Keeping house tidy with 2 children - 4 months and 2 years - is it possible?

[justneedsomesleep]

Not sure where to post this....but so far this morning I have attempted to clean sinks and currently have dishwasher and washing machine on and floors in kitchen semi mopped. But lounge floor is covered in coconut (from home baking yesterday) and toys everywhere. Upstairs needs dusted and bathroom needs cleaned. And don't get me started on HUGE pile of ironing!
I feel like I tidy/clean one area and then somewhere else gets messed up! At this point, I should mention I have two children - ds 4 months and dd 2 years! I am a SAHM and feel like all I do is clean and tidy and it never looks clean and tidy!
Is it possible to have a clean and semi tidy house or should I give up?
Is tidying up while you have children really like shovelling snow while it is snowing?
What does everyone else do on a daily basis who has kids?
I've looked at the FLY thing but don't think i could do it...

Thanks for help.

P x

[Tortington]

i used to do a quick whizz round before dh came home - so he could see thr fruits of mynot o fruitful labour

[Nemoandthefishes]

I think you can tidy and tidy all day every day but it wont look like you have, then as an aside it means you wont do anything with the kids.
I hav3 a 4yr old,2.2yrs and 13mth and I gave up keeping the house pristine ages ago. I have cleaned downstairs this morning because they are all in nursery so until 11.30am the house will look reasonably clean..will go and do bathroom in a min and thats it.

[Karen999]

I find it pretty impossible tbh, but I do try and get the dishwasher and washing machine on. Once I've done that I throw all the toys in the basket in the living room (they get pulled out again and again!)

Once I've done that I make the beds and pick up stuff lying around. Find it very hard to clean but do this at weekends. As long as place looks reasonably tidy then thats fine......try not too worry about it!!

I also have a quick frantic tidy up before DP gets home!!!

[Flibbertyjibbet]

Just posted this on your other thread of the same subject -

Sorry but if one of them is only 4 months and not mobile yet - then brace yourself as things can only get worse!!

The only time my house is tidy is mon tue wed daytimes when they are at nursery and I work mostly from home so can put a load of washing in while making drink or pick up toys as I go to loo etc. That way its quite tidy while there is just me to enjoy it like when I lived here on my own for years.

Shovelling while its snowing? Shovelling in an avalanche I would say is more like it

[MakemineaGandT]

justneedsomesleep - I could have posted that. I am really struggling too (have two ds's - one 2 and one 3 months). I find it so depressing - and if I do try to clean, they get so miserable because of being ignored, so I end up feeling like a bad mum too.

Today I have cracked and have just rung a cleaning firm. The lady is coming to quote later this week - I figure if I have someone come every week to do the bathrooms, hoovering and floor washing and a bit of dusting, then it will save my sanity.

PS I am also exhausted (love your name!) - still getting up 2-3 times per night and am sooooooooooo tired.

Hoping life will get better soon!

[Pinchypants]

I've got a cleaner once a week and to be honest the house only looks like she's been for the one hour between her leaving and 18 month old DD getting back from nursery, then it's back to bedlam, but with clean loos. We do try and bung all the toys back in an enormous box in the corner of the sitting room at the end of the day - she 'helps' before bathtime. I've got a box/tub in every room in the house and try and put things back at the end of the day and keep the surfaces and floors relatively free of food and grubbiness, but wouldn't dream of trying to tidy up or clean during the day - totally pointless. Sometimes I'm not entirely sure if the grape/cornflake/raisin she's just appeared munching is fresh or from a few days ago...
As DD gets bigger am planning on making more games out of 'sweeping', 'tidying', 'wiping' etc

[slng]

We have semi-tidy house - we "tidy up" before bath-and-bed, though we sometimes leave masterpieces of construction around. But we don't make beds. Never understood the point myself...

[My2Weegirls]

I hope when my children look back on today
They'll remember a mother who had time to play.
There will be years for cleaning and cooking
But children grow up while we're not looking.
Dusting and scrubbing can wait 'till tomorrow
For babies grow fast we learn to our sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

this was posted by loler on a post natal thread.

i've got dd1 3.1 and dd2 6mo - and just do the bare minimum - but i do get embarassed when people come round.

[mumwhereareyou]

I know the feeling, i have 3 under 6 and the house never looks tidy. This morning two at school and youngest at home, have attempted to wash floors and hoover but as soon as back is turned littly has decided to help me and water is everywhere.

Really needed to tidy today as working tomorrow am, and then have friends coming to vist us, they have been in Canada for the last 3 years and have not met our chidlren yet. They only have one and their house was always spotless, i have tried to warn them but am dreading it.

Everywhere i look just seems to be chaos and cobwebs.

I dream of the day when they are all at school and i can have a clean and tidy house.

Am now going to play cinderall with my little one and try on a glass slipper

[JingleyJen]

I admit that I am not normal (but who is?) however, I would decide what you think is important.

My house really used to look like Kim & Aggie's problem houses, but by starting with the FLY lady thing and taking it slowly we got rid of the long term crap. The day to day stuff still exists, like you I have 2 small children so I am never going to live in a show home (nor would I want to)

I did 15 minutes each morning, it is amazing what you can get done in 15 minutes, I am guessing that your baby has a couple of naps during the day your 2 year old could be a great "help" in the kitchen while you are loading the diswasher etc.

Bit by bit you can get to a point where you are happy (unless you are expecting showhome standard - I believe that is impossible with small children)

Good luck, stick with it... Do join the fly thread on here, start with baby steps..

[notnowbernard]

In a word, NO

Sorry!

This used to really do my head in as well. And I'm not a houseproud person, or someone who has things very clean and tidy all the time. If anything, I can be a bit of a slacker.

I've started doing one room a day, and that's it. Obviously laundry needs doing, kitchen tidying etc but the actual housework side of things is just one room a day.

It works... I feel on top of things (from cleaning POv), but don't feel I'm wasting my time doing it all for it to be trashed within the hour.

I don't think the toys everywhere situation can be resolved for me, though!

[chelsygirl]

mine is only clean and tidy as dh does loads

[SuperGrrrl]

jesus wineistheway! cleaning at 11pm?!

i put on washing and load / unload dishwasher every day, and hoover living room. that's it.

when dh is home from work i sometimes flit round quickly putting away washing, or cleaning loo. mostly i leave it to the weekend.

as long as the house doesn't smell, and we have clothes and dishes, that's all i care about!

[GooseyLoosey]

Is it possible - yes in my experience

Is it desireable - no, just leads to stressed mummy and will all be messed up again tomorrow.

I am sadly obsessively tidy but realised early on that when they were little it was better to be making a mess with them than trying to hoover. They were happier and I was (slightly) less stressed.

[justneedsomesleep]

thanks for replies everyone.
My2weegirls - have read that poem before and nearly crying as I read it again!

i don't think i am obsessive with the cleaning thing and have left it for today. maybe going to do 1 thing a day from now on, hoover one day, dust another.... also just phoned someone to do my ironing for me - 30 items for £13 which i think is good. they also do a cleaning service so we might look into that.
Remind myself that I am a SAHM not cleaner! And we do 'do' things and go places but half term now and playgroup is off this morning so i guess i was just obsessing! Doesn't help that the sun is shining and showing up dust EVERYWHERE!
Makemineag&t - ds has just recently started sleeping through - i am soooo relieved but don't want to get too excited in case its not a permanent thing! he NEVER naps during the day though, so its a trade off.
DD does nap - thank gpodness, but in that time i'm normally having a mammoth breast feeding session!

DD is now 'fixing' the door with a plastic screw driver and now i need to think about lunch. will go out in garden after lunch to play with ball.

thanks for asll replies - nice to know i'm not the only one.

p x

[toomanyshoes]

I have an 8 week old and a nearly 3 year old and have a cleaner for 4 hours a week. Briefly toyed with not having her while on mat leave then pulled myself together! She does bathrooms, floors, dusting, etc plus the ironing. Tis a lifesaver.
To keep tidy in between I put all toys away as soon as DD goes to bed. Dishwasher and washer/dryer while she eats her breakfast and wipe worktops as I go. I am also v strict about only eating at the table. No running around with food of any kind. Only takes 20 mins or so to tidy up the toys etc and feel like i can relax and enjoy my evening once its done.
I hate clutter, makes me feel really stressed.