ONE DAY OFF and it’s bloody chaos

[FromTheAllotment]

Rant:

DH and I both spend a good chunk of our time trying to keep the house liveable. DD is 6 and DS is 3 and I attempt to get them to do a few chores but the reminding/overseeing is way more work than just doing it myself. Nevertheless most of the time the house is reasonable.

But today we’ve collectively been ill, lethargic and generally done almost nothing, and the house is a STATE. Thanks to DS being one of the ill ones there aren’t many toys around but the general clutter from just one day astonishes me.

Is it just me? Does everyone’s house descend into madness this easily? Do I need better systems?

Ours is the same... it’s rather disheartening to see that we haven’t found a way to keep things on track without having to constantly work at it.
Sometimes it takes less time than expected to get back on track, but usually it involves quite a bit of effort.

It’s like shovelling snow in a snowstorm if you ask me.
Relentless.
I have to muck out daily after my lot to keep it liveable.

Mine is currently messy but that’s because I’m on strike and fed up.

Mine is the same likely worse as i have 5 dc

it's relentless
and your dc's ages don't help.

I was sick this week and dh away with work.
at least my dc are preteen and were able to cook pancakes (3 nights in a row)

It’s a daily struggle!
But you can get it clean once you’re better. Don’t worry about it.

Similar ages plus a baby and it’s exactky the same here. I’m not a neat freak by any stretch of the imagination but the sheer effort in getting the house back to square one and, once a week, making it cleaner ready (and I know that makes me incredibly lucky) is really waring.

Same. All I do is tidy and put away.
But while I'm doing it the dc's ( 11yr old dd to be precise ) are messing up other bits of the house.
If I'm ill it really goes to rack and ruin.

I've been ill this weekend. DH has kept the DC alive and everyone seems happy. But dear lord the house looks like it's been burgled. Same washing from Fri hanging on the airer, washing up stacked by the sink, toys everywhere. DH expects a medal for stepping up with cooking and child rearing but he ain't getting one.

I know its hard work getting the kids to help now, but honestly, its worth it - another couple of years, and they really will be able to help properly.
Madness quickly ensues here to.

Yeah, we gave up having a cleaner because tidying for them was too much of an effort

With toys we used to just chuck them back in boxes every night, with DC helping. It's more complicated now they are older and there are piles of hair stuff, homework, hobby things, cables everywhere. I swear it breeds.

🙋🏼‍♀️ same.

We've been hit by illness two weeks running and I am just waiting for the third and final lot of washing to finish.

Pil came over on Friday and said how digusting it is they did then get to help tidy the playroom!

Same washing from Fri hanging on the airer

Oh god yes, our entire wardrobes end up on the airer or in piles or in the airing cupboard. That’s always the first task to go.

Daily toys on the floor mess I can just about handle and sometimes the DC can manage almost all of that themselves. It’s the random bits of crap artwork DD produces, the twenty six million drinks lying around, the tissues that got turned into a doll’s duvet, the party bag detritus, the randomly spilt bag of feathers, etc etc etc - tracking this shit down will take me most of the week and if we dare to be lazy next weekend it’ll start all over again!

we gave up having a cleaner because tidying for them was too much of an effort
Ha that could so easily be us if we had a cleaner

redchocolatebutton send your DC my way please!!!!!

If you're going to fetch another drink, why wouldn't you carry the old one back to the kitchen with you? You're going there anyway.

If you're making food, why not clean up as you go, so there isn't a mountain of washing up/food scraps on countertops waiting (and being ignored when the next meal is being made)? If the kettle's on, squirt some cleaner onto the nearest surface, wipe and it's done.

If you're heading for the toilet, why not pick up something that belongs somewhere that's on the way/the next room? And it's not hard to shove a small handful of socks into a drawer (or my favourite, a basket for easy access when half asleep) when you're going into a room anyway.

For artwork, I had a wicker basket that fitted A3 paper and each one was put in there - the other items went into 'the art box', a wooden toy box with a hinged lid, where crayons were dumped straight into a large Tupperware box, pencils into another, etc, etc - close the lid and it's all tidy, even if the actual 'putting away' occasionally happened to be 'tip it all directly into the box and hope for the best'.

I have these discussions regularly with DP - when he forgets that 30s done at the time saves about 30 minutes when he leaves it until later the fucking weekend ; things do slip, but they are far more manageable if 60% of things are cleaned or put away automatically.

Yes, I get that, and thank you for the tips, but that’s the standard way of working. My point was that it only takes one day where you’re busy emptying someone’s sick bowl while the kettle boils, or carrying an unexpectedly sleeping child upstairs instead of the thing that you normally would carry up to put away, or not wanting to disturb said unexpectedly sleeping child by putting their washing away - and suddenly after a surprisingly short time with all those tiny jobs being missed, the house is shocking.

I am with you. I go round my house on an endless loop tidying as I go. It never ends .
And the next day it all has to start again ! I get it straight last thing but next morning chaos is unleashed again.
It is just how it is I guess .

Yes 😂 some days I look around and it looks like we’ve genuinely been burgled. An hour later after a clear round it looks reasonable again. I think it’s just the way it is when there’s small people around

As a child I remember not getting it when my parents told me I had to pack away one toy before getting another out, or put my cup in the dishwasher when I'm done

I used to think it didn't matter if I was messy because we'd just tidy it up later, no point wasting time as we went along. My poor mum....

Totally agree. I feel like I am permanently on the go: work, DC, supervising homework, cooking, cleaning, tidying, washing, drying and tidying away clothes.

Sometimes I get loads done and feel really good about myself. The next day comes and I still need to cook, clean, tidy etc.

So on days when you have little energy to clean:

1- don’t cook anything that causes a mess in the kitchen. Ideally have freezer meals for those odd days. Use plastic plates and cutlery if you couldn’t clear out the dishwasher in the morning. That should have your kitchen sorted for you

2- keep the playful kids contained In their rooms with their toys. Not around the house. Get them to pack away their toys in a box and clear out any mess they caused on the floors.

3- keep Dettol wipes in the toilet and in the kitchen to wipe any spills or used surface as you go along. Hand broom handy for any crumbs to be pushed into a corner (under a carpet ) straight away so you can get to it with the hoover or scoop it out with all the other thing on the floor. As and when it happens.

4- clothes in laundry baskets straight. Since you are all ill no need to make the beds and just keep it all airy..

I think the house would be manageable with all that.

It won’t be pristine but won’t be a tip. Empty surfaces and floors does all the magic.

Just respect your energy level is low and work with it