I've got a really messy house.

Charity - posted on 02/26/2013

I have 14 month old twins (AKA tornado's) and a 4 year old son. I go through times I am burnt out on cleaning and picking up and blah blah and on and on. I still pick up during nap time so for a short time the house is in some sort of order. My house is a work in progress and my kids are my priority, housekeeping is not always on my priority list. My kids were super sick for a few days and nothing got done and my house was awful and I would have been mortified if someone had to come in my house like mortified! I agree 15 minutes can accomplish alot but I do understand feeling burnt out on the whole cleaning thing.

~Ange~ - posted on 05/26/2012

I think everyone gets burnt out. My dad used to say "Life get tedious don't it?". I don't know if the web site is still there but I use the flylady process. 15 minutes. You say, ugh, look at that stack of mail it's going to take forever and it feels impossible. Well, take 15 minutes and make a dent. I don't "chores." I give the kids a room they have to keep clean for the week on top of their bedroom. During school they do 15 minutes after school in their bedroom or their assigned room then about an hour before bed 15 in the other. On non school days 15 minutes in the morning, 15 in the evening and 15 before bed. With little kids make it a race to see how much they can do in 15 minutes.

I bet if you assign each of the kids a room and yourself for a week and do the 15 min 2 or 3 times a day you will be perfection in no time :) Oh, and my other big rule is dishes.... If YOU use it then YOU need to wash it lol. If you have to buy color coded cups and cheap plates and they can only use their cups or plates or they have to wash everyones dishes for a week hehe

Elfrieda - posted on 05/26/2012

The oldest three can each take one dinner a week (that they're in charge of making), and the youngest can do 2 loads of laundry a week. Really, you're doing them a favour. In first year university I remember how much we mocked the people who couldn't function without mommy. (I had to show more than one how to use a washing machine, at 18 years old, if you can believe it!)

It's not doing them a kindness to do everything for them, and it's not kind to you, either. :)

Firebird - posted on 05/26/2012

That would be me. I moved in here almost 3 years ago and I still have boxes in my room that aren't unpacked. Then there's the mountain of laundry on my bedroom floor... I think my carpet is blue, but I can't be sure. My daughter's toy room is covered in toys and movies.... I'm not sure if that room even has a floor. My living room isn't too bad, but my kitchen is a disaster. I've got about 2 months of mail piled on my kitchen table... we don't use it to eat, and I've been down with migraines all week so I've also got a mountain of dishes that needs to be washed.

No migraine today though (Finally!), so I did manage to get through 4 loads of laundry. I am definitely going to try Amy's clean up race. Like her son, my daughter hates cleaning but loves winning.

Elfrieda - posted on 05/26/2012

www.flylady.net Seriously, go there now, you'll be glad you did. She's all about the baby steps.

Karen - posted on 05/26/2012

Thanks for the helpful posts - let me clarify though. My coffee table has 4 inches of old mail and other things, in my entry way I have 2 more piles of the same, my 10yr olds room is covered with clothing and some toys and her bed is blocked so that I can't change the bedsheets without her help squeezing in between a broken standing fan and some stuff on the floor, the master bedroom has clutter piled up against 2 walls and the end of the bed, my upstairs hallway has parts from the bathroom light renovation and I haven't dusted anywhere since I can remember. I could go on but it's too pathetic already. Still anyone out there like me?

Sharon - posted on 05/26/2012

My house is always messy. I'm supposed to do a full on clean every second Friday and just keep things tidy as I go along, but it hasn't happened for a few weeks. Luckily I don't have one of "those" husbands that demands a spotless house so I just get it done when I get it done...

Amy - posted on 05/26/2012

My house is pretty messy too! We've come up with a game in our house but don't play it often enough, we have teams it's usually my husband and 6 year old son, me and my 2 year old daughter. We go through room by room and divide it in half then race who can get there half of the room clean first. This gets all the dirty dishes down stairs, the dirty clothes off of the flood, all the toys put away so then I can go through and vacuum. My son loves winning but hates cleaning so this is how we get him to help without a big fight.

Firebird - posted on 05/26/2012

My house is messy too. I basically do what Katherine suggested. But this last week, I've had migraines every day so I've fallen waaaayyy behind. And maybe ask the kids if they wouldn't mind picking up an extra chore for a few weeks until you aren't so burnt out.

Katherine - posted on 05/26/2012

LOL, my house is a mess too. Do one thing everyday. Make say Mondays vacuuming day. Tuesdays dusting, Wednesdays laundry etc....