right next on list of things to ask MN calling those with house pride,spotless houses a la anthea domestic goddess stylee

[Piffle]

how the deck do you do it?
I aspire but
Tell me your entire schedule from dawn to dusk
I have school run and 18mth old (2hr daily sleep) to consider
Have large 4bed modern house 2 bathrooms 1more WC
Struggle with
Too Much Stuff
Tell me your rules and methods please

Yes, toy cull.

Before every birthday and christmas, throw away anything broken (if you've not already done it), really manky, too young for, or not used by your LOs. Try not to be too distressed when you end up having to give/throw away Gr8 Gear Knitting Machine which cost £20 after 6 months because DD either can't do it or is simply not interested.

Aye.emptying school bags the moment you get in is tedious but a must.

Agree that too many toys is bad. All three DDs play with things less if they have too much choice. they end up starting things but not finishing, and/or just doing nothing cos there's too much choice!

We have this in ds's room Cull before Xmas and birthday - ds not allowed more toys than will fit in his storage!

No toys downstairs at all - all in his room.

my theory is ORDER

6 kids here and 8 bed house
a LOT of laundry and dont use dryer so wash and hang up 2x daily

keep on top of toys = baskets work imo

ie all playmobile in one so i can fling bits in it all day
tubs of lego etc
shoes all on racks
bedrooms tidy all time - never let too much stuff out
might keep jigswas ore a few vehicles out overnight but mostly cleared up nightly

2 bathrooms - ours never gets too bad - spruce it every day for 2 mins

kids - get them to do it mostly

dust vac and clean floors = daily ut again ot too much work as never allow it to get too bad

md
Call me pedantic
Too many toys are bad for your kids ?
Really?
These are good toys
Have today packed for freecycle/tip all under 18mths baby toys
Progress?

tubs and boxes essential

i use them in kids wardrobes as well as under beds to make it easier for them and me

ruthlessly declutter.

ask: do i love it, do i need it, does it make me money?

if the itme doesn't do one or any of those three, out it goes.

we have to move a lot, so never have too much stuff.

kids help around here! yes, even the 2.9 year old. it's tidy up or no pudding, and i don't just talk the talk, as the 5-year-old has found out.

no taking out a toy until the one they've finished playing with is put away completely.

DH and DD1 are dyspraxic and trip over their own feet about a hundred times a day as it is.

get an organised mum calendar to remind yourself of when to do monthly, quarterly or bi-annual chores like turning mattresses and cleaning out the washing machine.

i keep a spray bottle of liquid soapnuts mixed with water and a bit of anti-bac essential oils and plenty of microfibre cloths to hand to wipe down spills immediately.

dishes are washed immediately after use.

washing is put away as soon as it comes off the line or out of the dryer.

post is sorted asap as well.

what slayer linked to I have 3 of those
Dp has been making known his discontent
But I have lovely house and also need to garden v nice garden.
Oh shit
In 4wks time am off to Australia for 2 weeks for brothers wedding
On my own
DP MIL and FIL are in situ
Am fearful of this
While excited about trip

moondog why are too many toys bad for children? I've not heard that before. Have heard about not giving newborns flashcards etc which is kind of obvious but not heard that before.

too many toys i find overstimulate dyspraxic DD1.

Hmmmmmmm - expat....DH is dyspraxic, DTD1 and DTD2 show signs of it. Never made the connection though.

she goes off like a spinning top when she's overstimulated or very tired, GB.

Are too many toys bad in general though, or does it depend on the child? I would have thought the latter - although maybe it's to do with spoiling them?

How old is your DD, expat (just out of interest, sorry for hijack, Piffle)

in hindsight dd has some SN -mostly visual so toys for her are v specfic and stowed safely.
Ds2 affectionately termed "the hoon" shows love for the kitchen toy, anything with wheels
I lack the ruthless gene...

'no taking out a toy until the one they've finished playing with is put away completely.'

that sounds very strict expat... how on earth do you enforce it? I love seeing my two do a bit of roleplay with 2 random toys

very easily, compo.

it's put away before they bring another one through.

DD1 - she's 5, btw, GB - gets into a lot of accidents because of her condition and she is also easily hyperstimulated. that doesn't help her because she has issues with her attention and with focusing.

it also helps her because she has a lot of trouble with sequencing. it's very hard for her to grasp concepts like, 'first this, THEN that' and with understanding that it's not always possible to do more than one thing at once. these concepts have to be applied to her directly, over and over.

so, they sit and we all play Play-Doh. then they decide they want to play snap or puzzles, well, that means Play-Doh and all the Play-Doh stuff has to be put away.

first this, then or next that.

Sounds fairly normal, expat. If i hadn't done that with the twins our house would've been a wreck (oh dear, it was, frequently ). Still have to try to do the same now, or it all just piles up and up...

she and DH trip a lot, so the floor needs to be kept reasonably accessible.

they drop things a lot, too.

i keep on top of it otherwise there'll be more tripping.

i think many dyspraxics have a tendency to be disorderly as it is, that's why i, the neat freak, have been blessed with two of them.

i exaggerate slightly but the point is that less is not better. Fewer toys mean children have to be more inventive and creative with thier imagination. Imagination and symbolic play is very closely tired to language development.

My kids have hardly any toys at all.

Sorry, I mean more is not better.

I try to make toys as often as possible, especially out of cardboard boxes. DD1 had a fab car and castle we made and painted out of HUGE boxes and she had hours and hours of enjoyment out of them. We also made Charlie and Lola lifesize cardboard figures, again she loved them more than anything we have ever bought. They even went to school with her one day.

The only toys I find that stimulate her in the right way are bikes/slides/outdoor toys. For inside jigsaws or memory cards/snap etc. All the rest are a load of shite and sit unused in the cupboard.

With regard to housework, have a system and put EVERYTHING away like washing/dishes when you are done.