If you have young children, is your house clean?

[ASN68]

I really enjoy having things clean and organised but that dosent reflect in my home. I feel like all I do is clean when I can but with work and having a 3 year old and a baby at least 50% of my home is untidy at all times, washing piles up etc. It's frustrating because I never used to be a messy person.

Is this just normal, does everybody with young children have a messy home or am I doing something wrong? Life feels so messy and disorganised right now.

(Disclaimer before there are comments: my partner does help out where he can in the evenings cleaning up while I work from home, he works hard with long hours too at work)

I feel the same. I was very houseproud before having DCs.

I grew up with a SAHM who seemed to spend most of my childhood cleaning.

I've made the choice to let my standards slip so I don't give my DCs the same feeling but it is hard sometimes!

My house is clean, in the evening when the kids are in bed it is also tidy. I foster and currently have one under 1 and a not quite 2 year old.

Yes, we have a cleaner, otherwise it would be a shit hole.

Clean but messy. Drives me mad.

When mine were little the house was always clean but not always tidy!

@notdiggin

I feel the same. I was very houseproud before having DCs.

I grew up with a SAHM who seemed to spend most of my childhood cleaning.

I've made the choice to let my standards slip so I don't give my DCs the same feeling but it is hard sometimes!

Ditto this. My mum walks into my house and starts tidying, I have a cleaner, she doesn't need to do it!

Clean yes, tidy no. Well, it's tidy for approx 15 mins every morning, there is pretty much always a pile of clean washing waiting to be folded. The teenagers bedroom is never tidy

I clean every

Yes. I have a cleaner once a fortnight and have a tidy round every evening. I clean in between but it’s not taxing when it’s just maintenance cleans and not thorough cleans. A cleaner really takes the pressure off.

Same here. Everywhere is dusted and hoovered once a week, bathrooms cleaned every week (loo and sinks wiped daily), kitchen wiped round every night so in theory it should be clean but it just isn’t. There are always crumbs and fluff and sticky bits and dirt everywhere.

I've always had a tidy home however, now that I've got a toddler it's never tidy. I spend time cleaning and then everything is a mess straight away. We have laundry piles and clothes that need putting away.

I try and make time to tidy up and organise something every day, even if it is the smallest thing. It helps me regain control of the unorganised mess in my house.

When my son was small my house was clean and tidy, under the stairs we had an old bookshelf that we used for toy boxes and books, so every evening I'd chuck all the toys in the boxes and get them out of the way. I also did child minding so after the kids were picked up, I'd do a quick wipe down, toys away, vacuum the front room and dining room.

Always clean, usually enough but never show home standards! There’s ALWAYS at least a few bits of washing up waiting to be done and laundry waiting to be put away, usually a bit of kid clutter around too, but it’s mostly alright. Single parent to 9, 5 and nearly 4 year old - it’s actually easier to keep clean now, partly because there’s less mess and work without exDH making more of it all the time, partly because I moved out with the kids and left all the clutter and accumulated crap in the ex-family home with exDH

No not really, it bothers me a little but I've lowered my expectations it annoys me my dh can't lower his. Mins about it all the time. Its the one thing I didn't realise before having kids. I knew it wld be messy etc but I just didn't realise how much mess they constantly create!

I mean kitchen is cleaned everyday several times. Kids always spilling things and crumbs everywhere even when I've just hoovered and mopped. It's only tidy once they r in bed but I cld clean the same thing several times a day. As soon as it's clean sticky fingers etc get on them 🙈 I clean and tidy about 10 times more than I did pre kids and it only ever looks gd for maybe 30mins at most once it's all been done. My house was pretty immaculate before and I didn't do lots of cleaning just the usual sort of weekly cleans and daily kitchen clean/tidy up.

I've also got 3 bathrooms that I struggle to get around them as I spend so much time on the daily tidying, cleaning and washing etc.

Clean yes, tidy no. But my standards are not very high so it’s probably neither in reality!

Same boat kid age wise.
Certain things are done daily, after bed time all toys are just put back in boxes, kitchen cleaned, worktops wiped, dishwasher, scoot around downstairs with a Hoover etc
Everything else? I feel like I'm never on top of the laundry no matter how hard I try
Monthly I'll notice how grim the bathrooms are getting and will deep clean them
Upstairs doesn't get hoovered enough, again probably monthly I'll realise they're getting bad and do that
I'll forget to wipe skirting boards for months on end
Windows are almost never clean (hiring a window cleaner been on my to do list for nearly a year)
When laundry is done it's almost never put away, it's put in utility room in piles and we seem to just wear things from there until they are dirty again. Need to work on that. It's become how we live!
It's so hard to stay on the ball isn't it.

When my kids were younger the house was always very clean and tidy.
I just couldn’t function in an untidy or dirty house.

@Simonjt

Yes, we have a cleaner, otherwise it would be a shit hole.

Same!

We’re very lucky to have a cleaner.

Clean, yes. Tidy, no.

I clean on a rough rotation doing a bit here and there as I go, rather than the 'blitz' style cleaning I used to do. This means it's never all done at once and that gets me down a bit.

In terms of tidiness, i wouldn't be embarrassed if someone called in as it's only toys being played with, a basket of washing, shoes not in the right place etc. It's definitely a lived in house.

When I lived alone, everything was immaculate!

While mine was a toddler, my house was safe. The laundry tabs were out of reach, anything sharp was put away, hot things were cordoned off.
It wasn't as clean as it is now, but safe was more important.

My house is always a mess and my standards have dropped massively since having small children. But I’ve made my peace with it. The essentials are cleaned and it’s enough to keep up with the basics. I’d love to just take a week off and give the place a deep clean but I just know after a week would just be in a tip again as that’s life. I liken trying to keep the house tidy as trying to sweep up leaves in a hurricane. Completely pointless.

I have 2 dc aged 2 and 3 and my house is pretty tidy. I think the main things are decluttering as much as possible and also doing a bit each day. Main thing that is messy is the living room during the day, with their toys on the ground. After bed I quickly tidy them away. Leave kitchen tidy and benches wiped after every meal. Unload dishwasher. One load of washing per day, hang it out, and put away yesterdays load. Quick vacuum and freshen up bathrooms every 2-3 days. That covers it, surely?

@LimeSegment

I have 2 dc aged 2 and 3 and my house is pretty tidy. I think the main things are decluttering as much as possible and also doing a bit each day. Main thing that is messy is the living room during the day, with their toys on the ground. After bed I quickly tidy them away. Leave kitchen tidy and benches wiped after every meal. Unload dishwasher. One load of washing per day, hang it out, and put away yesterdays load. Quick vacuum and freshen up bathrooms every 2-3 days. That covers it, surely?

That's about normal I would say. Things like dusting, cleaning windows, decluttering, sorting cupboards and drawers, kitchen cupboard fronts, oven etc are the things that are done less often than i'd like

@pradavilla

No not really, it bothers me a little but I've lowered my expectations it annoys me my dh can't lower his. Mins about it all the time. Its the one thing I didn't realise before having kids. I knew it wld be messy etc but I just didn't realise how much mess they constantly create!

I mean kitchen is cleaned everyday several times. Kids always spilling things and crumbs everywhere even when I've just hoovered and mopped. It's only tidy once they r in bed but I cld clean the same thing several times a day. As soon as it's clean sticky fingers etc get on them 🙈 I clean and tidy about 10 times more than I did pre kids and it only ever looks gd for maybe 30mins at most once it's all been done. My house was pretty immaculate before and I didn't do lots of cleaning just the usual sort of weekly cleans and daily kitchen clean/tidy up.

I've also got 3 bathrooms that I struggle to get around them as I spend so much time on the daily tidying, cleaning and washing etc.

This is it. I clean a lot but I’m pretty sure that anyone walking into my house would assume I spent a lot less time on it than I actually do. Hard water doesn’t help, means the kitchen sink and showers only look clean for about 5 minutes after they’re cleaned.

No!
My lovingly renovated carefully decorated forever home is one great big shit cake now 2 kids later!

A SHIT CAKE!
we are going to decorate top to bottom this year. Now they are both over 9 years old, I’m hoping the shit cake will be more habitable for humans instead of it’s current state which is habitable only by pigeons.

Yes but I WFH and get stuff done inbetween meetings etc.

I always have clothes sitting to put away.

But it's always clean. Sometimes messy.

I can't sit in mess so need to have everything done before I can relax at night.