack on with the sheets. I've 4 double rooms to do so I think today will highlight just how much of a challenge it'll be timewise so I'll probably add a room to another weekday instead of doing all of them today 😁

I know you're supposed to adapt the plan to suit your circumstances, but I think I've changed it so much it isn't really TOMM anymore. Anyway, by doing little and often the house is noticeably cleaner & tidier, so I'll stick with it!

Same here, I've adapted it. Was going to hoover but the cat is fast asleep and he's terrified of the hoover...

Boot camp day 2 for me. As advised I’ve just done our bedroom completely - I’ve done a makeup cull in the bathroom (endless very small tubes of toothpaste, DH travels for work, and enough tampons to keep me going till this time next year!). I’ve done a bit of a toy cull in DD2’s bedroom too although my plan is to move on to day 3, get them to tidy their rooms at the weekend and then come in behind and do proper cleaning next Monday

@welshmist my DH is an absolute bugger for throwing nothing at all away. And for buying books in lieu of actually reading them...

Well, drawers done, make up done, jewellery done, shoes/boots done. OH has gone through stuff, some gone to rubbish, some he wants it washed/chemically treated one more time to try and remove stains left by paints/chemicals/foods sigh... if they do not come up clean he has agreed to bin them. I have not even started on my wardrobes.

All Level 1 for Tuesday done

All beds changed, bedrooms all done (not windows or mirrors but everything else) so I can feel that Level 2 for Tuesday is also done

My day off(!)
Hoovered living room and hallway
Cleaned window (tried to, it's still bloody streaky)
Shower - limescale remover, did all tiles and shower door

Only had an hour after university today (dropped off bags to the dump/clothes recycling on way home), managed a bit more bootcamp in the living room though. Going with the clockwise plan so continuing on from sideboard job the other day. Tidied and dusted DVD shelf, corner by a sofa where DS1 has created a 'pit' which I have now cleared out, cleaned the skirting and floor. Dusted and cleared crap off the fireplace (which isn't actually a fireplace). Dusted and cleared the TV stand and discovered the cat had weed behind it! Cleaned floor and skirting there. Removed the VCR which broke years ago!

I haven't started the actual TOMM yet, definitely not doing bedding again yet. I have vacuumed and done a wash though. Will need to tumble dry as showers here today. The load I put on the line the other day and forgot to get in is now damp again!

Bootcamped one bedroom, the rest will have to wait. But I'm feeling very zen about the fact that it will happen eventually, whereas usually I get stressed that I haven't managed to do everything. And the living room is still looking good from yesterday's efforts.

Feeling very positive!

I washed the children's sheets, will have to do ours tomorrow. Picked up a bit in the DCs room, but gave up after seeing the sight of the living room. You wouldn't know I'd sorted it yesterday. So I spent 10 minutes in there instead this evening.

It's so tricky with young DCs, because they both had huge tantrums today (not cleaning related) meaning my time and energy was spent dealing with them, and I find it so draining I don't seem to be able to do much in the aftermath. I'm constantly stressed because of their behaviour, and the state of the house really suffers, as well as my health as I keep eating as a way of (not) dealing with the DCs. I think I'm finding it hard as I'm a sahm, so the only acknowledgement I'd get is if the DCs are happy and/or if the house is tidy. At the moment I'm not managing either...

Sorry, that was long and off topic.

Hey there Booksandpens - sorry you're finding it tough at the moment.
I work term time only and I found it really difficult during the holidays. It does get easier when they go to nursery / school as no one is there to make a mess!

Thanks, 2slicesoftoast I'm hoping that the more I follow the method, the easier the housework will become, but so far it's a bit disheartening... mustn't give up now though because at least things are cleaner under the chaos.

@ollivander84 use kitchen roll to wipe the windows after a glass spray (I use the green Mr muscle one, its also good on stainless steel kitchen stuff). Anything paper based rather than cloth stops the smear.

So I've pretty much skipped the level 1 jobs today. The floors are mostly tidy and the bed is made (after i changed the sheets, no thanks to DH) but no washing or bathroom today. I owe some serious motivation to you all, managed to change bedding, dust and tidy in the bedroom.

I have no idea how to Hoover during the week. No time to do it in the morning, and I have DD alone in the evenings as DH doesn't get home from work until after bed time. Unless I leave her at nursery to Hoover which seems absurd I don't know what to do!

Bit of a failure today... both level 1 and 2. Called to a meeting after work which meant I didn’t get in until 7, and then dealing with a very tetchy toddler shattered from Nursery/grandparents, meltdown from DSS12 (he has ASD) and a very sick dog. The joys of being an adult! Bedrooms will have to wait until tomorrow.

I'm quite glad today is stairs, because I've been dumping everything that belongs upstairs on said stairs instead of tidying as I go... I think I'm sensing a theme here.
I'm rather behind on laundry, so I think the washing machine will be on most of the day. Luckily we have a tumble dryer, in our old place rainy days would mean one washing load would take 2 days to dry.

I did level 1s yesterday but didnt touch the bedrooms at all.

We are moving house though so all a bit mad.

Will do hallways today as been stacking boxes there

Booksandpens our house is the same, washing takes absolutely ages to dry. I don’t have a tumble drier so usually wait for a nice-ish day to do sheets etc, or take them to my Mil’s and use her tumble drier. It’s a pain, and of all the appliances that need buying/updating a tumble drier is top of my list!
Finally finished bootcamping the living/dining room and moving on to the master bedroom today, it will be a big job as it’s been used as a bit of a dumping ground over the summer.