serious question about housework - best way to tackle it

[mckenzie]

I know this is a bit of a taboo subject as most of us dislike it, don't have the time to do it and get moaned at because it's 'our job' and we should do it properly.

I agree that in my situation it is my job as I dont have a paid job. DS will be going to pre-school 4 mornigns a week come September and I really need (and want actually) to get my bum in gear and get a routine going to do the hosuework regularly and properly. I still though want to have time to run, play with DS, have days out with DS, go to the gym, shop, meet my friends etc etc.

So, how do i do it?

Can anyone give me any tips for the best way to get organised? Should I set aside 2 mornings per week (1 for upstairs, 1 for downstairs for example), should I do 1 or 2 rooms each day?
When i get into it I do quite enjoy the satisfaction. My dear mum has taken DS out for lunch and the afternoon for me to have a rest (I'm pregnant) and instead I've cleaned for best part of 3 hours and enjoyed it (sort of).

Any tips please very gratefully received.

I usually have a bit of a clean up on Mondays - after teh chaos of the weekend and do other bits in the week when I feel like it...or more correctly when I feel guilty about it.

but Kim nd Aggie think you should do little and often - their book is a great laugh - worth a read

System in our house is that kitchen and roughly one other room is done each day on a rotation through the (5 day) week - with ironing as and when, and minor tidying up in between. Nothing other than kitchen and minor tidying is done at weekends.

I went through a phase of trying to have a daily rota (gone by the wayside now!!!) so I would do a little bit each day. I did about half an hour each day (depending on what the allocated task was) and still had plenty of time to do all the other things I wanted to do. When I was in full time paid work, I used to do a once a week all encommpassing blitz. but have found that this doesn't work with kids around. My current method is to do a top to bottom clean when we have visitors coming, and in between just do what can't wait any longer.

I should come clean (so to speak) though. We do have an au pair who does a couple of hours of house work each day. The system would probably have broken down if it wasn't for her!

I have a rota mck
but no time to post
will post later
I got beccarollo in order !

thanke notthecod. I'll check again later.

have a look at flylady Its an American site that helps you organize your life including housework. You will either love or hate it. A word of warning though it might be best not to sign up for her emails as you receive quite a few a day and anyway all the info is on the site. It really has helped me get my house back in order.
Just choose the bits that you think will work for you.

cod is fab at this stuff - i am now 10000000% more organised and clean

I do one room a day properly (Mon to Fri), plus do minor tidying in all the rooms daily, to keep on top of it. Ironing one night a week in front of the telly. Works very well, am much less stressed about it now than I used to be!

right then out of your 4 mornings you are going to so 2 sessions of housecleaning
one upstairs and one downsatirs
you will also iron fro one pm r wtahever a week - if you prefer to do it int he day then you can use another of hte 4 sessions
ok so far?

there fore if you do clening int he evening you will haev on of your days free.

right lok att he ways rooms are used - which day do yo want to change bedlinen on? ( i do fridays) or towels ( wednesdays). Bthrooms an kitchens need to be done on bothdays really and all the other rooms can be once a week
so say DAy1 do bathrooms, kitchen ( this gets less time consiming ht meore you do it) and hten upstairs dsut and hoover

Day 2
b rooms and kitchens and downstairs dust and hoover

I have certain days where I have ds2 at home so on that day dust or do something low maintenance so I cna chat to him too.

TURN THE PC OFF AS YOU DO IT.

thanks notthecod.
I dont mind doing DS's bathroom while he's in the bath so that will save time during the day (DH does bathtime and so I get to talk to DH at the same time).
I'm not sure if I'm going to have enought ime though as between dropping Ds off and picking him up again i'll only have abou 2hours and 10 mins I reckon. Upstairs I have 4 bedrooms (granted only 2 in use fulltime), 2 bathrooms and a gym on the top floor.
Downstairs I have a kitchen, toilet, large family room and 2 other receptions rooms (one used regularly, one used only occasionally at the moment and the hallway).
I think I'm quite quick but will I realistically be able to get that done in the time I have?
I really dont want to go into the evenings if possible although I'm happy to iron in the evenings as I can still be sociable with DH while ironing.

I ewould do the rooms that are used deffo and just over the others
bathrooms and kitchena are top priority

how swish your house sounds!

hoover
not over

notthecod - are you really this organised. Do you stick to this or is this just your plan? You've motivated me to get organised so I really hope you stick to it. Right where are the dusters kept?

thanks notthecod. I cant wait to get DS off back to pre-school now so that I can get started on my new routine.
Luckily, Dh and I dont really like ornaments/nick-nacks and most things live 'away' rather than 'out' if that makes sense and I think that is really going to help isn't it?
Hope there is something good on the radio tonight as it's ironing time!

What do people do about all the stuff that seems to accumulate when you have kids? My problem I think is that I don't have good storage systems and places for things so that some days it looks as if burglars have ransacked every room in the house. I've been decluttering with the flylady website but has anyone found a good way of storing/hiding things?
Also how many of you have a tidy house on a daily basis - I mean that you could let some one in and not be embarassed. I just find it impossible to keep everything straight with toddlers in the house. But I seem to spend a lot of time on it- which I loathe - and don't see any progress.

Mog - I cannot bear clutter so i do generally have a tidy house although that doesn't been i stop the kids from having fun, making camps etc but i do have a home for most things. Wicker baskets and free standing storage drawers are great as well. I find with too many toys out that it is difficult to keep the childrens attention so i tend to play with a few things at a time and put them away before getting something else out.

Pay someone else to do it !