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Original poster

Is your house tidy?

82 replies

Helenemjay · 10/03/2006 17:25

When you have little kids? is your house a mess or is it tidy? i like a clean house but admit it is untidy with toys and the like and i have to say i NEVER get on top of my ever growing laundry! - this is an ongoing 'heated' discussion between me and dp, i think when you have small children (mine are 5.5, 3, and just 6 months) your house is normal if its untidy and has lots of laundry, but dp thinks our home should be just short of 'showhome' all the time! I think thats never going to happen!!

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swedishmum · 10/03/2006 22:38

The upstairs is tidy, because I paid two people to blitz it this week. Next week is the downstairs. I'm no good at tidying, but can maintain it once it's reasonable.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 10/03/2006 22:40

errr no! Except our new bedroom!

JonesTheSteam · 10/03/2006 22:50

It's usually not too bad -sort of messy but clean IYSWIM, but I have been ill on and off for about a month (heavy cold - stomach bug - another cold) and I've also been really busy with concerts etc., so things have slipped recently.

Don't know when I'm going to catch up either, as have a very busy weekend ahead!!!

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tinyFox · 10/03/2006 22:57

half and half really, now i am back on line after being off for about a year or so, my old nickname was hermione1 , i feel that my house is gonna get messier now i am back on mumsnet, lol

rarrie · 11/03/2006 15:27

Messy I'm afraid. To the extent that my hubby said this morning that we should tidy up and my two year old responded by asking "Who's coming?" (over to visit). If even she has sussed us out, it must be bad!

noddyholder · 11/03/2006 15:34

Tidy most of the time and always keep the living roon tidy so that we can chill in the evenings Study always a mess and ds's bedroom Can't bear a yucky kitchen so it gets done every day

sansouci · 11/03/2006 15:40

Untidy but never dirty. As long as livingroom is tidy & kitchen & bathrooms, I'm fine. My biggest problem is ironing. I have mountains of it. Sigh.

Poppyshed · 11/03/2006 19:28

mmmm so so.... The downstairs isn't too bad, bathroom and kitchen were done in last few days, and I tidied up the front room and cleaned the floor there too today. But upstairs is looking a bit neglected, my poor stairs carpet really needs a good hoover. But newly preg for 2nd time, running after 13 month old dd, and felt like crap today so not much done really.

jabberwocky · 11/03/2006 19:47

only the day after the cleaning lady comes...and that's only once every two weeks!

WideAwake · 11/03/2006 19:50

Used to have a cleaner but DW was too embarrased to let her in...

SHHHH · 12/03/2006 16:15

Our dd is 10 mths old and I am soooo obsessive about keeping it tidy!! I blitz it once every week and tidy up as I go along daily (dishwasher,putting toys away etc). I love the home being immaculate which probably sounds very sad but it makes me happy !! Blush.

LOL I even have a shiny cooker and oven this weekend.!

DH doesn't expect it but I do..! Grin.

Tortington · 12/03/2006 16:16

actually wideawake, my nan employed a cleaner - a time before i was born. Nan cleaned the house thoroughly before she came ( incase she told the neighbours!)

LIZS · 12/03/2006 16:17

No, and we only had 1/2hrs notice of a viewing this morning - so no clean floors Blush

sansouci · 12/03/2006 18:00

I'm one of those sad people who has to blitz the house before the cleaner comes.

Well, it's easier to clean if things are put away, right?

charliecat · 12/03/2006 18:01

Just done an all day blitz. Its tidy now :)

lazycow · 13/03/2006 14:47

Don't understand how anyone does this

I only have one ds (16 months) and yet yesterday I had a blitz of the kitchen. He insisted on coming in while I did it and pulled loads of stuff onto the floor. So after 30 mins of cleaning the kitchen around him it looked clean but incredibly untidy - soul destroying. Then had to feed ds - so the floor was dirty again. So after 1.5 hrs of cleaning the kitchen cooking and feeding ds I was left with an untidy kitchen with a dirty floor.

I decided to have a sit down rather than start all over again. Sometimes I feel like I'm a hamster running on one of those wheels. There is no end to it.

Also even if I vacuum twice a day it still looks dirty.

I go out a lot which you might think would mean it didn't get dirty but all it means is I don't have time to do it.

I spent all saturday this weekend cleaning and cooking and at the end of the day our flat still looked like a tip. Guess I just don't have the home-making knack Sad

ProfYaffle · 13/03/2006 14:57

Living room is usually tidy (if a little dusty), Kitchen is quite clean but cluttered. Tons of dd's paintings and recycling all over the place. Bedrooms and bathroom reasonably clean and tidyish (except the attic which needs a plasterer's attention). Study/toy storeage room a complete bomb site.

But, I am on top of the washing and I cook a fresh meal from scratch every night so I think I'm doing rather well, actually.

Fortunately, dh is completely, physically unable to see mess except if it is on his bedside table.

PiccadillyCircus · 13/03/2006 14:58

The house is a tip Blush.

And I am too tired to do anything.

I will tidy some time. But luckily DH knows that this is how things are (in fact he said that he was amazed at how I keep going Smile)

puff · 13/03/2006 14:59

No, but it soon will be, once I have Anthea'd it with my 50 storage baskets

harrisey · 13/03/2006 15:09

My house is as tidy as I can get it with a 6, 4 and 2 year old in it. I have a cleaner (I am totally aware of how blessed I am) and I do all the tidying and laundry, though dh does tidy a lot too - we always have a half hour whip round and tidy after the kids are in bed and then it is fit to sit down in for the evening.
Laundry!!!! AArgh! I never iron, and organise it all by putting it on the stairs, with bottom step for dd2, and going on up ds, dd1, me, dh (age order!) then I have trained eveyone but dd2 to take clothes up when you go and put them away - and normally they do it!!
But I reckon it is more important to be having fun with my children than to be tidying up all day!

brimfull · 13/03/2006 15:16

downstairs is pretty tidy for us.ds has an assortment od toys on the rug and his playtable looks a mess.Upstairs a bit untidy ,I have a chair in bedroom that constantly has clothes all over it.
DD bedroom (she's 14 say no more) ,is the pits.

jenthehen · 13/03/2006 15:21

I read this somewhere and it made me smile

"tidying up whilst children are growing is like sweeping snow whilst it's still snowing"

brimfull · 13/03/2006 15:26

that's so true jenhen.We used to have neighbours inCanada when I was growing up that did shovel the snow off the driveway during a snowstorm.

Someone on mumsnet I think said housework is like putting beads on a necklace with no knot on the end.

Orinoco · 13/03/2006 22:02

Just call me Stig Grin

MrsWood · 15/03/2006 22:02

Your DP is quite unrealistic - my dh and I are very tidy people and have one dd (2.8) who as a result is very tidy herself. Our house looks like a bomb over the weekend and when she's at home (when she doesn't go to nursery) but we ensure every 3 months we go through the whole house and get rid off anything no longer needed. Less clutter, the better the house looks, even if it's not sparkling clean - Kim and Aggie style. Toys are mostly all in her room although there are some in the living room too. When we go through the toys, we put the ones she outgrew in the loft in boxes, and the ones that she doesn't like or play with we give to nursery to be used. She hates mess, and is apparently the only one at nursery to help tidy up :)