How do you keep your home clean or tidy? I really really can't do it?!

[smugtandemfeeder]

There is dirt on the dirt. Everyone except me and DH has weed and pooed on the sofa and all the carpets. The laptop hard drive has broken for the second time due to DS being rough with it. We have mess everywhere. As soon as I put stuff away DS sort of rolls it all back out again. There is a pile of clean nappies on the sitting room floor which DS has 'sprinkled' flour all over. There are numerous little bags full of random shit which DS has collected and stored throughout the house.

I can't keep on top of it.

And don't even get me started on the washing.....

Is there any point getting a new sofa or new carpets?

It's utter chaos and madness here.

And here.
Someone organised may be along soon.

www.flylady.net :o

Someone posted this on another forum and it made me laugh. I checked it out and it might actually be helpful.
DS wee's everywhere too, floor is filthy, toys & clothes everywhere and even the clean pull-ups get removed from their packet and spread over the floor to be used as 'stepping stones' - you have to laugh and go with it.

I keep telling DH that in order for me to stay on top of things will need me to give up work :) i wish, i want!

Whats tidy???

No dont invest in a new sofa.........I did and it just stressed me out more when within two days DS had drawn with a felt pen along the bottom, the dog weed against the corner, the cat clawed the other corner and DD tripped and threw her juice all over it!

I now have 4 sets of micro fleece throws, cheap, easy to clean and quick dry.
I invested in a good carpet cleaner instead of new carpets and laminated the whole house apart from front room and stairs/landing (incase of slipping on stairs).

A beautiful picture of my house for you so you dont feel alone.........Curtain pole placed over the top of original loops due to them all cracking whist DS swang on it. Net curtains minus frill as DS decided to rip it off today as the frill was in his way from seeing who was at the door. The entire sofa cushions are in the middle of the room, with pillows, cusions, soft toys etc. DS sensory fun of the day......... three quarters of my room is painted one colour the other bit not done yet and this was started last xmas. Washing wet on line as it is raining, washing in tumble dryer drying and washing on airer on top of the dining table so my dog doest play tug of war with the socks (has chewed one of DH today already). I am just about washing breakfast dishes and now have the tea dishes still not done yet.

Oh and I have cleaned the bathroom 3 times, one because DS missed the loo, two DS used the towel to wipe poo instead of tissue, 3 he decided to fill in the joins on the floor tiles with toothpaste........

I now hoover first thing in the morning after breakfast when they are at school and relish in the tidyness before the whirlwinds come home Also make appointments for visits after dark as with lights on its doesnt look too dusty

I have these lovely plastic storage drawers for nappies and every friggin day DS takes all 4 drawers out and scatters everything. Nappies are used as blankets for invisible things, stepping stones, things to carry round in bags. It's all very odd. I keep putting them back but they keep being scattered. covering them in flour was the last f.ing straw.

Actually weeing myself at coff33pot's post.

Ok so there isn't much of a solution except a support thread like this.

Cinnamon I have done fly lady in the past. it does help but I can't even seem to think at the moment.

'clear away clutter' takes more effort than I actually possess.

You know when you have a toddler, people say don't eat any 'raisins' you find? I didn't think I'd still be finding 'raisins' once DS got to 11! My house gets tidied if we have visitors, and I don't encourage visitors.

I can imagine mate. Get some underbed storage drawers in your room or put above wardrobe and just take down 4 or 5 and stick in high kitchen cupboard. nappies are too expensive to waste. Give him something else to scatter in the drawers like a few tea towels, less hassle on the picking up.

Yesterday DS had raviolli for tea, the freshly made one with sauce mince. I had call from sister as it was birthday. When on phone, he got off and carried the plate into front room and put on arm of sofa. Dog jumped up and he spilt it but grabbed all the cushions to mop it up with and then walked upstairs and used white towel to wipe his legs and feet. I had turned my back for 5 mins! everything was orange!!

Another useful tip is that NO VAC moose! ...........doorbell goes....grap no vac in a quick draw fashion from behind the sofa .........wooooosh! by the time you have answered door its disapeared! smells nice carpet is still crunchy tho!

I can relate - DS also uses the towel to wipe; I don't think he realises he's got poo on his butt. Then he tries his hardest not to go to the toilet, then sits naked on anything. The other day it was a clean duvet I'd washed (just washed three from three consecutive nights of pullup removal and weeing!) - on the floor it went and poo streaks... great, back into the wash it goes.

Our old sofa was too big when we moved house and thought a soft leather style would be nice, not realising DS has ASD. The amount of wee patches its a state.

Food all over the floor, under the table and on the chair cushions where he uses his fingers. The best is when he has pasta and sauce, then wipes his face on the first thing he finds - usually his top or one of my towels.

Cereal in a pot is their favourite - currently there is crumbled crispies all over DSs bedroom floor, some in his bed... really haven't got time at the moment to hoover. Its not just getting the hoover our and turning it on, first you have to remove all the other stuff from the floor first.. argh :o

I'm forever treading on Cheerios. Little circles of crumbs! DS still wipes his mouth on his sleeve. Most if the poo is restricted to his pants or the 'raisins.'

Fortunately for me the fact I got DS a dog for company has had the added advantage of being a spare hoover his snout is ideal for sofa crevices!

What I am forever treading on is lego.......lots of bits of lego and it hurts A LOT

i found a new poo streak on the wall today. not the bathroom wall, but going up the stairs.
the floor is reasonably tidy. i havent looked at the table since youngest had rice at teatime. she them came to sit next to me stinking of poo. if you dare to mention the smell or that maybe we should go check her bum, she goes mental

Its making me smile that we all have similar experiences. I'd love to have visitors but pray they are pre-booked; it would take a good day or two to get the house in an okay order :)

most of sons friends are used to youngest running around naked now or the sight of poo on the wall/unflushed

I keep seeing visions of Simon eating a raisin for Thoedore in Alvin and the Chipmunks haha :)

I only buy wipe clean furniture even my cushions are faux leather (plastic), laminate, no rugs, blinds, no curtains and bungee straps around all cupboards and locks on every door. I dream of soft furnishings and candles.

Also cracking up at cof33pots house

No answers though - reminds me of our senile yorkshire terrier, weeing and pooing everywhere. Used to put a nappy on her, but not an answer for your DS - at least Mitzi couldnt take hers off!

DS2 empties out those drawers, too - he doesn't empty out the mothercare nappy box we have, though. It clicks shut quite tight and is perfect for a day or so's worth of nappies plus wipes etc.

Other than that, we have a lot of lockable cupboards, we have safety gates either end of our through lounge, so DS2 can't wander unsupervised into the kitchen or bathroom or upstairs and anything that we don't want the boys to have constant access to that can't be locked away within the livingroom is stored high up in the kitchen, or in our bedroom.

Once a day, i clear the floor and vacuum. We vacuum more than that, some days, but it really helps to take the odd 5 minutes to keep on top of it. Clearing the floor also means that we're starting fresh with the toy scattering and it's easier to do a 1 minute swoop and push a pile of books back onto a shelf or whatever.

Our sofa is mining because of goodness knows what soaked into it. We'll not be replacing it with another fabric one, since both boys have a habit of wiping their mucky faces on it after a messy meal!

mining = minging!

This whole thread is seriously hillarious. So we all have poo stained, broken, carpetless houses.

I posted a thread in good housekeeping yesterday asking for recommendations for a new sofa and they all said Ektorp from ikea. I just looked at it and imagined DS weeing on it, puppy weeing on it, cat weeing on it, DS sprinkling flour and squeezing honey on it and thought umm no that won't do.....

Ektorp was probably recommended because if you get the fabric one, it has machine washable covers.

Still doesn't stop all that ewww soaking into the upholstery, though!

ouryve I can see why they would recommend it as its cheap, looks nice and you can wash the covers. Unfortunately our current sofa has washable covers too, they are now beyond washing. The wee has permanently stained them. Every time DH leaves a cafetiere on the table DS pours the dregs directly onto the arm of the sofa playing 'pouring a drink for you mummy' without getting any sort of cup for me. The puppy wees on the sofa every night and you can't exactly put the cushions into the washing machine can you. DS poos on demand every time I tell him he can't do something. And a few times a year the cat pisses EVERYWHERE. It's WAY beyond washable covers.

Ok - ideas needed. How can I stop my current sofa smelling of wee?

Sounds like you need to train DS not to be such a slob.

Is there any way you can shut the puppy in the kitchen at night, until it learns to control its emissions a bit more. If the sofa smells like its toilet and it has free access, it's probably never going to stop.

I often spray urine patches with vinegar and this page has some good advice about dog urine (my experience is all of the little boy what won't keep clothes on variety):
odors.getridofthings.com/get-rid-of-dog-urine.htm

Put pampers care mats on cushions under covers as very absorbant maybe and for wee smells a pet deoderising spray?

DH, not DS!