My house is a disaster zone. How do you manage it?

[PipPipPip]

I have no excuse - just me, partner and six month old baby.

Other people seem to have dozens of kids and/or hold down jobs and still have a tidy house. Ours looks like it has been ransacked by clumsy, unfocussed burglars.

I feel like I spend every minute of the day being productive (in one way or another) so not sure how to shoe-horn in extra housework time. My partner does his bit too. But still...!

I've become one of those people who says to guests "sorry about the mess..." as the guest wades through the rubble of toys, shoes, packs of wipes, bags, shoes and baby equipment.

puts head on table and weeps

How I manage is to hire a cleaner one morning a week to do the rubber glove stuff so that at least it's properly clean on a regular basis. Rest of the time, invest in 'storage'. Cupboards, shelves, boxes and baskets for toys, correspondence, books, DVDs and other bits and pieces.

I think the only way to manage it long term is to tidy as you go, leaving it until you have a huge task on your hands is soul destroying. The baby can't be making much mess at 6 months old so it's down to you and your partner. Get some storage boxes and put everything away and continue to put it away when you have finished using it!

I do a proper clean once a week but tidy every day, it is achievable if you kep on top of things.

Good Luck!

One word: 'The flylady'
Take a look at www.flylady.net or buy 'Sink reflections' by Marla Cilley - withhold sceptism and try it!

I wasn't sure to start with, but I have an 8 month old, a full time job (with a 1-1.5 hr commute each way with the baby - ahh!) and now, although its very far from perfect, I have a much much cleaner/tidier decluttered house and I don't even feel like I clean very often! Brilliant!

Sorry...that is clearly two words...caffeine needed methinks!! Good luck!

I don't. House is always a bit of a mess, partly due to the amount of stuff we have. I found it impossible when DD was 6 months and more manageable when somebody lent us a walker and she'd glide round the house and I got on with things.

I do try though. I have lots of shortcuts, eg the a clean cloth or muslin used to wipe up after breakfast round baby, highchair, table also does a quick wipe of floor and then goes in the wash.

Buy one of those electric floor sweepers and keep in charged, then you can just do the floors quickly without getting the hoover out.

I am sure others will have other tips!

You do have an excuse - you have a 6 month old baby!

My DS was 6 months old when I finally caved in and tried having a cleaner. What a revelation! Wish I'd done it years ago!! It sort of forces me to tidy up on a monday night after work, then tuesday evening I come back to a sparkling lovely home and it's worth every penny. That was nearly a year ago and the cleaner will be staying permanently - think I'd go into melt down if she said she was leaving!!

If a cleaner is financially out of the question then maybe just try not to worry too much about it. If your baby is clean, fed and happy then you're doing a brilliant job!

I have one day a week (Friday) when I do my cleaning. DS1 is at nursery and on that day I aim to hoover everywhere, do a quick dust, and clean the bathroom. I also set aside at least half an hour each evening to fold laundry, clean the kitchen, load the dishwasher, wipe down the hob, etc. Other things I do when they demand it (like mopping the kitchen floor, cleaning the oven). I am, however, thinking of getting a cleaner to come once a week - I just haven't got around it it yet!

Little and often! Make sure you never leave a room empty-handed - there's ALWAYS something that needs to go back somewhere else. Most if it is moving things from A to B - if the house is tidy then the cleaning isn't too much of a hassle. Also, consider whether you've simply got too much stuff - we moved last year and I took the opportunity to really be ruthless with stuff - if it isn't useful or beautiful/ played with, then out it goes! De-cluttering makes keeping tidy much easier.

Oh, and make sure DH does his share too! Mine does the bathrooms at the weekend.

Second the flylady suggestion. Changed my life. Manageable too, but ignore the cheesiness!

Thanks everyone. I have had a quick look at Fly Lady and just love her mantra "clutter stands between you and peace". Haha. A bit zany but true!!

A cleaner probably isn't feasible financially BUT I will have a think about it. If it caused less arguments/tension it might be worth the investment. Also, if I wasn't worrying about cleaning then I'd have more time to focus on tidying, de-cluttering etc.

Please keep the advice rolling, though...

The decluttering thing from flylady really helped me. Fifteen mins a day and only that and between about now and December the year I started and my house was no longer knee deep in stuff. It so pays dividends-less stuff to tidy means less time doing it and longer time staying looking okay. And I print out (still) my adapted morning and evening routines from flylady and just doing those keeps life bearable even without much extra cleaning. We're a little off schedule at the moment with small baby number three but nothing like we were. Baby steps are brliant.

come and join the fledglings we try to fly.

when my eldest was 6mo i hired a cleaner for a couple of days a week. she brought her baby to work with her.

but yes, storage. and habits. i have fixed the storage (just last weekend) but i am still working on the habits.

Get one of those cards that says something like 'a clean house is the sign of a dull woman' and display it prominently.

Spend as much time as possible visiting friends and relatives so you're making a mess in their house and not yours.

Seriously though,you've got a baby,so enjoy baby,do little and often and don't aim for perfect.Just try to keep on top of things.I'm sure kids remember fun times more than spotlessly clean houses.

It's definately true that the less you have out the easier it is to keep clean too.I put all my nik naks away when Dc's were babies for fear of breakages.As they've got that little bit older I've got them back out again.But,you know what?This weekend I'm packing them away again - I'd rather look at a clear dust free surface than my nik naks all covered in dust.

I think the one essential is to tidy every night and do one wash load a day (and dry/fold/put it away) if you do nothing else.

I also truly wonder how it is that some people can have someone pop round at a moments notice and everything looks great.Is it because they won't let their kids make a mess????

A place for everything and everything in it's place and de clutter works for me (most of the time).

Good storage, regular tidy ups, regular decluttering, good routines... Check out the Good Housekeeping forum on MN.

Get organised and do yourself a list of things to do and stick to them.

I am a single Mum, my DS is now 6 and I also work full time and know that to keep my house spotless and keep on top of the washing and ironing, I need a routine.

I am ruthless with clutter and I don't keep anything I don't need. I don't have lots of knick-knacks and ornaments and everything has its place. Most things get done when DS is in bed, but the house gets a good blitz every Saturday morning when DS is at football training. Tuesday is dark wash day, Thursday night ironing, Friday is light wash day and Sunday is ironing. Hoover downstairs every other day and wash the floors. I always have a weekly To-do list and stick to it.

If you need to get your whole house organised, then do 1 room at a time. Get your partner to look after the baby for 3-4 hours so you can do one room at a time, or get your partner to sort out a room whilst you look after the baby. Choose specific days then to do specific jobs and stick to them.

No excuse to have a really messy house when there are 2 adults and only a baby.

Just wanted to add in my moral support. I am also struggling to get on top of the housework now the DS has come along. We tried really hard to de-clutter before the baby came but have now filled the house up with baby things. In a small house it really adds up.

I am also struggling with the tiredness. I would much prefer to give the little one the best of me which means that the housework does get done by a zombie mum at times. She is not so good at the tidying.

I don't think it's anything you're doing, necessarily but have you perhaps got too much stuff?

I had a revelation last week when I finally chucked out an ancient armchair that had been my Granny's and the springs had sprung, the cover slipped, etc etc...when it went, I could walk through the living room again and we tidied up properly and wow. What a difference. I feel like people can actually enter my house now.

Still have bags of 'stuff' to sort out, but I will do it. And put things in cupboards.

I think it's not knowing what to get rid of, also not having a place for everything, I have loads of cupboards but don't know where to put things so they are easily findable.

I'm also in a mental block about being tidy as my mum is super retentive about it, so if I start to feel too tidy I subconsciously mess it up so as not to become like her.

Strangely, it was her who suggested I might like the armchair in the first place and she was a bit funny when I threw it away. I think she feels threatened if I'm not messier than her.

Big mind games going on.

Be brutal about getting rid of stuff unless you really need to keep it.
One small place in each room for the little bits (hairclips, dropped clothes peg, bit of lego and then it's easy just to sort that out).
Noticeboard / labelled magazine files on a shelf instead of piles of papers.
It's usually the same stuff that keeps piling up because you don't have anywhere to put it - make a home for it: a basket with lid for dog leads, poo bags, treats etc and it's much easier to put away.
Row of pegs in my 6yr old DDs room for all her bags is the easiest tidying up thing I've ever done!

BTW my house is not immaculate but I am tidier if I actually know where something should go!

pippippip, there is no point having a cleaner come in unless the cleaner can actually clean. Another single mum & I have two DC & my house is clean & tidy & it really doesn't take much time.
Sounds like you have a clutter problem. Get some storage organised & put stuff away. If you really have got loads of stuff - take what you don't need to the charity shop or flog it on ebay.

It is so easy to be tidy, if you've got places to put things & it is so easy to be clean if you are tidy!

'The baby can't be making much mess at 6 months old'

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA

quote of the day for me

Another vote for flylady.

It is worryingly cheesy at times (and I have to grit my teeth and ignore the implication in most of the emails that all cleaning is done by women and noticed/praised by men)

BUT the system works - I only use the bits that work for me. e.g. I now do a weekly home blessing (bleurgh at the term) which basically means you run about for an hour once a week/10 minutes per day/half an hour twice a week and do the main cleaning jobs as fast as you can, using a timer to make sure you don't obsess and spend too long on any one task.

A little often is the key for me - put things away as soon as you have finished using them. Have a home for everything. Sort/file mail every day. Do laundry every day and put it away as soon as it is dry.

Also decluttering - flylady always says things are easier to clean if they are not cluttered and it is so true - never realised it before.

My house is still usually a mess, but I can sort it out much more quickly now - I never feel as if I have to clean and tidy for 3 hours to get it looking presentable. If I have 10 minutes notice of somebody coming round I am not thrown into a panic.