Cleaning Schedules?

I am a FT working Mom of 3 under 3, DH is ok about helping out, but not the best. Actually I just had to have a conversation with him this weekend about being a better team player and at least watch the kids while I try to clean.

I hate that my weekends are all about cleaning and laundry, ‘cuz if not the house is a disaster, so I figure there has to be a better way.

I get home from work with the kids at 3 M, W, F and at 4 from the gym T & Th. The kids all share a room so it’s hard to get in there to put away laundry or clean if I have not done it by 12.

I have 2 bath, 2+ bedrooms, kitchen/eating area, living room, basement/office. 1 dog, 3 cats and a DH

I could probably do the laundry on the weekend day that we do not do family stuff, but I could use some ideas for how to deal with the other areas. My spring cleaning list is growing fast and I only have a week spring break.

Also, I have white painted cabinets…what is the best way to clean them…they get so nasty and the scrub brush with Lysol is the only way I can do it, but it can take me hours.

Lastly, how do I get my 2y/o to help picking up his toys more, this is a problem both at home and at daycare?

 

I am a FT working Mom of 3 under 3, DH is ok about helping out, but not the best. Actually I just had to have a conversation with him this weekend about being a better team player and at least watch the kids while I try to clean.

I hate that my weekends are all about cleaning and laundry, ‘cuz if not the house is a disaster, so I figure there has to be a better way.

I get home from work with the kids at 3 M, W, F and at 4 from the gym T & Th. The kids all share a room so it’s hard to get in there to put away laundry or clean if I have not done it by 12.

I have 2 bath, 2+ bedrooms, kitchen/eating area, living room, basement/office. 1 dog, 3 cats and a DH

I could probably do the laundry on the weekend day that we do not do family stuff, but I could use some ideas for how to deal with the other areas. My spring cleaning list is growing fast and I only have a week spring break.

Also, I have white painted cabinets…what is the best way to clean them…they get so nasty and the scrub brush with Lysol is the only way I can do it, but it can take me hours.

Lastly, how do I get my 2y/o to help picking up his toys more, this is a problem both at home and at daycare?

 

I struggle with the same stuff. It's hard for me to be SAHM and still have my house so messy...I just keep thinking how can this be when I'm here all the time? But I think it's messier BECAUSE we're home all the time.

One thing I've been doing is doing one load of laundry every day. I wash all our clothes together, whatever everyone wore yesterday, and dry it and put it away (usually doesn't get put away until evening). Days when I have an extra few minutes I'll wash sheets or reds that didn't get washed earlier. It's really been helping in terms of feeling caught up or at least not that behind with laundry. Also it's nice to have some clean clothes to choose from in the morning!

 

i do just afew things..
i keep up the dishes and laundry as i go along..
ie after dinner.. everyone carrys their bowl and spoon and cup to the sink.. i spend 5 min putting em in the dish washer..


as for laundry
i do one load a night after the kids go to bed.
if they are old enough i let em put it away right before bed because they are already in their rooms( heading that way)

i also let them ( shoot) their dirty clothes in to the washer..
ie my kids only ware red at christmas.. i just wash it all together.
one load per night

so the key is shoot. strip them in the high chairs after dinner before baths.. they go from the high chair to the washer and shoot and i add soap.. start the washer and throw them in the tubs..

right before dinner they go get their pjs and diapers and put them on the couch.. so i dunk em in the bath..

let em runn around naked baby until i can catch em.. diaper each one by myself and pajama them..

then its teeth story/milk ( they are calm and sleepy.. i can get them to do anything ie carry laundry.. where we all carry our clothes to the drawers

then its time for hugs kisses and prayers and bed..
my older son gets an extra half hour as long as mommy gets the same amount of time.. ie dishes are done, laundery has been started, laundry put away and the babies are in bed..

you wouldnt believe that they are only 2 and 1 (twins)

the biggest thing is a schedule.. they have to do it every day..
i love the strip in highchairs and shoot thing.. it really helps..

we have been using terms like cups in the kitchen
babys in the bath/ bed
pass too..

the other thing .. i stared with a simple toy when they were 11mo.. and said pass to.. and named a child.. i moved the pass to on to their cups at night because their is nothing worse than a crying baby around your knees.. because they want to be first..
all my kids know they wont be first.. they have to pass their milk /snack to get thiers.. and then they get a ton of praise..

i hope this helps..
its been for ever..
how are ya?
m

 

ps as for thier toys.. i put a laundry basket in the middle of the floor before dinner..and say if your hungry pick up all your toys..
shoot them in the basket.. they do reallywell..
i carry the basket in the kids bedroom and dont think twice about it because its not in the middle of myfloor..

 

ppss
as for the computer area..
keep it away from the kids..
i got a accordian folder for all my bills ie paper wk.. which i keep in my car.. its inevitable that you will be stuck at a red light..
thats when you open your mail and file it one for the dr bills one for the reguar stuff.. and i pay everything on line so i really dont have to look at it.. go me

i also keep a trash can in my front seat.. better than a bag more solid.. and i just file and toss the envilopes..

as for the white cabinets.. im sorry.. that just is hard

youll be fine.. get awkend away and get it all started..
every day is brand new.. and the kids cant bite and hit and pinch if they are busy plus you feel like your not the only one doing everyhting.. it feels great to have extra hands.. and teach em young..

hope this helps
m

 

I am a SAHM so some of my cleaning difficulties are easier than yours. I do laundry on Mondays-all of it. I would think that doing one or two loads a day after work would be helpful, though.

Do you have kids old enough to do chores? Even little ones can use a rag and dust stuff. Older kids can empty trash cans and sweep and do more complicated stuff.

Does your budget allow for someone to come in a do a clean once a month? That might take some of your load for a while.

I know it's hard. I wish I had better advice.

 

The first thing I did was tokick our 2 cats and 2 dogs outside. You would not believe how much cleaner my house is without them and theri hair all over the place.

A 2 y/o picking up their toys just takes a lot of patience and will on ly come with lots of time and consisitency. (Sorry, I'm no help there!)

How about assigning some specific cleaning duties to Dh so you can just take them of your list? Such as he is responsible for the basement/office. Not sure he would go for it but if you didn't touch it for a few weeks he might get better about helping out with it more consistently. My dh helps out but is not consistent about it. IT's hard to get him to be more of a detail thinker.

 

I'm not sure if this will help you or not, but it does help me. I don't follow it to a tee, but I do follow it closely. I am a SAHM now, but wish I had found this while I was working last year!

Fly Lady

 

i also use the Fly lady... I spend 15 min trying to work on one of those dreaded cleaning projects then it's back to something else, like playing with the girls.

picking up toys: i don't allow them to get more out or move to another area of the house until the blocks are picked up. or the dolls or the books whatever. I say, Alexis pick up the red book and put it on the shelf. then ask her to do another book. saying ALL the books, is to overwhelming and she doesn't know where to start.

Basic house functions: last night we all did the dishes and the twins thought they were playing with water. Dh put the food away. I wiped down counters and they rinsed the dishes and I put them in the dishwasher. Laundry is harder but i try to get them to help me put away rags and bibs. They will lay the rags in the basket several times trying to make it "neat" while i put everything else away. i give them a baby wipe and let them help me wipe down surfaces. they get the swiffers and I get the "real" mop and we make a mess with water.

I also use blanket time (instead of using a PNP). give the kids some toys and books, and train them to stay on the blanket until the timer goes off. I use this to get a break from the kids and get certain household tasks done, including getting my own shower.
HTH

 

I just got a great book called "Housekeeping with Kids". It gives a lot of great tips, with age appropriate chores for every age group. Gives a systematic approach to keeping your house neat and clean. I highly recommend it!!

Crystal

 

I have white cabinets, too, and hate them! Mine aren't painted white but are some kind of laminate material. Still, looks dirty a lot of the time. I admit to not being super good about really cleaning them except for wiping up spills as they happen. What I use when I do clean them is a concentrated cleaner I bought from a door-to-door salesman (something I never thought I'd do but I had this gooey stuff on some patio doors that the cleaner could remove so I went with it!). The cleaner is made by Hy-Pro and you mix it with water to whatever concentration you want (I use 2 parts water to 1 part cleaner). I remember the cleaner being kind of pricey (bought it so long ago I don't recall now) but I don't use it except on things that just don't clean up well otherwise. My parents borrowed a small bottle of the stuff and used it to clean their dirty gas grill . Another thought, my SIL swears by the Magic Eraser's. You might try something like that and see if it cleans up the cabinets without a whole lot of elbow grease -- or removing the paint.

I agree with the do laundry all the time method that others have talked about. I use a priority sort method -- if we need it, we wash it and don't try to make a load of whites, colors, etc. If something does need bleaching I'll set it aside until I have a whole lot of things that need bleaching. Seems like there is almost always some clothes in the dryer. My kids like to help put clothes in the dryer and take them out of the clothes basket to fold (though they hinder more than help on the folding!).

Looks like your son is just about the exact same age as my twins. I'm working on getting them to help pick up with mixed results. I've found that I can't ask "Will you help ..." since they just say no . What does seem to work is to sing the Barney "Clean-up, Clean-up" song and give them specific instructions and get them started -- like, "Let's put all the Legos in this tub now. I'll help you."

 

My guys go to daycare 2 days a week and they have a real basic little song about cleaning up and how everybody has to do it. It seems to help around here. They normally start the song, but if they are having motivation trouble I can get them started and they, well, sometimes only one, will start to pick up their toys. My guys are 2 1/2. this started shortly after they turned two.

 

I only keep out a certain amount of toys at a time. they have to pick up toys before meals & bedtime, they like to help. As for cleaning, I don't clean or do laundry on weekends. I clean a little every day, here & there. I do the bathroom pretty much daily. My kitchen is always pretty clean, I clean as I use the items I'm cooking with. I think if you do a little here & there you can keep it ok. Are you a neat nick? I used to be before kids, since then I've let my standards down. I also have white cabinets, I use foam bathroom cleaner, I use it for everything. Just wipe it off, you can rinse but I don't. I try to use one or two main products to clean with rather than task specific, it is much easier. I vacuum daily & only mop as needed or one time a week. As for laundry, I put the girls stuff away when I get them up from nap time in the afternoon, let them play while I hang stuff up, they like it so I take advantage. If you try to plan what you want to do, make it happen, it can work that you can take weekends off. I can't say I don't do any cleaning on the weekends, because I clean as I see it's dirty when I hav the chance.
I hope you cna find a way to make life less stressfull for you!