Is your house a mess?

Yes, I will admit it. It's a mess in here. My daughter is 18 months old and has been home for 9 months (I adopted her) and I am losing more control each day. The cats look at me like "yo, mom- what happened to our lives??" I had company last weekend and I had to resort to "stashing" stuff in my room and closing the door...Oh, well. She is clean, happy and healthy and that is what is important, right? Although she WAS trying to dust the other day...

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I don't know if most people think my house is a mess. I usually focus on cleaning for playdates. I usually have to settle for the optical illusion of clean.

My oldest is 6 years old and I still have trouble accepting the extra dirt that kids bring. I'm the type that is just disturbed by clutter and dirt. But now I have to focus on letting go.

Certainly the days of deep clean are gone. But what works best for me is taking "time slices" to clean, 5 minutes here and there. Invest in organization systems when I can (these help tremendously). And whenever possible, invest in low maintenance surfaces, etc. for your home. And of course you should always have a designated "panic room" when possible (the room where everything gets stashed and the doors are locked).

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Yes my place is a mess. A horrible, terrible mess that my mom and many of my family keep telling me. The word they use is "clutered", they tell me I have too much. Yes, I admit that i do need to get rid of a few things, But I believe we need a bigger place. We live in a small 3 bedroom duplex. Be fore we moved in I thought it was big but now I realize it's not big enough for my family.
Not only do we have three kids we also have endless family coming to visit or spend the night or moving in in and out of our basement.
I've tried everything but i really dont get much help with it. My hubands opinion is that the kids will just mess it up again. I don't care I just want it clean again.
So I am also open to hear any special tricks or anything.

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My place is clean. Sometimes it's a little messy - especially when the kids are awake - but always clean.

I'm a SAHM, so I just clean all day long. I'm constantly wiping, sweeping (hand broom and dustpan), and straightening. After the kids are in bed every night, I vacuum and disinfect everything. We have a lot of pets, so the daily vacuum is not optional. I have a tiny house, so it's not that hard.

I call it the ABC method - always be cleaning. It doesn't take a lot of time, just a moment here and there, but it really adds up.

Also, having a cleaning routine has really helped me. Every night, before bed, I start the dishwasher. Then it gets emptied first thing every morning. That way, I never have dishes piling in the sink, which helps a LOT. Vacuum is always at 7:15 after I put the kids down. Trash goes out during nap time. Before bed, the kids (well, toddler, anyway) and I put all toys back in the toy box. Being consistent has paid off.

I used to do flylady. www.flylady.net She got me going on the right track.

Good luck!

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My house is clean. Sometimes cluttered, but always clean. I am a SAHM, but I am VERY busy. My husband travels a lot so I am on my own frequently and have considered getting a cleaning service. My kids are 3 and 1 1/2 (18 months apart) so only my oldest is helpful in picking up the toys. I find that it is very helpful to keep the floors clean. That is the everyday maintenance. The rest, like dusting and mopping are weekly and more if needed (especially the kitchen) I found that if the floors are clean (usually done while the kids nap) the rest of the cleaning can be done throughout the day with them around in spurts. I have a Roomba to manage the crumb situation that takes place daily in our kitchen. That is a real help.

Laundry gets washed during the day when I first put them down for naps and then I fold and put it away that night when I go to bed.

My goal is to keep the dishwasher empty. If I do that, dirty dishes never sit.

My system is not perfect, but if I get behind the power curve I can catch up at night.

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Sometimes our house is messy, most of the time it is just lived in. I think the difference is messy/dirty is trash everywhere, dirty dishes in the living room, dirty clothes on the floor, ect. Lived in is toys on the floor, shoes not put away, blankets everywhere, ect. My husband and I work different shifts, so it is hard to make time for cleaning everyday when we need family time too.

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My house is a total disaster and I am glad to finally see that the majority of the people with kids are the same as me. I thought I was the only one in the world that had a dirty home once i had my son. It doesn;t make it any better that my husband instead of helping gripes about it and dont help at all. I hear well my mom had our house spotless all the time why cant you and granted or not yes thier house was always dirt free spotless clean, they were not alloud to play with toys in like the living room or anything, it was one spot and that was it and they did not have very much so there was not alot for them to play with. My husbands father was a sergant in the army and they traveled alot so his mother had to make sure the place was spotless to show off to the other military people and she spent every minute of the day and night cleaning. Sorry not me. I only have one child and that is all i plan on having and ii is more omportant to me to spend time with my child then have the perfect house. When he gets older he isnt going to remember that oh yea our house was always spotless but he will remember that his mom was always there for him and did stuff with him and that he was aloud to play and be a kid. Before I had my son I made the best meals possible, i loved to cook, I kept up with the house and I worked full time and my husband helped back then too. Once I got pregnant I had to quit my job because I was on bed rest 90% of the time then after having my son and the doctors putting me through living hell in my delivery almost losing my son and me, my back was totaled at 25 years of age. I have degenerative disc disease and need 2 fusions so far that they felt they did not want to do at such a young age so it was just put up with it for as long as you can until you get older. It was hard enough trying to care for a new born with the war wounds I had from the delivery, let alone my back was horrible too. If there was a time I ever needed help it was now. But because I was a SAHM my husband says that I should have everything spotless cause I have noting to do all day. How many have heard that one ? or am I alone on that? It has been avery hard struggle but I am more worried about being there for my son, who is now 6 and i still have not had the back operation yet so it is very hard to do things, alot I can not do with him , like run and play , play football so I spend as much time being with him trying to do what I can and dont worry about the house. I just also started home schooling him so now the fun is really going to start. but hey my kid will be loved and not raised in a strict house where he cant even play with his toys, They are in every possible room in the house!, and I will bet my son will be better off with it this way instead of a spic n span house that he can not do any thing in. Anyone else feel this way?

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YES!!!!!!! =(

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Yes, my house is messy, but not as messy as it used to be. More like lived in. People used to tell me that I needed a maid, but that was not the answer for us. I ended up hiring a professional organizer and it changed my life. She made it so easy to stay on top of my clutter that it is manageable, even for me, a TOTAL slob with two kids under 3.

It was expensive, yes. Was it worth it? YES YES YES! It has transformed my life and made me so much more productive. It even SAVES me money as I no longer have to go and re-buy things that I cannot find. Cheap at twice the price I say!

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After we brought our twins home from the hospital, we found it impossible to keep the house clean. Tidy, yes. Clean, no. After about 6 weeks we played with the budget and came up with enough money to pay for a cleaner every other week. We found someone who was just starting out and looking for clients - much cheaper that way. It was a lifesaver - especially with my allergies. We found it much easier to maintain the house. We also invested in a Roomba, so we can keep the floors dander and pet hair free without trying to find the time to vacuum or mop.

Once the boys turned 6 months old, I dropped the cleaner and now have my regular sitter come over a couple of hours a week. She watches the kids while I clean. It's actually cheaper and the house gets cleaned weekly instead of every other week.

With respect to mess - I just tidy as I go in the rooms that people see. My office and my husband's office are pretty much off limits to company, but still get tidied and cleaned up at least every other week. I also relentlessly cull so there is no clutter build-up.

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I admit that I have never had every room in my house clean at the same time!

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It has gotten so much better since my kids are a bit older. They are 3 and 5 now and they can help tidy up before bed. I wipe down the bathroom after the morning routine and again before bed. I clean up the kitchen after breakfast and again after dinner. The kids help with the dusting and I try to run the vacuum every other day... sometimes that feels futile because they or the dog track in dirt about 5 minutes after I vacuum. Same goes for the sliding glass door -- I clean it a few times a week, but it is never clean for longer than 5 minutes.
Laundry is much better now that I don't have a child spitting up every 10 minutes:) I work from home, so I can throw in a load of laundry or clean something up when I step away from my computer for a few minutes. I am very lucky in that regard.
It will get easier as your baby gets a bit older. Hang in there! The first 3 years around my house were cluttertastic!

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Dirt is my friend!

My house isn't particularly cluttered, unless you count those piles of papers and stuff that I keep organizing 90% about once a month but can never quite get done with them.

But I cannot and will not chase after every speck of dust. I bathe my kids, wash the dishes, clean up any miscellaneous evidence of feedings and pottyings, and keep the garbage from overflowing. I do laundry whenever I have a full load - usually averaging two loads a week. Other than that, I just put things away after I'm done with them. I have the habit of not feeling "done" with anything until it is cleaned up and put away. As was true before I had kids, I have had maids come once a month to do vacuuming, dusting, etc., and I spot clean when things get scary. I wear soft cottony clothes on my kids so they pick up the dust on all my floors. (Only partly joking.)

I was most excited to read that kids who are exposed to a moderate amount of dirt and dust are likely to have tougher immune systems and less likely to have allergies. That explains why I was extremely healthy growing up! I have a peaceful relationship with dirt and it seems to suit my kids very well.

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I know that my standards have really dropped since I became a single mom. My kids are older than most posters here (9, 13, and 15) but three girls can wreck a bathroom like you've never seen! It looks like Bath & Body works exploded in there.

I think the point is to have happy, well-adjusted kids. Clearly, judging by the state of their rooms, dirt doesn't bother THEM. I will never understand why they are comfortable living in such a mess, but I choose not to spend too much time haranguing them about it. They'll grow up eventually and realize that sleeping in a bed with empty wrappers from chip bags (ewwww) isn't optimal. I hope.

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Clean and disinfected daily, laundry daily, dishes never sit-we do not have a dishwasher--I find too many people lean on them for housing bacteria. I use hospital grade cleaners, the kids change when they come home from school--I hate the way they smell...We do not have a maid and I will not lax my standards--there is no need--it takes no time at all to complete the cleaning while they are at school and dishes while they bathe. And my husband helps 100%--If you deo it daily, in a routine it takes no time at all.

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Food has no place in a bedroom.

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