I work about 44 hours per week. My husband is on active duty with the military and is not here to help (not much help when he is here honestly). I have a three-year-old and a five-year-old, both boys. I clean almost constantly from 5:30 in the morning until 9:00 at night. Many nights I am doing laundry at 9:15 or later. The house is still a complete mess no matter how much I seem to work at it. I also have to keep the yard mowed, etc.
I just don't have the funds to have someone come in to help me clean or mow. Any suggetions??
2006-06-17 06:48:44 · 10 answers · asked by Carla&Len C 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Cleaning & Laundry
I work (part time only) and I have a 2.5 and 3.5 year old. My husband is always at work - sometimes he will come home at suppertime to play with the kids for a bit and help put them to bed - and then he is back until 11pm. I also found that I was always cleaning until I had enough.... I figured out that, while my kdis were awake, there was no point in cleaning up, and that all I was doing was expending energy and getting irritated. I finaly decided that I was going to spend less time cleaning and more time in a clean house. From that day, I refrained from doing any housework while the kids were around (this worked well even when I was working full time). the only thing I do is the hanging of the laundry, which they cant mess up. Only once they are asleep do I clean up. I found that I am cleaning less, but getting more done.
You will have to settle into a routine for your housework, depending on what needs to be done. IE set aside a certain night of the week to do a chore which needs to be doen once a week, and make a date to do a chore which needs to be done once a month.... Get help from the kids in clearing up the toys - it can save me half an hour a day if they clear up before they go to bed!
You will also find that if your closets and cabinets are clear and neat, putting things away will take half the time. Clutter should also be done away with - less things to clean :). I also try to never leave a room for another without taking something which needs to be put away - you get into the habit of looking for things which are out of place.
Enlist your neigbor's help (or a friend). You can send your kids to her once so you can spring clean or take care of that job which will take a few hours, and she can send her kids to you for the same purpose.... Prioritise and stay away from things which are not necessary - the windows can manage if they are not clean, and the laundry can stay in the baskets if clean and folded....
Take some time for yourself. You will find that you have much more motivation to clean if you took the night off the previous night - and it is good for your soul. Rid yourself of the guilt - nothing is wrong with a house which is untidy every so often....
You'd be amazed, too, at how much kids can help. I "allow" my kdis to "help" fold the laundry. I usually do it over, but it kept them occupied for a while, and stopped them from coming to mess it up from boredom or curiousity. I let my kids "wash" the dishes on nights where i am anyway going to wash the floors (more water goes in the floors than the dishes:)). It can take them half and hour to do one dish, but it kep them busy, and then I can tidy the kitchen while the do the dishes....
You will find that once you find aroutine which is good for you, and you stick to it, you will be on top of the housework. Good luck!
2006-06-17 08:01:01 · answer #1 · answered by Leah S 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Wow you sound like me!
My husband is deployed and I have a 3 year old and 1 year old. (both boys). I have the same issue. I constantly feel drained because as soon as i get something picked up it is a mess again!
My solution is just to let it go until nap time and pick up a bit. Then, let it go until bedtime and do the same again.
THEN - After i put the kids to bed i do one load of laundry and the dishes and in the mornings everything is done. That way you arent picking up ALL DAY LONG.
If you have all the toys out by ten and pick them up again then they'll be out again by 10:45... SO - if you let them stay out until nap time, you only have to pick them up once.
Same thing goes for evening time too. It's a little less stressful.
If you worry about people coming over (like i used to). If they arent in your shoes they can't possibly understand.
BELIEVE ME ----- I UNDERSTAND!!
2006-06-18 19:15:35 · answer #2 · answered by poohfrawg 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The obvious answer is to be ok with the house being messy. With two young boys, it will be impossible to keep your house clean. Just identify what's the minimum standard you can live with that is also still safe for the family.
If you need to do one big clean, maybe you can ask friends/family to help and explain your situation to them. You could get creative and try contacting the media to explain your situation and see if someone will donate cleaning services. Are there any areas that you can close off from the kids so that you don't have to clean them? I.e., extra bathroom? den?
2006-06-17 06:55:50 · answer #3 · answered by hollylitespeed 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sometimes having too much stuff to pick up or clean can occupy entirely too much of your time. Make a calendar and spread your chores over the week. Give yourself a maximum of an hour and a half a day to do chores and then stop. If it is a matter of too much stuff to clean, donate additional stuff to charity or have a yard sale.
2006-06-17 07:08:32 · answer #4 · answered by ValleyViolet 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Come clean. I lied to my husband's bosses spouse approximately my training and then in a later communication she asked me the place I went to college...I advised her, and her next question wasn't, "and what did you learn?", yet "And did you end?" i became completely busted. Busted busted busted. I pronounced "i became finished." i became finished...burned-out, i wanted her to have faith i finished by utilising utilising that notice, in spite of the indisputable fact that it became a lie purely an identical...and that i think of she caught-on. day after immediately I emailed her and confessed, explaining i did no longer choose to deliver down the temper of the communication and that i became uncomfortable speaking approximately my splendid very own sadness. don't be attentive to if it made a distinction, yet i do no longer stay in worry questioning if she knows I lied, or having to undergo in innovations precisely what I advised her. quickly, stop mendacity now, vow on no account to do it returned because of the fact in case you proceed, the outcomes may well be very harsh. the only guy or woman you're hurting is your self.
2016-12-08 22:03:29 · answer #5 · answered by bornhoft 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Their boys! It'll be a mess for the next 15 years or so! If you don't stop stressing, so will you! Chill out or you'll miss their childhood! Perfect...is not all it's cracked up to be!
2006-06-17 06:55:03 · answer #6 · answered by Helzabet 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're doing a brilliant job. Your life sounds a lot like mine. I don't let housework get me down. My home is reasonably tidy and if people don't like it they can go someplace else. You can always close the bedroom doors. It can wait for another day.
2006-06-18 00:07:50 · answer #7 · answered by jammer 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have the children do some cleaning as well...maybe give them small incentives like toys or candy if they help.
2006-06-17 06:54:17 · answer #8 · answered by Karen 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
put both kids in one room, with their toys, put a gate infront constantly check up on them and clean one room after another, when done with one room, close the door one it so the kids cannot get to it and start with another
2006-06-17 11:05:52 · answer #9 · answered by ammyownwoman 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Stop worrying about it. Best wishes
2006-06-17 06:51:52 · answer #10 · answered by colorist 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋