Help, feel like I'm sinking with the house

[withalittlebitofluck]

Just as above. 4 children 3 are 3 years and under. I cannot keep on top of anything ironing and washing etc. house is not dirty but it's certainly not tidy. Each upstairs room has washing to go away, my room also has a large pile on the floor. My older child's room is awful. I can't get in there with 3 others.

So mums and dads how do you keep on top of anything house wise? Need tips to help make a change. (Also nights are broken with children so I am exhausted which makes the situation even harder so be nice)

Thank you all again. I feel better about things again and not beating myself up as much.

The real issue is exhaustion I'm too tired to do a huge amount in the evening due to night waking and early early starts. Tonight I have tackled the down stairs toy box and play kitchen! ??

I only have three and one is at school (but not in UK so he is home by 1.30 and has ten weeks summer holidays!).

Marie Kondo really made a huge difference to us. No one has more than 7 of any type of clothing - dresses, trousers, long sleeved tops, short sleeved tops, pyjamas, workout gear, underwear and even socks! We all have one set of waterproofs, one warm coat and one light jacket. There are no clothes other than pyjamas and undies in the kids room and it is very minimal so all that needs to be done in there is pull up the duvets, a quick hoover and change the sheets. The bathrooms have virtually nothing in them - a laundry basket, one shampoo, one showergel, one toilet roll, one tube of tooth paste and tooth brushes. We have three towels each - sheet, small and hand and a set for visitors. There are two sets of bedding for each bed and two sets of throws for each sofa. We also moved nearly all the toys outside to two huge storage boxes in our tiny box garden. Everything is very minimal, stripped back. I got rid of all our books bar my 10 favourite and invested heavily in Kindle. I still hate this sometimes but it definitely reduced dust and clutter, not so much because of the books but because we got rid of lots of book cases that attracted mess.

I was a major hoarder but now I try and keep surfaces as clear as possible. I feel it creates mental space as much as anything and it's easier to keep on top of. I never have the TV on in the day until dinner prep time and then they swarm to it like bees to honey..

I never wanted to be a SAHM - I am not a natural housekeeper and I am studying as well as working any shifts I can get, so it is a matter of making it work for me... I just couldn't do it when it was a mess, I felt so miserable and stressed and anxious all the time.