I've got a day off tomorrow. Hoorah!!!!! Sadly have no choice but to clean and need a kick up the butt for houseworky motivation.

[bauble99]

I need to do some housework (believe me, this aint' no cosmetic exercise )......Booooo!
Elijah will be with me and he's frightened of the hoover. He's only heard it four times in the ten months since he's been born
OK. I need a schedule. Two bedroom flat (no stairs) loo is mingin' at the moment (all boys, yuk!) bathroom ditto and kitchen floor.... Mr Bubble will take the big Bubble boys to school at 8.45am, which leaves me 6 hours before I have to collect them in the afternoon.
Is there anyone who is good at time organisation/allocation? If I'm left to my own devices I'll wuss out and go back to bed with Elijah/drink coffee all morning and read etc. and then hate myself in the afternoon as I'm rummaging through the mess for the babywipes.
If I get some pressure from any of you, I'll do it as I know that mnet and the plooter sees everything.

ah bauble my lovely.........

If you tidy and clean your house I will send you a lovely pressie (no not the scarf!!!!!!!!!!! lol)

How could I possibly give someone as lovely as you a kick up the rear?

Make a list of what you can do with LO awake and LO asleep.

Do 2 jobs then have a treat. Envisage how nice it will be when it's clean.

Play some good music.

Good luck!

Marsy. If you loved me you would give me a virtual boot....

I should make a start now, but the thought of doing anything in the evenings (apart from mnet, of course) is just too much.

Firstly get something on like the washing, cos that can be done whilst you are cleaning. I always start with the front room, then kitchen and then wuss out with the bedrooms as I have nice clean place to sit and watch telly.

So in my experience, start with the least likely place you are going to sit probably the bathroom.

Right you ready.

Get a carrier bag and chuck away anything you have not used in the last 3 months (apart from medicines). Any bubblebath/body lotion/soaps/loofas/baskets to keep them in, just chuck it away if you don't use it. Be really ruthless. Got to the point where you could open a chemist for the crap in mine and I chucked it all.

Are you really really ready for this so far?

RPP. Thankyou. This is exactly the kind of advice/motivation I'm looking for.

2 jobs, no no no no, that won't do.

Get all your cleaning stuff ready tonight, so you don't spend the first hour faffing around gathering dusters, carrier bags, bleach etc. If you see it sitting in front of you in the kitchen, you can't ignore it and do something else instead.

I am UCM. I am more than ready. That's a good plan, to start in the non-sitty-down-in rooms. This cleaning has become essential as Elijah is crawling all over the place now. I found him eating a biscuit yesterday, of a type that I haven't bought for three months

DO NOT switch on the PC. Tell yourself you can have 30 mins before you pick up the big ones up from school.
Do not sit your bum down...if you do...get it back up again.
Pile paperwork into one big heap to be worked on later.
If anyone needs bathed clean the loo/floor while your supervising.
Put the baby in a highchair with toys/highchair tray with water on top to splash fingers in.
No reading mags tommorow
Do 15 mins bursts in each room.
Good Luck

I have a stupidly large collection of cleaning products. All probably past their sell-by date (if they have them)

I shall get them out and smile at them tonight and think good thoughts. I love my home when it's clean. I find it demoralising to come home from cleaning the nursery kitchen to health and safety/food hygeine standards, only to be faced with my own personal hell. Mr Bubble tries but he would live in a swamp!!

So, tell me. If the doorbell rings, do you feel totally confident in inviting people in? Yes? I am

I don't 'do' casual callers as I need at least days notice.

Ah yes, Charlie! Once the bum has been sat on it takes some coaxing to move it again.

I need at least a day too When its done its good though. I find it stays messy no problem but within 35 mins the dirt/mess grows back.

Bauble, I have just sat down this evening for a moment. There is bugger all on tele tonight, I have lots of horrible things on my mind so am doing housework. So far I have cleaned the kitchen, including a rather scummy microwave and all the cupboard doors. I have tidied the lounge, including re fronting the books, cds and videos. I'm about to put washing on and put away dry stuff, then dust and possibly hoover in the lounge. I have decided to do this tonight and go and do some nice things with DS tomorrow.

Tonight before you go to bed, wipe any grubby bits off light switches/doors. Good start for tommorow

okay babe... to prove I love you.....

On route to picking up the kids tomorrow buy a few folders. One folder for bills, one for household appliances (guarantees, instructions etc), one for the children (school, doctor letters etc). That way whenever you get yet another piece of paper you can instantly file it away. You'll be able to find something when you need it.

In the meantime... I like the idea of getting your cleaning stuff for tomorrow ready today.

So.... where will you start?

Load washing machine and/or dryer.

Bathroom: have your toilet duck/bleach whatever ready. Clean the sink and the bath. Put bath toys in a basket/bag/box. Wipe seat, wipe under seat, wipe the outside of the toilet. Squirt toilet duck etc down toilet. Check the toilet roll.

Bedrooms: change sheets. Put dirty washing in laundry baskets. Put baskets outside door of bedroom ready to take to washing machine. Pick up any papers and put aside to file later in brand new folders. Put books back on bookcase/bedside table. Open wardrobe and hang up anything that needs hanging up. Open window slightly. Whatever doesn't belong in the bedroom put outside the door.

Have a cuppa!

Go to children's bedroom (pray!). Same as above. If you don't already have boxes with picture labels on you could either make those tonight (online) or just not bother. Pick up toys. Put into boxes. Pick up books. Take a black bag into the bedroom with you and throw out all broken toys and all McD type toys.

Swap clothes from washing machine into dryer. Put new load in.

Go to lounge. Take black bag with you. Throw out all the old newspapers (especially the one you've been planning to read with that great article). Put books back up. Put dishes in sink. Check under the cushions for nonsense. Throw it away. Quick polish.

Have a cuppa!

Kitchen: do the dishes. Put away dishes. Sweep floor.

Go to hall. Pick up anything that shouldn't be there. Put the laundry baskets next to the washing machine ready to load machine.

Hoover everywhere.

There! Will that do?

Good thinking, Floss. Sorry to hear that you're feeling troubled though.

I could get the bathroom/loo out of the way tonight, I s'pose??? I'm making it sound like an assault on the North face of The Himalayas, aren't I?? It's do able. I will repeat that to myself. It's just finding the motivation to start, isn't it?

Right bathroom, once all of your surfaces are clear from the stuff. Wipe, polish whatever, do bath, toilet and sink in that order as you will use sink to wring. Lastly hoover floor before washing if you have tiles/lino.

Toilet. Same

Childrens bedroom, strip bed/s and pile pillows/duvet at the top, you need the bed as a table.2 bags, one for chuck if broken/not all parts/bad condition and one for stuff you TRULY have to keep.Same for childrens clothes. Once sorted, wipe sides and dust where necessary then hoover.

Same for your bedroom. God don't know about you but I am worn out.

Kitchen. This might be a bit much in one day. But empty cupboards, wipe, chuck out stuff that't not going to be used. I had a pack of Arborio rice (sodding Annabel Karmel) for a year and hung onto it so DS would be eating healthily oneday. It's been chucked now. Do splashbacks with a green scoury and wipe to polish with a tea towel.

Cupboard fronts with spray bleach.

hoover floor before mopping.

Definitely too much for one day really. But I hope this is the boot you need. If it isn't

Watch Trisha and chill

The secret is running round rooms with black bags. The charity shop might have to do without this time (as it's the first good clearout) but CHUCK CHUCK CHUCK.

Sorry have repeated Marsy

I too have a busy job etc and moan like hell when on my days off all I do is clean. I suppose it's my fault that I don't do it daily, but after a 12 hour day with commuting, I just can't be bothered. Once I am up and running I am ok though. Oh and take the stereo into whatever room you are cleaning.

Marsy, we should open a cleaning company

Mars Perfect! I particularly like the 'have a cuppa' bit.

I am feeling motivated now. Good idea with the folders. I do have filing boxes but they're.....you guessed it....buried in a cupboard under piles of junk. Totally useless and full of 'essential' paperwork from years ago.

I am going to be ruthless with the binbag and get rid of loads of broken toys and I also have a cunning plan to do a games/jigsaws-with-missing-pieces cull.

I do believe that once on top of the mess it's easier to keep in order and it is my responsibility to raise the Bubble boys to be neat and tidy men. I will have another Bubble boy weeing anywhere but in the loo soon.

Bauble, no I don't let them in, unless it's just after my marathon cleaning efforts. It's tooo embarrassing apart from one friend who is a Childminder with 3 under 5's of her own and she struggles as well as understands that it's perfectly normal for this mornings nappy to be on the front room carpet/DS bedroom, PJ's where he took them off (could be anywhere) I simply don't have time to do this en route to work. Breakfast bowls left until I have enought stacked up for a load in me dishwasher......it's endless.

UCM. I'm sitting here having a Homer Simpson moment......Mmmmmmmm.....clean surfaces......MUST HAVE green scoury thing.......

You and Mars are actually making it sound appealing.

I can see myself doing it. Now just need to actually do it.

If you see me here on mnet tomorrow before 7pm.. would you threaten to call social services/environmental health for me?