Tiredness - does it ever get better?

[Copper]

I'm a full time civil servant, I'm a mother of three, I'm expected to work at home to complete my workload, I'm the secretary and fair organiser of the PTA, I help in school, I even get an hour to myself a week singing - but I am an absolutley lousy housewife. I look at the mess and go to bed worn out instead of tackling the piles of clean and dirty clothes, the stinking loo, the washing up, the mess, the toys everywhere. I'm ashamed to ask anyone in. My husband and kids don't even see it as a problem. Money is tight and cleaners are expensive. I feel worn out, demoralized - and look upon the Easter holdiay as the time when I can sort it all out, create a happy time for everyone - ha ha ha, I know I'll end up shouting at them. They are all totally impervious to my distress on this, and think I am just a nag.

Moral support needed please!

Glo White do a nifty little thing called a Colour Catcher, excellent if there is not enough for a white or a darker load and you can wash them together, brilliant!

My MIL uses only one washing setting and that is 'BOIL WASH'. Anything that remotely comes into contact with children is put on at ridiculously high temperatures. All her towels seem to be 6 inches square with a texture similar to brillopads.

My mum used to have a twin-tub - washing took for hours. Also, my mum used to use handy phrases for reducing further washing such as 'why have you got that on, I've only just washed it'. So we were all scared stiff of putting something on within 48 hours of it coming out of the washing machine.

My mothers special is that everything has to be aired after a wash. Silly me, I thought a whizz around the tumble drier would have seen that off.
Like you Tigermoth I always have piles of stuff on the stairs - travelling in either direction (I do have a nasty habit of rolling the dirty stuff up and lobbing it down the stairs, caught the cats out a few times). It always amazes me how my husband can remain completely oblivious to the piles of stuff he has to step over - "Oh yeh, didn't see it".I keep trying to instill the "never travel empty handed" habit in him but I'm wasting my breath.

Tigger

Where can you find these Colour Catchers? They sound extremely useful.

Colour Catchers are made by Glo White, they are in a dark pink box and I bought mine in Safeways, it prevents colour runs, I sheet is usually enough, but if you ahve a large load put 2 sheets in. I use them for when I am washing my black jeans with say lighter coloured dark clothes, I know that sounds strange, but sweatshirts and darker t shirts.

I've always had stuff on the stairs going in different directions, until last week, when I reckoned I could navigate the stairs one night with a cup of hot milk without the lights on. Need I say more... and there is STILL a nasty smell of old milk I cannot shift, and I've a nasty bruise!

I've always thought that a "Heath Robinson esque" idea for clearing away toys would be to have a small electric magnetic box in the corner of a room (preferably housed inside a cupboard). Every toy gets a small piece of metal securely attached to it. Then, at 6 o'clock, you walk over to said box, switch the magnet on, and all the toys (as if by magic) shoot across the room into the cupboard!

I've always thought it was a bit far fetched... but having read this, I'm beginning to wonder!

Fms, talking of far-fetched ideas, I'd love to see a speeded up film of myself tidying as as I go, and the children untidying it all again, toys falling on the floor, being picked up, and falling again, piles of stuff being carried bit by bit to their destination, clean washing finding its way upstairs, and dirty washing hurtling downtairs - like Midge, I too lob the dirty stuff down, rather than carrying it. Seeing a speeded up film of this futile fight to keep the mess at bay might make it all make sense....

My husband has a theory that we are seriously considering putting in to practice. Just having a series of baskets for clean laundry, which could slot into shelves, we never seem to actually put the clean washing away and it's always a surprise when I actually look in a chest of drawers/ wardrobe. We could also do with a basket for things that have been worn once but don't need to go in the wash - although it would make the armchair in my bedroom redundant!

Our version of the bedroom armchair is the bannister across the landing, it's a colourful array of "in use" clothing and is rarely empty. The airing cupboard gets the dry washing stuffed into it and nothing much makes its way back into the relevant drawers or wardrobes, it just comes straight back out of the airing cupboard.
I cant say that having a child has made any difference to this, we did excactly the same before he arrived, except now we have less energy to do it...
and less time!

There I was thinking I was the only one hating housework and unable to keep a tidy house. I am home full time at the moment looking after out seven month old son who I find takes up most of my day with play and snuggles, leaving little time for cleaning. When people say 'the housework will always be there tomorrow' they forget to tell you it builds up. I have a spare room that looked lovely and tidy when my husband cleaned it, now it looks like a washroom, the floor covered with dirty cloths and all sorts. I really do try to tidy and some days I do achieve it, with a lovely clean, dusted, hoovered and sorted fridge house. Has anybody got any tips for avoiding that 'I have been dried on a clothes horse smell' as with all this wet weather this has been the only way to have clothes to wear. Im told time management would probably be the answer, but then it wouldnt be me, and thats who I am, me with a sometimes messy house. I must just add one more point, hats off to all of you who do more than I do and have more children and a full time job and thanks for the laugh I had while reading these messages and thinking, thats me.

I can't imagine how people survived without a washing machine - I guess they just kept wearing dirty clothes ...? My boys have always had a complete set of clean clothes (at least) every day. Whenever I feel we're getting close to wearing clothes for a second day, they go through a phase of getting especially filthy again.

My in-laws bought our washing machine for us as an early wedding present - nearly 10 years ago (I think, I lose track), and it is still struggling on bravely. It was a canny move on their part - I often think of them fondly when loading it up, and I tend not to think of them in such terms at any other time. We've just returned from three days with them, so I'm still in recovery mode - but let's not get onto that here!

I recently got a tumble drier....Absolute bliss! It's cut out one stage of the washing process...that of having wet clothing strewn around the house on various radiators/clothes horses/banisters/backs of chairs etc. Wish I'd got one years ago. Next stop - a cleaner!

Oh how I miss my tumble drier. I used to have a washer dryer, but when we moved we left it as a bargaining tool and then could only afford to buy a washing machine. I haven't got the room for a tumble dryer in my kitchen now.

I would be lost without my video. 'Do you want to watch Toy Story?' works great while I am cooking, also good for stopping tantrums 'Stop banging your head against the back door sweetie, look, Mummy's put Lion King on for you'.

Also, the fridge - where would I be without a cold beer?

Star,
If you can throw in a bit of childminding the job is yours!! Then again you probably wouldn't want it if your saw our house. We're currently refurbishing (read rebuilding) an old farm house. Everything is covered in inches of dust and the outside of the house is a swamp following all the recent rain...so you can imagine how bad the muddy footprints are! I've actually stopped cleaning completely as there didn't seem to be any point....It just comes back again a few hours later!...But the job is yours...plenty of marigolds thrown in....

Probably should have started a new thread, but this one seemed so relevant! I've just trogged round the house with my old vacuum cleaner, god, it is rubbish. I am definitely buying a new one this weekend - does anyone have a model to recommend? Does it have to be a Dyson? My MIL has one and it is good, but its HUGE and very noisy, although its probably an old version. Any tips? Apologies for the drudgery of this post - but things like vacuum cleaners become fascinating when you are at home all day with a 16 month old.

Survey of Hoovers in the paper today rated the new Dyson as the best by a considerable margin.

I too am a big Dyson fan, get the kind that hug the stairs - unless you are in bungalow or flat!

Definately has to be a Dyson. We tried one of the other bagless models and it was useless.
So the tunble drier, only 4 weeks old has broken for the second time, tomorrow we have to stay in all day (again) for the engineer to come - so that I can not tell him I already took the back off and know what the problem is. I feel a strop coming on, he may not be allowed to leave until I get a replacement. I definately cannot do without my tumble drier.

Gracie, which paper was the hoover survey in?

I have a washerdryer that came new with the house, but although the dryer part works very well the clothes lose the fresh smell when they are dried in it! I've used those sheets you put in to freshen them up and still no good. Do separate dryers have this problem? Hubby thinks I've got a weird sense of smell as I can always smell something! But I love fresh smelling laundry and it really bugs me when it doesn't smell good. I put my washing out for the first time the other week and it ended up getting soaking as it rained when I went out so clothes always end up on radiators and clothes horses everywhere.

About hoovers. I've got a dyson upstairs and a Kirby generation something or other downstairs. Although dysons are good with no bag etc, the suck (pardon the expression) on the other is much much better, although downstairs hoover is an old fashioned type that is heavy and now it needs revving to get going. Now before you go mad at me for having 2 hoovers the dyson was bought because the other was too heavy for me to cart up and downstairs especially while pregnant and felt we couldn't get rid of the kirby as it was expensive and the better suck! Blah Blah, but I'd definately go for a dyson they look nice!

Jac, I find that if I dont put a smelly sheet in the tumble drier the clothes just smell of nothing in particular, they do lose that "fresh" smell.
This is very sad. I did not expect to find myself discussing the merits of hoovers and tumble tissues in public......

Caznay - buy a Dyson. We have had ours for 4 years and it is fantastic. No problems, excellent dust pickup, no poxy bags and our little boy loves it too. I have converted lots of friends and family and they all rave about them too. They are a bit more expensive than good conventional vacuums but 100 times better. It will be money well spent.
Wow, I should charge James Dyson a commission!