Tell me your housework rountine please

[nutcracker]

I am having trouble finding a rountine with housework, and am not adjusting very well to ther increase of size of property.

Everything just seems to take twice as long and i get fed up half way through.

I'm don't want to freakily neat of anything like that but would just like to think i could spontaneously invite someone round without having to think about it.

So rountines, tips e.t.c. greatly appreciated

Every morning me and the girls have a mad dash clear up - all beds made, tidy up, dishes done, washing on etc. etc. so that we can started on more interesting things in the day i.e. MN!! (It helps having older girls around to give me a hand!)

Then once a week, I prepare a list of everything to be done. We allocate all the chores between the 3 of us and blitz the place! The girls actually enjoy the list bit, and we always put lively music on - very loudly. They get 10p - 40p for each job they do on the list, but get a bonus if they are really well done. This sounds like slave labour, but they do actually enjoy it, and its training them for later years. They are responsible for their own bedrooms, I only occasionally give the rooms a really good clearout. This works for us, most of the time.

I also find that it feels more satisfying if I completely do one room at a time. I used to spend all day flitting from one place to another, without feeling I was getting anywhere. This all makes me sound like a cleaning freak - Im not honestly!! There is still that disgusting piece of floor between my cooker and worktop!

I don't really have a routine but as we are trying to sell our house and DS is 10 months and crawling everywhere, I need to have some sort of tidying activity!

It also depends on whether or not I'm working that day.

When I am working, I unstack the dishwasher in the (early) morning and leave tidyly. DH has to make things look tidy when he leaves with DS. In the evening, need to put dishwasher on so clean for the morning. Evening is time for ironing (probably between once and twice a week). Kitchen gets tidied up as it is used and try and so a clean of surfaces etc before going to bed. Oven cleaning gets ignored .

When I'm not at work, DS and I make more mess during the day. Luckily he is good at sleeping in the day and so I can get things done while he's asleep. If I'm at home I'll generally do a load of washing each day, although with people seeing the house I don't want to have too much washing hanging out in the house drying (no tumble dryer).

Bathroom gets cleaned about every weekend, although it gets a general wipe over when used.

As we have laminate floors and tiles not much hooving (also hoover is buried in under stairs cupboard ). Sweeping happens now and then.

Have just done essay on how I make it look as if we are nice tidy people

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How do you get anything done with cling on baby I usually end up staying up until midnight trying to get it all done.

Oooh wish i had a dishwasher

You all sound very organised.

I think i will have to make some sort of rota,one for me and one for the kids too.

Nutty - you have just made my day! I thought I was the only person in the world not to have a dishwasher!! (confession time - I dont even have a tumble drier, or a bread maker!)

Do have running water and electricity though!

Picadillycircus, our house is on the market too and because the range cooker is included in the sale the viewers look into the ovens - gasp of horror! I feel wedded to my vacuum cleaner and I seem to have turned into my mother, polishing mirrors and plumping cushions. It better sell soon or I'll lose my grasp on realsity altogether!

my best tip, keep a can of pledge near the front door and when anyone comes spray it above where they will walk, they are then fooled into thinking you have cleaned

MUMINAMILLION - Unfortunatly we don't have room for one, but we do have a tumble dryer and i couldn't live without it.

If i could get off my a**e a bit quicker when the dryer has finnished then i wouldn't have so much ironing either.

House work ? Routine? What's that?

I think I am like lonelymum.
I made a rota up with a couple of jobs each day. That way it takes less than an hour and I don't fret about something because I know I'll do it later. This way I can fit in nice activities like swimming. I also find that thinking about tea in the morning and preparing veges etc helps. I load the washer and dryer at night to set of first thing in the morning as we have economy 7 electric. It's anal but works for me. I have a 'light' day and do the minimum at weekends. DH does stuff too.
Like some others we are trying to sell. Forget anything about staging the house with plates and fresh flowers, trying to clear the toys off the floor is enough!

Routine - start the week with good intentions but then find better things to do. Friend telephones saying she's coming round and I run round like a blue bottomed fly trying to tidy up and then apologise for the place being a mess.

I do a bit everyday. Always tidy up after I have dropped the kids off at school. Try to put a wash on once or twice a day. If it's a really windy day (sad) I'll get as much done as I physically can. I don't have a tumble as they do tend to shrink everything but think I will need to invest in one this winter.
I basically do things when I think they need doing!

Read 'the feminine mystique' at least once a month and have my mum round once a week.

i do sweep the floor almost daily and try to wash it once a week but that;s the only routine i;ve managed.

Hmmm, been thinking about this one all day, housework ... routine ... Nope, not come up with any ideas yet!

This is my favourite thread title as it made me laugh so much. Hate housework and hate routines so it gets done when it gets done........wish I had a cleaner/housekeeper!!

As I sit in my messy house surrounded by clutter, let me add this. i started my oldest children doing specific chores, ie. One week someone does the baths and basins, this leaves only the toilets and floors for me to do, and so the 3 bathrooms are not such a daunting task. Tidying the sitting room is another chore, and so is the hall. Each child has a room they have to hoover, ie. hall, kitchen, and sitting room. At the end of the week, they change around.

If they do their chores properly, they get their allowance on Saturday. This helps somewhat.

Also I am using my tumble drier more, and therefore ironing much less, which has saved me at least an hour of ironing a week, so hang the expense.

I just can't seem to be able to set a routine for housework though. Life is just too haphazard at the moment.

How old are they Zaphod ???

Does anyone else have really tidy RL mates? I'm a domestic slut myself, more untidy than dirty though

They are 10, 8 and 7. The 7 year old needs a lot of encouragement, along the lines of "call that tidy?" But he's getting there.

I have a routine all typed up and printed out, not quite sure exactly where it is but I do remember doing it and I remember vaguely the days when I used to actually try and follow it.

Then I got pregnant with dd2 and I was too tired to do housework

dd2 is now 18 weeks old, well tomorrow, and the house is just a mess. I thought once she arrived I'd slip right back into my routine things would go back to normal but because I'm at home all day I find other things to do, like playing with the baby or mumsnet when baby is sleeping.

I find it easier to keep up with my routine when I'm working as I know that I only have certain times when I need to get stuff done else the house just goes to rack and ruin.

Kitchen is done every day as is bathroom. Dh hoovers and Ironing is done as and when. Beds once a week and I wash a load of washing every day sometimes 2 if it's a good day and I think I'll be able to get it all hung out. We don't have a dishwasher or a tumble drier
Last time I dusted was when I was shamed into it after finding some relatives sitting outside my house when I came home from the school run, the layers of dust in the living room was just so embarrasing that I dusted as soon as they left. Too late as they'd already seen the mess of my house but I vowed never to be caught out like that again. That was 2 weeks ago and I've not dusted since hope nobody turns up tomorrow!

hi ev1

i too hate housework with a vengence is never stops house seems to always get untidy with kids lol

i,m a domestic lazy bones at times untidy rather than messy lol my dd takes of the messy side

MON- LAUNDRY WASHED
TUES-PUT IT ALL AWAY
WED-KITCHEN CLEANED
THRU -LIVING ROOM CLEANED
FRI -SHOPPING
SAT-GARDEN TILL WINTER DH
sun-CHILL

dont follow this relgiously lol but try to keep up a biot at a time seems to help leave things to long you end up spending the whole day or week doing housework

there,s more to life than housework you agree lol

waiting for a dishwasher to lol

tc ev1 happy domestice chores

Blossomhill, I dry everything in my drier, and it never shrinks things. I always use the low setting. Don't let the idea that it'll shrink your clothes put you off buying and/or using one!