Calling domestic godesses with immaculate homes - HELP!

[jemart]

I am insanely jealous of people with beautiful stylish uncluttered homes and would love my house to be like that.

I have 3 DC's under 5, a flock of persian cats and an untidy clutter bug for a DH. Am I trying for the impossible in wanting my house to be spotless or can it be done? If so please share the secret, tell me how!

And I can't afford a cleaner so need to do it all myself.

elderflowercordial, I am intrigued by this Sheila Maid thingy - do you have to hang it over a heat source or keep the room well-ventilated, or could you hang it anywhere?

littleboyblue - what is included in those timings please? Does that include dishes and laundry as well as cleaning?

Pretty much yeah. It doesn't include ironing or putting clothes away though.
I mix it up in the morning with caring for the dc's and do other bits inbetween but basically......
I do 1 load of washing up, I wash and sterilise the days baby bottles, I wash the shower tiles while I'm in there, then wash the bath and then the bathroom sink, then I wipe down the toilet, I take the rubbish out, I sweep and mop the bathroom and hallway.
In the evenings, I put ds2 to bed, then I sterilise more bottles, do more washing up, load the washing machine so I just have to turn it on in the morning, clean and dry my kitchen sink, wipe down counter tops, clean off the hotspot(the place where all the day's crap piles up), sweep and mop kitchen floor, move rugs, and ds1's bigger toys out of living room and sweep and mop. Both morning and evening take about half an hour each, sometimes a bit more, but I do have to stop every now and then depending on what my ds's are up to (they are 23 months and 5 months)
My 15min stuff varies as there are different jobs to do in different rooms and we do a main focus on 1 room a week.
1 day last week, I set my timer for 15 minutes and wiped all fingerprint marks off walls, wahed down living room door and frame, wiped skirting boards, and the time that was left over was spent putting dvd's back on the shelf.
Then there's whatever the daily missions are that are posted on the flylady website.
This also doesn't include cooking dinner, menu planning, activities or any planning, shopping etc. And then there's the things I do without realising it iyswim. Like never leaving a room empty handed, wherever I go in my house, there is always something to be put back in my destination.
Then there are room rescues where I set a timer for 5 mins and just do as much as I can in 5 minutes. Once the timer sounds, you stop.
Some days are better than others. I have done nothing today as been out all day, so will spend the week catching up.
It might be worth popping onto to the FLY thread and having a little look.

littleboyblue you sound like a whirlwind of efficiency and hats off to you!

I'm far lazier and find domesticity boring and depressing. I also find it easier now dc are older to share the tasks because the last person on earth do I want my dc treating me as I treated my mum! 'mum where's such and such?' etc.

I got my sheila maid off the internet, literally google it. I think I bought the cheaper version on line and it's fab. Separately you'll need to buy plastic drier thingies with pegs that hang off it which you peg out your clothes (you can buy them from Wilkinsons and other hardware shops), I have a good one which is like a row of coathangers so that you can drip dry shirts, sweatshirts etc on.

Some people simply hang coat hangers off the wooden poles.

People with Agas often have a sheila maid in the kitchen (but beware of cooking smells) but I find it best on top of the landing. It doesn't require any form of extra ventilation other than an open window to help move the air round in summer.

I'm a whirlwind of something, don't think efficiency is it though
It was tough when I started out, I had a few day where I was getting back to thinking housework was a waste of time while my dc's are still babies, but I really like starting a new day on a fresh, clean living room floor and the beauty of doing these things every day is that it doesn't have to be perfect. I can see a bit of something on the floor now, but I'll probably get it tomorrow and miss another spot iyswim.
I used to hate housework, it is boring, but I think that's because I was trying to do too much at a time iykwim. I would much rather spend all day with the boys but since I've been putting a time limit on things, it's gtten much easier to motivate myself to it. I see it as what's 5/15 minutes?

The one, main thing is not to try to do it all yourself.

Everyone who is old enough should help to tidy. Never fall into the trap of acting like a maid just because your DH works. Yes, if you're home more you can clean; but you're not a maid. People need to tidy their own mess.

As I have a little boy it is imperative he doesn't grow up thinking only women clean and tidy! I want him to become a helpful hands on dad and husband which is why the helpfulness at 3 is a good start

Me too elderflowercordial My ds1 will be 2 next month and I try to encourage him to help me. We're getting him a little toy henry hoover for his birthday.
When he knocks a drink or something over, he also has to help clean it up, and he has to help us put his toys away before bedtime.

Littleboyblue thanks for posting that, it's really helpful. How did you get into the habits, did you use FLYlady? I am finding it really hard to establish any kind of cleaning habits/routine. I started FLYlady with the beginner babysteps but kept rebelling and then lost interest in it. (E.g. I will absolutely not wear shoes in the house and I don't even own any lace up shoes!)

I fully intend to get DS to "help" as soon as he is able to.

That was my problem CherryChoc, I don't always wear shoes outside the house, let alone inside!

Thanks littleboyblue, that's very interesting and helpful.

If anyone does have any tips on getting into good habits by the way I'd be very grateful. My mum had ME when I was younger and was a single parent and didn't have the energy to make me and my sister help out and it does not come naturally to me at all. I can sit in an untidy room and it just does not occur to me that it needs tidying up. I can keep things hygienic but tidy is a mystery! DH is a lot more houseproud than me though and it does cause problems between us.

I have been on the slatterns thread which really helped but I struggle to write a list some days as I just don't know what needs doing. So I kind of dropped off it a bit.

Cherry yeah, I did it all through Flylady. I had to adjust bits and pieces tbh, I don't wr shoes indoors either, I am in a 1st floor flat with laminate flooring and wouldn't do that to my neighbours. I do however sometimes wear flip-flops.
You don't HAVE to do everything she says, I sometimes don't ven get dressed if I'm not going out, but you take from it what will help.
I did find the babysteps a bit slow going mind you so I skipped a few and did more than 1 a day a few times. Things like making the beds I already did so I just jumped onto the next step iyswim.
I also don't lay tomorrows clothes out before I go to bed because I like to catch the weather report in the morning, and I don't get up before the dc's or anything like that, but I took her 'lessons' and adjusted it slightly to fit me and my family/home but kept to the 'teachings' if you like.
I was also like you, I moved out of home 5 years ago and until that point had never done any hoovering, polishing or anything else remotely domesticated
An easy way to start would be to walk around your home with a pen and paper and just write down the things that you want to achieve every day. Set yourself little tasks but don't punish yourself if you don't get it done.
I'd been out all day yesterday, but last night, nothing on telly so I set my timer at about 9:30 for 15 mins and went into kitchen, in this time, I wiped walls, skirting boards, doorframe, door and front of cupboards, with 2 minutes to spare, and then I came back on here for a bit and went to bed.

Must dash now, dp has taken ds1 out (in the car as peeing down) and ds2 is in bed, so I'm going to hoover. Setting the timer for 15 minutes and will do the whole flat. I just do the middles of the rooms, a more detailed edges, corners and under furniture comes in when we are in that zone.
Pop on over to the FLY thread, you don't have to post if you don't want to (alougth we are all lovely) and click onto the link called mission. This is today's job, it is an easy one and will show you that it is doable.
When I started, i looked through all the babysteps to make sure I wasn't about to commit myself to something that would get tricky as I progressed, and it didn't/hasn't.
I rambling aren't I??????

No, it's helpful, DH and I had a big argument about it last night, what is stopping me I think is his insistence that it is ALL because I'm lazy and useless etc (whole other thread, sorry) whereas I know that partly, yes, I am lazy and undomesticated, he is being an unreasonable twat about it. I just want to be a bit more proactive with tidying etc for me, IYSWIM?

I think I will stick to the slatterns thread as FLYlady a bit much, but will lurk there for inspiration!

Cherry sorry your dh is being such a jerk about it. It is hard when you have lo's too.

Goodluck with it all.

Thanks littleboyblue

"Throw away or store out of sight every single thing you don't not need to use immediatley"

blimey!

I keep the washing up I can't be arsed to do in a cupboard under the sink, stops my kitchen sink/side look clettered and messy

I wouldn't dare do that I think, I'd forget it was there!

it gets better when they get older, my 2 are 12 and 9 so their toys are limited now anyway. But they do keep all their toys in their room but they are allowed to bring them downstairs if they wish to. I have no choice as a childminder i HAVE to ahve toys downstairs its part of childhood, You cnat play with your child if they are confined to their room to play!!!! My kids know that they bring stuff down to play they take it back up with them at bed time. That way i get to see them play with their imaginations - i wouldnt miss that for the world.
To me as long as a house is clean and tidy whats a few toys on the floor whrn you have kids,

I wrote out/ c&p'd a years worth of weekly household jobs based on Flylady, but customised to our home.

Each week I print them off and dh and I race round trying to tick them all off. The most we have managed is 90%, we usually average around 70% but thats a lot better than if we were left to our own devices.

Guests see the list and pitch in too. MiL was round this morning and ticked off 'descale kettle' whilst I dealt with a nappy.

Wow PlasticQueen, don't suppose you have a copy you could email or something? I know it would have to be retailored to my own house but something like that would really help me I think. I wouldn't know where to start with making one up from scratch.

The list is way too long to email CherryChoc and I've got it in a really bitty format. Strongly reccomend you adapt one from Flylady.

For example, every week we intend to:

1. Tidy DC1 room
2. Dust DC1 room
3. Wipe down surfaces in DC1 room
4. Empty DC1 bin
5. Vac DC1 room
6. Tidy DC2 room
7. Dust DC2 room
8. Wipe down surfaces in DC2 room
9. Empty DC2 bin

10. Vac DC2 room 11. Dust top hall 12. Vac top stairs 13. Dust mid hall 14. Vac mid hall 15. Tidy DC3 room 16. Dust DC3 room 17. Wipe down DC3 room 18. Vac DC3 room 19. Declutter bathroom 20. Dust bathroom 21. Clean toilet 22. Polish toilet 23. Clean bath 24. Clean bath tiles 25. Polish bath and taps 26. Polish bath tiles 27. Wash area rugs 28. Change towels sun 29. Change towels thurs 30. Clean sinks 31. Polish sinks 32. Polish mirrors 33. Wipe down changing table 34. Tidy changing table 35. Empty nappy buckets and bins 36. Disinfect nappy buckets and bins 37. Reline bins 38. Clean shower 39. Polish shower 40. Wipe down cabinet 41. Sweep bathroom floor 42. Mop bathroom floor 43. Tidy main bedroom 44. Dust main bedroom 45. Wipe down main bedroom 46. Empty main bedroom bin and reline 47. Sweep bedroom floor 48. Clean mirrors 49. Dust lower stairs 50. Vac lower stairs 51. Tidy front room 52. Vac sofa and chairs 53. Dust front room 54. Clean mirrors 55. Declutter magazine rack 56. Declutter toybox 57. Polish front room 58. Wipe down toys 59. Clean TV and video/ dvd 60. Vac floor 61. Tidy wii games and machine 62. Dust hallway 63. Put away coats, shoes and hats 64. Clean mirror 65. Vac hall 66. Wipe furniture and switches in hall 67. Mop hall floor 68. Tidy kitchen 69. Polish oven top 70. Clean surfaces 71. Polish surfaces 72. Tidy paperwork drawer 73. Wipe down fridge shelves 74. Declutter fridge 75. Empty toaster and clean 76. Wipe kettle 77. Wipe breadmaker 78. Wash tea canister and spoon holder 79. Sweep chairs 80. Wipe chairs 81. Wash bin and reline 82. Wipe down bin area 83. Sweep floor 84. Mop floor Wash DC bedding Wash towels Garden tidy up Sweep front path Wipe down pram and wash wheels Clean and check changing bags Ironing Sunday Ironing Thursday Wash main bedding Clean laundry area Clear out handbag Clear out bookbags Clear out under pram Clear out coat pockets and check if need cleaning Car tidying Cut children's fingernails and toenails Headlice check Children's ear cleaning Children disclosing tablet Ironing Remove highchair seat and wash Clean shoes Print out schedule

And this week I have:

1. Shine sink
2. Empty fridge and clean
3. Clean outside of fridge
4. Clean behind fridge
5. Wash grill pan and shelves
6. Clean oven
7. Polish oven top
8. Clean inside microwave
9. Wash canisters/ nick nacks

10. Wipe down telephone 11. Wipe fingerprints off walls 12. Clean radiator cabinet 13. Clean bin 14. Clean light switch 15. Dust cabinet tops 16. Clear out first kitchen drawer 17. Clean out second kitchen drawer 18. Clean out plastics drawer 19. Clean out casserole drawer 20. Clean under sink cupboard 21. Clean pan drawer 22. Clean baby drawer 23. Clean knives and forks drawer 24. Wipe down cupboard fronts 25. Polish cupboard fronts 26. Clean dishwasher 27. Wash chair covers 28. Clean chairs/ legs 29. Clean tablecloth 30. Clean table/ legs 32. Sweep floor 33. Clean floor 34.Clean baseboards 36. Tidy cookery books 37. Clean breadmaker 38. Descale kettle 39. Empty and polish toaster 40. Clean plugs and sockets 41. Check homework supplies 42. Sharpen pencils 43. Sort homework book box 44. Clean first oven side cupboard 45. Clean second oven side cupboard 46. Wash inside window 47. Sterilise bottles

Sow winter radishes
Cut down lupins
Pick raspberries
Deadhead
Clip hedge

It is a bit OTT.

Lots of duplicates there. I made the lists when I was on bedrest and have added stuff as we have had more children so it does not flow very well.

Wow, is that a week's list?! I am very impressed. Okay maybe I need to adapt my own from flylady. Where are the plans on there, is it in the zones section?