Not sure if I’m after practical help or just commiserations really. I have a (about to turn) 2yo, 4yo and 6yo DD. I have the younger two at home with me x2 days a week and I work the other three days, they go to nursery until 2pm then school pick up at 3pm. DH works 5 days.
I have spent 3hrs this morning just trying to sort and then put away laundry! I can’t leave the 2yo for any more than 10 seconds. She’s peak posting things in the loo, felt tips in mouth, pouring shampoo on the beds age. It’s a nightmare. Trying to tidy up is like filling a leaking bucket, they just make a mess and pull everything out as I go along. I have tried to dust and organise as I go along.
I feel like I’m ignoring them in order to try and do the housework, so I take them out to library/park etc and then housework is left and I get behind. We do have a cleaner for 3 hrs/week she manages bathrooms x2, loos x2, bedrooms x4 and hoovering throughout.
We spend evenings getting everyone fed, bathed, to bed (by 730pm) then batch cooking for the next day, tidying and cleaning the kitchen, cleaning up the muddy bikes/boots/coats and hanging up laundry. Both DH and I do these evening jobs together.
it just feels like we’re fire fighting and DH doesn’t mind the mess and chaos. I do, I can’t clean. I have piles and piles of clothes that are too small for one child, too big for another, baby clothes to sort through and donate.
Is this a phase and I am beyond help?
Thank you to any kind heroes who have made it this far!