Tidy/houseproud mums-please tell me your secrets/routines.

[Mirage]

Hi,I have a 16month dd & am 20 wks pregnant with our 2nd baby.I have never been a particularly tidy person,but did begin to make a real effort once dd arrived,due to all the extra clutter/baby stuff that accumulates.

Sadly,it isn't working & when baby appears I'm going to be in worse straits than ever.I've met some really nice mums at toddler groups ect & would love to be able to invite them around for coffee without doing a huge clean up 1st.Our house is quite spacious but always seems cluttered & untidy compared to other peoples.I seem to spend every spare minute cleaning,washing ect,but it doesn't seem to make any difference.

What am I doing wrong.Do any of you organised tidy mums have any tips for keeping the mess at bay? I really am quite clueless.

Ff are you at art school? your routine sounds fine to me. Esp the painting and perving
Me - Get up 6.30 bath get ds up and dressed get to work/nursery for 8am. Work. Pick ds up at 5 stop in shop for anything run out of home, tidy up, play with ds, run bath for ds, put ds to bed tidy up empty dishwasher etc, cook, about 8 sit down with glass of wine. Washing at weekends. Have ironer 2 hours a week and cleaner Monday am's. If someone's staying do a big tidy up. Would be bored stiff with all that bleaching, tidying sofa cushions stuff.

I am at art school yes and it is fabulous

I did 2 years part-time but did not finish ..
I so miss it, making work, talking about work. Have not painted since ds for time/£/exhaustion reasons but will do one day. It's a great thing to do! wish you all the best

Thanks wild, you should do it, i am much more relaxed now

mirage, invite the friends round as I guarantee this will be enough to spur you into action. I'm untidy and have mates in daily but next week not so close mates are coming round for coffee so I'll do a big tidy.

I totally agree with the line cleaning the house whilst the kids are growing is like shoveling snow whilst it's still snowing (or whatever lol) Enjoy as much time either in or out with little one and just do as much as needed.

Real mates don't care about mess. Mine just laugh at me now as they know I'm not going to change. I'm clean but untidy so they feel safe drinking from my cups

I may well do that! I need some kind of creative outlet and I don't get it from home-making or work. Sorry to subvert this thread

Well i certainly dont get it from that wild, good luck

Haven't read the whole thread BUT

"f you go to the FLyLady website don't join. You will get zillions of emails a day!!!"

Yes you do - but you don't need to read most of them - the headings remind you what to do and then you can delete them.

I've been using flylady since July, and am also signed up to the UK flylady group so that I can get some of the things at the 'right' time of day.

I've found them really helpful, most of them I just ignore, but as someone who used to live (almost literally) in a hovel, so much stuff over the floor you couldn't see to hoover! I, as I write, have a tidy dining room, living room and kitchen.

Key things I 'use' are

15 minutes - just do 15 minutes on 'something' - once 15mins is up STOP,

I DO the evening routine, I have confess I laughed at it to start with but it's not really that hard, clean you sink (ie do the dishes!), get your clothes ready - much easier to get up when I can just through my clothes on rather than trying to find stuff in the morning.

And Besides - you don't do EVERYTHING at once, you just start off with little things and gradually add more of the 'ideas' in..........I've still got a long way to go but I can honestly say it works (and even DH has noticed!)

Speaking of all things slatternly....How do you get a huge ball of hair and gunk out of the shower plughole?

Top tip for showers - use a window squeedgee on the tiles/glass afterwards, you don't get so much limescale build up then. (So don't have to clean shower so often)

Oh these are fab.I do love the idea of being organised & tidy,but it just doesn't seem to happen.I sprayed oven cleaner in the oven on Tues night-promptly forgot about it by the next day & nearly gassed us all by trying to cook dinner in it.Oh well,at least I tried & the oven is looking pretty sparkly!

I also made dh pick all dd's toys up last night,rather than me rushing around trying to do everything.

Keep them coming-I may be a reformed domestic slut before I know it.

MP - lol at the organising medicine cabinet. I am by all means a total slut when it comes to cleaning but I have a manic obsession with sorting (so basically everything gets moved - dust on top of it all - and I'm forever throwing/selling stuff)

I did the medicine cabinet yesterday, sorted it by family member and then use

Gingerbear this happened to us and when it got to the point that it was draining so badly that I was worried about the water coming over the top I finally did something about it. Think you have two options. Pour a load of bleach down and hope it dissolves it is the easy/unyucky one. But this time I pulled the silver plughole bit out, then pulled a short white pipe out and then pulled the hair out. Was amazed how much there was - think I am going through my post-natal hair loss at the moment.

Mirage definitely get your DH to pull his weight. My DH has certain jobs that he does (bottles, load dishwasher etc).

morningpaper are you Bree?

my pet hate is things on show. toy boxes are fine...so long as they are in cupboards (this is why i actually have no space, if it isnt a built in cupboard, i buy a cupboard). ive been working on ways to cover up the dvds and videos on the bookcase...they really irritate me. i am the only person i know who puts all the vids etc with the spine facing the back of the shelf because i cant stand all the different colours. (i tell people its so no visitors can check out my embarrassing work-out vids but its all lies). it takes me hours to find the one i want to watch. i am truly sad and need to get out more. my wardrobe is all arranged in order of colour too...arrrggghhh.

anyway, to the original point..mirage, storage boxes and more storage boxes...in cupboards

This thread is hilarious! I have been reading it with my mouth hanging open, I can't believe how much some of you do. Titania and morningpaper especially. at ff and Janh. I also clean when I get a rush of blood to the head every few weeks. Our house is untidy, cluttered and, underneath it all, pretty dirty too. On the surface it looks ok though!

Okay - here's my excuse. Attention Deficit Disorder (seriously) means that organization of tasks is a closed book to me. However, some of the posts here have been really informative - and made me very envious of those of you for whom organization comes more naturally.
My hubby says I am a slob - I'm not really, I just have an appalling memory so when I cook (for example) cupboards get left open and often the oven remains on! Not so good. All I can say is he'd better not die before me as I'll end up in one of those old folks homes you see on Panorama.

My MIL just says to my hubby "bless her she hasn't a clue".
My Mum says "just think about what you are doing"
My work colleagues say "that huge pile of filing by the in-tray must be Mandy's.

BTW, my Mum and MIL are just itching to come down together for a few days to "organise" me (bless them). I think I'd rather die.

Mandy

"All I can say is he'd better not die before me as I'll end up in one of those old folks homes you see on Panorama."

LOL Amanda!

Gingerbear: The plug hole is easy - just TAKE IT OUT WITH YOUR FINGERS. Then use tweezers for the hangers on. For extra sparkle, use an old bottle brush and scrub each bit of plughole out after all the hair is removed. I actually do this.

You might want to wash your hands afterwards...

Lunavix: don't you feel all WARM INSIDE with an orderly medicine cabinet?!

I once moved into a squat and spent 4 days with virtually no sleep scrubbing every inch of it. The cupboards were full of currys that people had put there instead of a bin, and in the bathroom I found a binbag full of bloodstained clothing...! Afterwards it was the cleanest squat in London but I developed suspected TB and had to take 2 weeks sick of work.

I am not Bree! I am two foot shorter and four stone heavier (and most of that is untamed eyebrows).

I also can't bear STUFF on display - except for books and DH has 400 cds but they are all in alphabetical order in neat shelves. Also we have a rule that in the evenings no 'child' stuff is on display. We have lots of furniture which doubles as toy storage so you can't tell we've got children in the evenings. Coloured plastic makes me stressed after 7pm.

I'm sorry, I think you are

Well my house has been spotless for 4 days now.I had a mad dash about last week & did everything-the catalyst was my friend from NZ coming to stay.It has been so easy to just keep on top of it whilst she has been here,that I'm hoping I can keep up the good work.

The only thing is,I haven't been on MN whilst she's been here & now I can access it again,I fear that I will spend my time on here rather than doing housework.

I am going to reread all the tips from everyone & really do my best to keep it all under control.Wish me luck!

ps,I could never be Bree,my hair would never be that shiny & smooth in a zillion years.I'm more of a 'through the hedge backwards' kinda girl.