Help me become a demi-goddess please! (I think a full on Goddess is a bit much at this stage!)

[yorkishbirdy]

I have never been good at domestic stuff and I want to improve things, I can never get motivated and when I do it is short-lived

I was wondering if anyone could suggest a sample rota type thing that may help me get started (I wanted to join the Fly thread but I think the basics should be right first!)

I have a large house with wood floors downstairs and carpet upstairs, a total of 10 rooms (including 2 bathrooms) I cannot get to the top of the house often due to health problems and I work during school hours. Oh and I have 3 children who are all young! I cannot afford a cleaner and have the usual complement of after school clubs etc!

I would be so grateful for some suggestions as I am finding that it is getting me down more and more which is silly but I don't know where to start!

I am going to collect the children from school now but will log in when I get back from that (and shopping ). Thank you in advance for anything you can suggest!

Decide what are your priorities...can you stand dust? But hate bits on your carpet? If so, timetable in a quick whizz around the downstairs of your house one day, straightening cushions as you go. Can you do this while dh baths the kids?

I try and make sure my sinks and loos are clean every day, and my worktops. the rest i try and fit in when I can. I find having a timer to concentrate the task in each room is really good, it stops you wandering off putting stuff away when you should be cleaning the bath for example. I reckon you can give a room a quick tidy and clean in about 10 minutes. We're not talking pulling beds out, just the worst of it.

If getting upstairs is difficult for you, alternate between there and downstairs with your timed cleans. Could you do child swaps with a friend so you can clean your house and she can clean hers?

That is sound advice actually thanks maidamess, there is no H here so no real opportunities there, but I do do one bathroom while the little ones are in the bath! I never thought of a timer, rather than thinking "oh goodness I will have to spend the next 4 hours doing the whole house" I could split it down to 20 mins for a room and then do another room until I have run out of time or rooms

I also really like the child swap idea - although I would prefer to be the first one to have the children - imagine inviting extra children over once you have managed to get the house sorted I have never managed to get a baby sitting circle going but I think a cleaning circle may be more easily arranged!

Thanks for your thoughts they are really helpful!

Have certain tasks that you do every day like clean toilet wipe worktops. Then do 1 thing a day eg Monday washing, Tuesday mop kitchen floor, Weds clean bathroom.

In the evenings spend 10 mins tidying living room and kitchen after putting kids to bed. I find little and often and don't even think of doing the whole house at once!

Thanks radcliffe, I think tackling the whole house is my mistake, every now and then I go through and do the whole place really well. After that I am too flaked and jaded to do any more, so it starts to get out of control again and then I get depressed because it is getting messy again... and when I am down I find cleaning even harder to get motiveted for

I thought of you as I was hoovering my stairs with my hand held Dirt Devil .

It was about £30 and is so much easier and lighter than lugging a heavy hoover up the stairs.

The cord is spectacularly long as well, so no extension needed.

Have you tried the Flylady website?

Start with shining your sink in your kitchen (I use a spray of 50/50 bleach/water on mine so now it's an easy job), in your bedroom start with making your bed every morning. Swish and swipe your bathroom (sink and toilet) every day.

I have a morning routine and a before bed routine, I'm still working on the afternoons . I find those are enough to keep the house ok, most of the time.

Is my house perfect? No, but then I don't want it to be. It's a home first then somewhere that needs to be kept cleaned and maintained for my family.

I'm a total SHE and my DH is BO. We used to argue about the housework being done and with the house being in such a mess it was getting me down. FL helped organise me. I've stopped the emails (way too many) and just read the website to find out what zone I should be doing and mission for the day.

thanks maidamess, that does sound interesting, I have a wonderful hoover that was stupidly expensive and it does an amasing job but is so complicated that it needs building up each time and taking apart afterwards, re-building differently for stairs and then again for hard floors... often I get the old henry out of the garage to do a quick run round as I cannot face the monster!

Jelly, I had thought the Fly lady was just for people who had nearly perfect houses already and want the finishing touches! If you think it is not I will go and investigate, I don't want perfect but I would like not to have to tidy before I open the door to the postman

oh god no, yorkish, flylady is for those who are rubbish at housework, like me! It's about doing little and often and usually just the basics. LOL at FLYing for perfect houses, MN has created the impression that flybabies do nothing but clean - exactly the opposite. Let us know how you got on

Thanks Ambi, am looking now, just wondering if I should give the email thingumy a go for a while to kick start me!

You are right, it is MN that has given me the idea that flyladies have perfect houses and love to clean... will have to re-think that and get over there to look over their shoulders a bit more!

Ambi is right, FL is for SHEs. lol at only doing the basics .

york I would sign up for the email to start off. Be prepared to receive loads, read what you need and delete them, (they repeat themselves over time away). Some of the testimonials are quite god squad, it doesn't bother me but it does some people. Take it slow, FL says "your house didn't get messed up overnight, so you shouldn't expect it to be d/cl and cleaned overnight."

Let us know how you get on, ok?

Thanks Jelly, I have signed up and got my first flood of emails including a few that were a bit evangelical for me - but I am good at scanning and deleting, I practice it all day at work

I am now the proud owner of a shiny sink isn't it odd how something so silly can really make you feel like doing more, without getting the feeling you are selling your soul! Well, I am in, I will see how I get on fro a few days and then I will have a bit of a peek at the MN FL threads!

Thanks everyone, your support has been great!

WTG york. Do the babysteps and sit back and enjoy the results

My MR is finished so I'm off to start on my dailies.