How do you manage?

[fevdec]

Ladies,
I was wondering how you manage to fit house work/cleaning/cooking around kids.
I have one kid almost 22 months old and I work only 3 days a week but I absolutely can’t get on top of the house chores. I can do things only when my DC is asleep (about 1.5 – 2 hours during the day). For the rest of the day she wants my attention and asks me to partake in her games. If I try to mop when she is awake she tries to grab the mop or wets her hands in the mop bucket so I end up dealing with her and this is the situation with everything. I know she tries to help but obviously she creates more hassle.
Can you please share your experience how you go about it? I read so many threads on MN where people say that they hoover/ mop/dust etc. 3-4 times a week, have 4 kids, 3 dogs and 2 cats. How is this possible?

I do the majority of housework when dd is asleep at night time. I might get the do net prep and washing hung out during nap times but dd o my naps for 40 minutes and some days not at all. I also get a lot done at the weekends when dh is around. But ironing etc all gets done at nighttime

Get her to help! DD is 2, she loves to dust or wipe the windows and she'll put all the clothes in the washing machine and switch it on for me (with supervision!)
She also has her own mini broom and mop from the ELC and just copies me if I'm sweeping or mopping.

You're not alone - mine is 2.5 and I really struggle to get anything done. And after a whole day with him (or at work) I would really like a bit of time to myself in the evening rather than spend it all doing chores.

Can do a few things by involving him as pp said but he has the attention span of a goldfish so that doesn't work for long...

Getup early, do it when she's asleep at night.

Prioritise and get a shift on!

Clean the bathroom when baby's in the bath.
Wipe down kitchen sides/sweep/wipe inside fridge down while lo is having her pudding.

Give your lo a microfibre if you're cleaning glass/mirrors/skirting.

If I need a quick whole house scoot over I set my alarm on my phone for 5-7 mins and go round with all the cleaning stuff and Hoover and do one room at a time. I used to do this when baby was asleep and you'd be amazed what you can do in 5 mins!

Throw stuff out too. Be ruthless. Don't get things piling up.

By no means do I have a pristine house but is be happy if anyone was to pop round at any given point. Our house will never be the same as before we had DC I really miss my cream and gold wallpaper and carpets

I am now one of those with 3x DC, 4 cats and a dog

Don't stress your house not being immaculate. I've mopped and hoovered the whole house today, done some washing, wiped the windowsills and did a skip run. Apart from dinner tonight and loading the dishwasher I won't be doing much else.

Enjoy your lo being little

DP takes both DS's out twice a week and I clean then. DS2 is almost 1 and still naps on my lap so I don't even try to do anything apart from the essentials while he's there.
Have managed to do a load of washing today but DP will probably have to take DS2 out for a walk later so I can put it away. Yesterday's washing up is still by the sink. DP will do that after dinner.

So...I got a cleaner once a fortnight and hopefully will never go back! If you can afford to I'd say it was well worth it. Laundry I do on quick cycle in the evening then stick in tumble dryer overnight. Ironing...I don't iron anything and DH does his own work clothes once a fortnight. Hoovering is relatively easy with dc1 (20 months) as I just pretend to chase her and as I don't do it that often it's a novelty! I tidy in the evening and DH cooks or vice versa. I don't know how you do it superheroes but maybe the clues in the name!

Oh and do batch cooking in evening/weekends when DH can watch kids

My dd is younger but the only tasks I can do when she is awake is hang the washing out, put it away, Polish and vacuum. I clean the bathroom when she's in the tub.

I cook when she's napping, when she's in bed for the night or at weekends when DP can occupy her. DP tends to deal with the dishwasher, cleaning the fridge, the kitchen and rubbish.

I mop every day just as we leave the house in the morning when she's in her pushchair, but our house is small so it's quick and I expect when she's older and walking rather than in the pushchair I'll have to mop in the evening.

I can only iron when she's asleep. Even as a Newborn she'd never let me iron!

Oooh I love a good housework thread! When I was working 3 days a week, firstly my standards were lower! I'd do about an hour during the day, quick Hoover, dust, kitchen etc. Bigger clean at the weekends. Switch off the telly and do it once the kids go to bed, and it becomes a habit.
Now I don't work I do more spread out over the week so I don't have to do it so much at weekends. We are selling so I am constantly cleaning it feels like! The biggest change has been that I make a real effort to be more tidy and it makes whizzing round to clean much easier.
When I was working I adopted the mentality that 'good enough is good enough' - these days I clean for fun because I am a loser

Oh and washing- I dedicate 1 day as wash day. We have a large drummed washer now so it takes a full hamper and I don't wash anything until I have got 2 full baskets (white/colours) then wash, hang out, fold, put away, repeat. If it's sunny/ windy I'll do all the beds on that day as well.

Thank you very much to you all for your responses.
beginnersewer i feel exactly the same. I really need unwinding time in the evenings especially after work. And daughter's interest in helping me lasts about 2 minutes but I'll try to interest her more in helping me and buy her a toy cleaning set.
I spend hours at weekends tidying up but unfortunately it doesn't last at all as my DP is very messy :(
I was thinking of a cleaner too but I feel a bit uneasy about having a complete stranger in my house. Not sure how to find a trustworthy person.
golfmonkey how did you find your cleaner?
superheroes what you can manage is amazing!

Honestly, get a cleaning set-glass cleaner, dusters, anti bac, bucket of soapy water and a Hoover - 5 mins in a room and see how much you get done!

And not every day...that would be a superhero job!

I can't afford a cleaner so I just have to crack on.

They'll be stuff that niggles you (for me it's dirty floors) that you can't stand but it is literally lowering your standards and being realistic about what you can do. I've never met anyone that doesn't cut some corners-it's just what corners tours happy to cut. No point making your life difficult imo. And being a parent isn't easy.

Sometimes the house is super clean for us all to have a day at the beach and there be sand everywhere and dirty clothes and the dog needs bathing as she's been on the beach and the bedsheets need changing and it's school tomorrow so uniform etc needs doing and I have a migraine etc etc

Prioritise and let some things go.