My kids are 15, 7, 4, 2 and 2 months. I feel like I am the only one in the house who picks up kids messes and stuff. I do keep clutter down and often "reevaluate" what we have taking excess to goodwill. However I guess I just want to know that I am not the only one whose house is a mess, lol. I mean underneat it all it is pretty clean (well except for the floor as the vacuum belt broke, ugghh). So it is just kids messes I guess. I am wondering what is the state of your house with 5 kids in it?

You need to teach your children to help you clean. Especially to pick up after themselves!

:bighug:
You're not alone!! I'm currently on strike against doing my two older dds' laundry, and at the rate they're doing it they'll be naked by Monday!:lol:

I'm also tired of picking up after everyone. During the summer I posted a "If something is on the floor, pick it up" sign. It didn't work, but I felt better and all my friends got a chuckle, which does relieve stress. I now post a weekly list of jobs (usually to be done on Fri), and assign rooms to each of my kids (the 2 y/o gets a reprieve, but not the 4 y/o) which needs to be done or they are home for the weekend. For school stuff I assigned a color per a child so if I see a folder or notebook I can call that child and not hear the famous quote "It's not mine" or "I didn't do it". In fact, that's the reason I quit doing my older girls clothes. I got tired of the it's not mine/I didn't do it scenario and told them since their clothes aren't mine, I'm not doing them. This is a family house and everyone chips in to help keep it clean.

:announce: I'm also nasty enough that I've told them if they don't like the rules they are welcome to find a new home with a family that is willing to pick up after them constantly. So far they are still here.

FWIW, my kids are 11 3/4 y/o, 10 1/2 y/o, 8 1/2y/o, 6 1/4 y/o, 4 y/o, and just 2 y/o.

Well my job is to teach the kids to clean up after themselves, but they are still in the learning process so I have to do lots of reminding.

My boys are younger but they can do a pretty good job of cleaning up the mess when they are motivated. They are still learning to do the chores of actually cleaning the house (floors, laundry, dishes and bathrooms) but hopefully by the time they move out they will know how.

You need to teach your children to help you clean. Especially to pick up after themselves!

:agreed:

That said, my house looks very lived in,lol. It will never be spotlessly clean and I've come to accept that.

I just noticed your baby is only 2 months old!! Give yourself a break! :hug:

:agreed:

That said, my house looks very lived in,lol. It will never be spotlessly clean and I've come to accept that.

I just noticed your baby is only 2 months old!! Give yourself a break! :hug:


:yeahthat:

I agree with everything the other mama's said. My job is to teach my kids what real life is like.... laundry, cleaning toilets, doing dishes, etc -- all part of real life.

And no, my house is NEVER spotless either - but I've come to learn that what is most important to me is my kids!!!.... not whether or not my kitchen floor is actually clean enough to eat off of. Plus I've also learned to relax!!... it will ALL be there tomorrow.

:hug:

my house is pretty bad right now. I just havent been able to keep up lately and havent even found the time to get after the girls to clean up. its usually cluttered, but somewhat clean, if that makes any sense.

Many times I just step over and ignore the mess, sometimes you just have to. I just tackle small jobs at a time and find creative ways to get the kids to pick up. We got this new game balloon Lagoon by Cranium and the kids will do anything to play it. So they cleaned up their playroom and the livingroom yay! I have 4 ages 7, 5, almost 3, and 3 month old (BF & CD). We also started a coin system (got it off lakeside.com) they can earn up to 30 coins a day and can trade it in to do special things like stay up late, go to a movie, buy books at the book fair, etc. I am always looking for ideas! Anyway to get rid of more stuff that just sits here and I think..maybe I will use it someday LOL!
Seems like some days I only get laundry dishes, changing and feeding done, others I feel like it's all piling up on me. Yikes! I love big families and grew up in one. The hubby wants more. Sometimes I would like to be done having kids, but they do tickle my heart.

I was struggling with this bad. Then, a few months ago I realized I had had enough. So know, instead of picking up the empty cheese wrapper or picking up the hairbrush left on the counter, like I did before cuz it eas easier, I know go and find the kid that left it there, and make em come throw it away/put it away. It does take a lot longer than just doing it, but in the long run it is a time saver, because now they just do it.
:hug: mama

Thanks mamas... I just needed to hear I wasn't alone!

you are not alone. i only have three kids but dh and both work from home most of the time so we often have 4-5 people in the house making messes. my baby is 4.5 mos and i am just now being able to get some semblance of order back in my home. i felt so blah and very tired for the last half of my pregnancy, so it's been about 9 mos since things were the way i want and need them to be here.

my advice is go easy on yourself now and as your baby grows and is more able to sit/lay/play alone, take advantage of those times to get yourself and any kids around involved in blitzing the mess. we do this together and it works well to make a big impact fast. it isn't hard to get everyone working full tilt when i've set the timer for 15 minutes---they know it's just a short time. twice a day and things are really shaping up around here. i do it alone if no one else is here.