Lone parents WFH, please tell me it's not just my house that is trashed?

[megletthesecond]

I'd usually have a couple of days a week to tidy up in peace.
Now it's en endless wave of mess, food, arguments and the odd meltdown. Everything is untidy and needs sorting out.
A cupboard I emptied 3 weeks ago is still sitting there waiting for me to wipe it and stack it back neatly.
11yr old is going to sleep around midnight so I have no time to myself to even think. Teen will sometimes muck in, but not often.

Off to clean the bathroom, do dishwasher and garden now.

Definitely more mess with everyone home all the time. Where I am we had an initial lockdown, then it was raised for two weeks and now started again today.
I am very weary of housework. Normally I would go out and close the door on it if it got a bit out of control and deal with it when I felt stronger but there’s no escaping it at the moment.
I feel for you but at least you have a garden - can you just sit out there and take a breather for a while?
This second time around with lockdown I have decided to do the absolute minimum of things that are stressful and not have any goals to achieve things or spend the time usefully.
I am also working quite hard at making it so that I am not the default waitress, finder of lost things, etc. I am insisting on some rules about clearing up and doing things independently without being nagged or even asked. It’s important for kids to practice life skills and not just sit with mouths open like baby sparrows. It causes friction but if you don’t stand up for yourself then they think house elves do everything.
They need to understand how much work is involved in clearing up in order to get them to stop creating mess.
Otherwise you will feel resentment towards them until you feel like blowing your top.
Are you sure you aren’t setting your standards too high (never a problem for me)? No one is going to see your mess now.

Yep. Ive has enough now. But just got to sit tight. I was furloughed last week. Work were very apologetic. I was skipping around the house. Hopefully can support the children. With school stuff and get some jobs done this week.

snow my standards are not too high, I can guarantee you that . I'm dysoning once a week, have never dusted, lots of ready meals etc.
DD won't do anything, its like having an overgrown toddler doing crafts all day but being a destructive tween when she has a meltdown.

I have wiped down that cupboard since my last post and got the bathroom spray zapping the grime. Baby steps and all that.

Yes, I completely agree! My front room is like a bomb's hit it. I am trying to maintain some sort of order in the kitchen but everything else has gone a bit haywire. It makes me cross when I read other threads and people have said how they've got so much time to do housework etc. I feel like screaming 'well, try wfh and home schooling as a lone parent'!!

Even if the house is messy sometimes at least I have the break of going to work and not seeing it! When you're in it 24/7 it seems much worse than it probably is.

I do hear you - its not easy.