I am not very good at keeping a tidy house. I have three kids and just can't keep up w/ laundry, putting things away, making meals, etc. I would like to do more playgroups etc. w/ my kids but I always seem to be "catching up" on house work. How do you do it?

I can almost keep it picked up but it isn't clean, kwim. I clean it, but then it is dirty a day later. Sigh. Neverending cycle. I seriously need to find some help.

I think for us what really helps is to have a realistic definition of tidy. I used to go for the perfect house look...like no one lives here lol. But don't have a large house. And we homeschool which means I have another thing to keep me busy and the kids are almost always here too. And I have my business.

So for me tidy is picked up, a clear floor, dishes handled and the kitchen wiped down, and a non-embarassing bathroom.

There might be a pile of shoes by the door. There is probably a basket (or six) by the couch with my projects. There might be a bucket of crayons on the table. But as long as I can get to the table at dinner time I'm good.

Simplifying and decluttering has helped a ton. Also paring down the toys in the house to just the ones that actually get played with really cuts down on the messes. We also work together a couple times a day to race and pick up as fast as we can.

My house definitely looks like people live here. But I can find the floor to mop it pretty easily :)

The race idea is a good one. We will use that one to do a mid-day pick up. Keep the ideas coming!

not always realistic, but fold laundry as it comes out of the dryer, wipe the bathroom down while the kids bathe (i have littles here that bathe together), keep counters free of clutter, if toys are in the LR & belong in the playroom...pick up a couple as you walk by & drop them off.

i feel my house is tidy if i can see the floor & countertops.

baskets help me a lot.

I seem to have paperwork coming out of my ears and it covers every flat surface I can find!
Simply stacking it makes it looks a lot neater.

For the bathroom:
I store my cleaning supplies (non toxic) in my towel cabinet, with cleaning rags. If anyone is expected to come over or is over, I simply go in the bathroom to use it and while I am washing my hands when I am done, I give everything a quick spray and wipe and into the laundry basket goes the rag.

Takes less than a minute.

Decluttering helps a lot too, but if you are already strapped for time, this will be super difficult to do....

I am a big fan of the baskets too. Baskets are awesome. :)

I probably don't even need to say it, but yeah, big fan of baskets here too :hahaha:

Well - I keep things decluttered and organized using containers and baskets. I keep up with the laundry, grocery shopping, meals. I also telecommute fulltime and have four kids.

One of my daughters and dh do the housework - not I. One of them has to do dishes daily and clean the bathrooms weekly. My dh does everything else. My youngest two help take care of the pets, organizing the foyer, and help my dd with the dishes.

It works. I don't even think about housework.

Well - I keep things decluttered and organized using containers and baskets. I keep up with the laundry, grocery shopping, meals. I also telecommute fulltime and have four kids.

One of my daughters and dh do the housework - not I. One of them has to do dishes daily and clean the bathrooms weekly. My dh does everything else. My youngest two help take care of the pets, organizing the foyer, and help my dd with the dishes.

It works. I don't even think about housework.


That's great!
BTW, the clean up race is a big hit here. Ds asks to do it. I have lots of baskets to organize the toys--we are working on keeping after the kids to get things put away as they go.

Declutter and EVERYONE helps!!!

Even my 13mo old helps to pick up her toys. DS doesn't even think twice when I ask him to help her. DS puts his folded clothes away, clears and sets the table, empty's the diswasher (puts everything low away), waters the animals, makes his bed, opens the blinds in his room, and wipes down the bathroom counter at night.

what has REALLY helped me is our chore balls. I have 3 ppl capable of doing housework. I have 15 chores listed on ping-pong balls, one on each. Actually, 12 chores and 3 'day off' balls. Everyday I, DH and DS pull a ball out of a jar. Whatever is on it we do (discretion from mom and dad for DSs chore). THis way come the weekend the house is in good shape and we have time off plus one day during the week. On the balls I have,

1-swiff x 2
2-clean the windows
3-mop
4-dust
5-clean hall bath
6-clean master bath
7-vacuum x 2
8-sweep outside
9-wipe down doors and walls
10-day off x 3
11-pooper scoop

DS actually looks forward to the jars. This has been a huge help. I still have to vacuum extra or sweep, but man, what a wonderful system this is. Oh and this is ontop of the daily expected chores listed in the beginning of the post.

Decluttering, simplifying and training. LOL!

Decluttering will indeed be difficult...it actually took me over 10 months once I really got serious. And a lot of areas were untidy during.

I had to get cleaning help...I just couldn't keep up. My dh works long hours and said he'd rather pay for a cleaning service than spend his time off helping with the heavy stuff I just don't have time to get to. So that's been great cause he rarely followed through anyway! And just keeping up with clutter, cooking, dishes and laundry is a full-time job imho.

I've also had to really be a hard@ss with my kids and dh about picking up after themselves and pitching in. Once I finished my 10+ month project, really for the first time since we started having kids, I had our house presentable to the point where I didn't have to dread people coming over! I sat dh down and told him that I needed to teach the older kids to pitch in more...that I could not spend the rest of my life being everyone's maid. He agreed and he now backs me up and will cooperate if I'm on his case too.

I am a big fan of the baskets too. Baskets are awesome. :)


Except when you have way too many filled with all kinds of junk, tee hee.

I have a hard time letting go of anything and am a total packrat... sigh