Any housekeeping tips?

Question

How do you keep up with laundry?
How do you keep your house clean?

I'm a stay-at-home mom of 3 (4, 2&1/2 and 1). I don't expect my house to stay spotless, but i need help.

I've created a daily, weekly & monthly schedule, I'm just having a hard time sticking to it.

Answer 1

It helps to decide what is important. Laundry with young children is never ending, so don't wash things that don't need it. Set aside "play" clothes to be worn more than one day. Jeans usually are good for several days. Bath towels should be hung up to dry and used all week. Buy cheap hand towels for bath & kitchen. Try to have enough underwear for you and hubby to go 7 days. Keep the kids at-home clothes simple. Buy stuff you can throw in the washer and dryer without fuss. Buy multi-packs of plain white socks for everyone's casual wear. Less sorting time & lost socks aren't a problem. Use less detergent and bleach then recommended. Manufactuers want you to use a lot so you have to buy more, but even good washers can't get excess soap out and the clothes will get soiled faster is they are full of soap. Bleach wears fabric out, so use it sparingly. It's ok if your kids clothes are stained. It's normal. Just so the stained clothes are clean, don't worry. Use your afternoon break to watch a little TV while you fold the laundry.
There is a difference between a clean house and a perfect house. You are raising kids. In 20 years you can have a perfect house. The kids will be gone. You and he will be alone.
Think about the health and safety of the kids first. The bathrooms must be clean. They can be messy, but they need to be clean. Same with the kitchen. Clean floors are good because kids spend a lot of time on the floor. Safty is important. If it is sharp, hot, poisonous or lible to tip or fall, the baby will find it. Dust is not dangerous to their health. Dirty windows don't bother them because they are too short to see out of them. Get the idea?
By the way, if your husband isn't a part of the program, give him a heads-up. They are his children too and he needs to know what is going on.
Write me. I raised 5 and they all lived through it. Maybe we can talk about specific problems.

Answer 2

I can't help you with a schedule, but I can tell you about a cleaning product line that you might be interested in. These products are only available from the manufacturer, but they are guaranteed. They are cheaper that what you will pay for similiar products at the grocery store & they are free of harsh chemicals or toxins, which with small children should be a concern. If you would like more information about the product line, email me at [e-mail] or you can request information at
http://educateme.ahealthcafe.com

If you get a great tip on laundry, let me know. I am a stay at home mom also & the chore I hate the most is the laundry.

Answer 3

I clean for a living while I watch my neices & nephew (ages 3 years, 2 years, and 9 months). The house I clean is an 8,000 square foot mansion. I also have to help manage the other 2 full time handy-men employed there. I am only there for 8 hours a day and I can do it. If I can anyone can!! It's very much like being a stay-at-home mom, even though they're my nieces and nephew and I'm not at my house. I stick to a schedule. Here's what works for us:

9-9:30 (or 9:45): I do dishes from the night before while baby eats breakfast in high chair. Other 2 little ones are kept busy playing blocks, riding trikes in the house, or watching TV.

9:30-10: We all go outside to play.

10-12: Baby naps. While baby naps, other 2 little ones learn about colors, shapes, letters, numbers, etc... I do this while baby sleeps. When baby wakes up, dance to music, play dress up, paint, etc...

12:00-1:00: We all have lunch.

1:00-2:30 (or 3:00): 2 year old takes nap. While he naps, and baby is still in high chair eating, I clean up kitchen from lunch. This is a good time to do another load of dishes and laundry. There's also time to fold clothes during this time. 3 year old really loves to help fold. Afterwards, I get down on floor and play with 3 year old and baby.

3:00-4:00: Baby naps again. 2 year old wakes up. Everybody gets a snack and then gets busy with blocks, play-doh, simple matching games and counting games. They also like to play "Blues Clues" with their own little handy-dandy notebooks! I use this time to clean the bathrooms.

4:00-5:00: Nephew gets picked up. The 3 year old wants to watch Spongebob. Baby loves to sit in high chair and "talk" while I sweep the kitchen floor. Closer to 5:00, the girls are picked up and I check and reload laundry.

The bathrooms don't get cleaned everyday, but I'll clean one bathroom one day and another bathroom a different day. With the laundry, I do whites and towels one day and colors the next day. When they want to help clean (which they really do at 2 & 3 years old), instead of giving them Clorox wipes, I give them a baby wipe and let them "clean" ahead of me. I'm also a mother of 2 boys ages 13 and 10. I used the same system when they were little. When I did the laundry, I would let them pour in the soap. If they want to "help," it's a really good time to teach them how to listen and follow directions, review colors, shapes, numbers, sounds of letters, etc... They love it and think it's a game!!!

I hope this has helped a little. It's hard, but it CAN be done. The key to doing everything is to break it up a little bit, do a little every day, not everything every day. After the kiddos are in bed, take a long, hot, relaxing bubble bath.

Answer 4

Do laundry before you go to work. You can dry it when you get home. Pick up misplaced items daily, organize as much as possible, throw away what isn't used, enlist help from hubby, once a week do general cleaning. It isn't impossible. I've done it for 30 plus years, raised 3 kids, 2 dogs, ill parents, kids through med school, college and HS now. Life is work for most people. Take and enjoy short breaks now and then. Never had a maid of any kind.

Answer 5

It is NOT easy. I'm in college full time I have 2 kids under the age of 3, single momma. I also work full time. So there is a lot of planning and schedules. My job I work mon-thur 10 hour shifts. so fri i try to get all of my HW done and spend as much time as i can with my kids. sat is just kids only day and sunday is the laundry day. before i go to bed every night i make sure the house is clean. so house cleaning every day. laundry for me n my 2 kids on sunday..

Answer 6

I have seperate hampers for all the kids. One day I will take my daughters laundry down and do hers, the next I will do my sons, then the baby. I find this system keeps me from trying to sort laundry. I will put laundry in when I get up at 5am before they get up, I then go back when I have time to sit at the babies nap time, and maybe fold a load before I go to bed. Taking on one persons load of laundry a day is key with me. Trying to sort by coler is just pure chaos for the while family.

Answer 7

Maybe the schedules you created are too much for you to start with. You need to start small.
Join the Flylady group. Sign up for individual emails and read the welcome letter. Do just as they recommend, jump in where you are, do a little at a time, and don't get overwhelmed. Do the things you can and forget the rest. Loving yourself and your family is more important than a perfect house.

Answer 8

I have three...and its impossible without a maid.

Just do your best. Don't get a schedule just wing it. Turn the music up and make it a game for the little ones.

Answer 9

Get out the Yellow Pages, and check "Maid Services"... Also, you need to get the "not-at-home" dad into your housework schedule.

Answer 10

You can dry the laundry while it is dring you can do the rest of the chores.Then you can fold them and your done.