Anyone else feel they are rubbish at household stuff?

[Meandmygirls2009]

I love being a sahm but I grew up never having cooked or cleaned until I moved out of home (the day I had my first child!) it was overwhelming being a mum without having to figure out how to cook and clean at the same time. I now have 2 dc and feel like I am still not getting anywhere with this. I tried making a list of meals I can cook that we all like but it was very short as most things I cook once and they do not turn out! And I have no idea what chores need doing daily/weekly etc. at the moment I wash up and clean the loos and put a wash load on, then end up having to blitz the house once a month which is not the way to go as it's hard doing that with two little ones and I so slow at cleaning. Is there anyone else out there as hopeless as me?? Or anyone who can help me?? My own mother never taught me how to look after myself let alone a family ????

There's a very fussy method called 'flylady" which leads you through household management.
There's a funny method called 'unfuckyourhabitat' (UFYH) which is more realistic imo. You could google them.
Or there are the Good Housekeeping topics on mumsnet.
I'm useless too. My mother was one to panic clean when guests were due. I have no routine and too much clutter.

You need the How to Cook book by Delia

And yes to UFYH

Can you just do one room a day? And keep doing this until you return to the first room. I only blitz my children's room once a fortnight as they are teenagers. Putting one load of washing on a day is fine too. I like to have a clean kitchen though, so have a bit of a clean of the sink, hob everyday plus the work surfaces. Just tidy up the toys etc when the kids go up bed. I like to plump up the pillows and tidy my living upon every night, so that it looks nice for the morning. Hope that helps x

I hear where you're coming from! I'm pretty undomestic too. On a good week I'll keep on top of surface things but can easily go months before remembering to mop the floor properly and while downstairs sometimes looks ok, upstairs is often a pigsty. A lot of it is how much it bothers you. I don't mind certain things but for example need at least some semblance of tidiness in the living room in the evening in order to relax. We tried a cleaning rota but we just didn't stick to it so just tend to do a job every time we get a spare five mins (though really not easy with a very clingy toddler) and to do things in small chunks - little and often really is the key. I try to not put things down but put them away. Re cooking, I don't really meal plan but will try to have rough meal ideas in my head for the week. I find you can't go too far wrong with BBC Good Food - it seems to have the easiest versions of every recipe. Practice makes perfect too.