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

I’ve just joined the Facebook groups, (there appearedto be 2?) but am now inundated with posts! Is there any way of reducing the no. of posts I receive?

I had to leave as I can't handle the posts! I will use this thread though.

My house is so far from just needing just a wipe and a hoover at present...

I think I will alternate sheets - kids/mine and do fortnightly. Our house is small so i do downstairs in one go/upstairs in one go so am not hoovering every day either!

I really think this will help if only to make me realise that I need to put the time in.

Clean sheet day. This may take all day with my tribe!

Done the kids bedding, ours is always more of a battle as we have two duvets on the bed (so two duvet covers) - on the basis I'm less likely to kill DH for stealing it all that way. Plus I do the kids on a quick wash - ours goes in on a proper "remove the man-grease" temperature so takes an age to complete.

Child-revolt at not having their fave duvet cover sets on now in progress.

Mines a superking bed and my washing machine is small. Going to take ages!

So today will be my first variation - DH working from home in the upstairs office so bedrooms are out. So this week swapping Tues and Thurs round which actually works out nice as by the end of tomorrow downstairs will be all sparkly.

No laundry today as there is no where near a full load! Happy to tick that off before I have even started

I am not worrying about sticking to this massively rigidly - in an ideal world we can stick to plan to in the real work sometime it's just doesn't work. I guess for me it's there as a motivational tool and like today some things just won't work on a certain day. But as long as I am getting it done overall during the week then that's my main aim. I just want my weekends back!!!

First load of bedding (superking) in washing machine, other beds stripped but now taking youngest 2 kids out as it's their last day of summer hols. Will do the rest when we get back.

But I've also emptied the dishwasher (I added this to level 1 tasks)

I’m starting boot camp today but will try to fit it in to my three days off.
The kitchen, bedroom and snug are the worst areas! I think I’m going to have to be quite strict when decluttering!

My OH is working upstairs too so will have to leave our bedroom till later now. Got the girls bedsheets in and made the teenagets hoover their own rooms. Also done dishwasher and quick bathrooms clean.

Bedding is washed. Spent a lot more than 30 minutes in children's room and haven't yet touched mine, apart from unpacking the holiday bag that has been waiting a week...

Thank you to whoever suggested putting Milton tablets in the white wash, our sheets look soooo much better. Not 100% perfect, but so much better than the result I had just washing them on 60 degrees with bio powder. They're now hanging out in the sun so hoping they'll be even whiter by the time they're dry.

Oooh good idea for whites

I didn't button my duvet cover closed and tried to cheat by putting it on a higher spin rate - huge tangle of wet sheets fail!! I've just spent half an hour tugging them free of the epic tangle. And the cover has had to go back in cos it's dirty now.

That's my effort gone

I need this too!

How do people store cables? I’ve just sorted out a tangled mess of chargers etc.

I did kitchen today as DC not back at school yet. Cleaned all the windows in kitchen & dining room and that was 30 minutes gone. I think I'll clean the fridge out next week.

I'm also getting better at wiping cupboard fronts while waiting for the kettle to boil etc, rather than going on MN!

Haha same. Done a mini clothes cull (still a million piles left!)

People who follow this - how do you make sure other family members are pulling their weight?

My DH isn't bad at doing housework, but he's very much a "do what immediately needs doing" person, rather than a "little and often to stop it building up" person, plus he's very much a "put off til the last minute" person and honestly, I just can't see him engaging with this at all - at least not unless I constantly nag him, which I'm not prepared to do. Ditto my two teenagers tbh. I'm pretty sure the rest of the family will get ticked off with me constantly trying to micromanage them, which is essentially what this is. Fine if you choose to do it for yourself, but annoying if someone tries to foist it on you.

This would totally suit my way of working, as I like little and often, and staying one step ahead - but I can see that I'll just end up doing ALL the cleaning, and frankly, everyone else will leave it to me, and I'll get pissed off with them and end up having a big strop.

I will mention it to DH tonight, but honestly, if I allocate a couple of days a week to him, deep down I know he won't do it unless I'm on his back, and then I'll just have to play catch up the next day. And by stopping anywhere getting really mucky, he'll then stop seeing that anything that needs to be done.

@mrsm43s could you allocate a single job to your DH over the week? Something that needs doing every day like hoovering, or put him in charge of laundry? I shared the to do list app with mine and it worked for a while (I have come home in several occasions to him hoovering, although he loves to hoover ) but stopped after a bit. He does the bulk of the cooking though so it balances out enough for me personally.

My dp cooks so I don’t mind doing the housework. My teens have jobs each week.
I would rather get on and do this myself.

Hi, great idea, I'm in. Like PPs I started Flylady but gave up. Did the 15 mins clean with the toddler today, he was surprisingly keen! Really need a boot camp but not sure when I'll ever manage that.

I did front room boot camp today, it looks lovely and I actually enjoyed it.
I might do the hallway in a bit as it only needs a hoover and skirting boards wiped down.

I know I need to do a boot camp but am honestly too tired! Need to print out the tick sheets. I come in from work, find the house a mess, feel defeated, order takeaway, feel even MORE defeated etc.

I need to do this!