Drowning in housework...

I have reached the end of my rope here... i have a house cleaner coming tomorrow to really get this place clean. I think I may have her come on a regular basis. I started counting things... I do approx 3 loads of laundry and 3 loads of dishes per day, that is if I cook meals. Even so, I fall behind. Yesterday I did 9 loads of laundry and have done another 5 today... 6 on Friday. So I am ALMOST done with the laundry. I vacuum the house every other day and you can never tell it has been done within a few hours... I mowed the lawn, cleaned the windows & table tops... 3 loads of garbage out today...
I guess I am just looking to see what everyone else does to keep up? What is your average per day of chores? Do you count? I never really did until this week... I am baffled at how I can spend so much time cleaning and still have a messy house.
The twins are officially in their "terrible 2's" now... they had to squeeze it in right before turning 3... so my time available not monitoring them has decreased enough to make a dent in the housework.
heeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllp!!!

 

Wow! That's a lot. We do a load of dishes every day. I have three kids and a dh. I do a lot of laundry too, but I guess it's about a load or two a day, but we have the nice large front loaders that can hold tons of laundry. No money for a house keeper, but I wish I had one. My house is always a wreck. I don't clean every day. We keep the front room clean most days. The playroom is messy for obvious reason. My kids are four and two (twins), so if I cleand all day, it wouldn't stay that way. I am hoping it gets better as they get older.

 

I have a big washer (got the biggest available when I bought it in 1994), and I do about a load a day. I run the dishwasher probably 4-5x a week (DS2 unloads it). I don't do any yard work at all, and I don't take out trash (DSs or DH do that). However, we eat cereal for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch, so that really cuts down on the dishes. That was still true of the big people when the girls were small, cereal and sandwiches. I straighten a lot (or supervise straightening done by the children) every day, but I only vacuum twice weekly (shoes, however, get left in the basement or the foyer). We have no pets. I do a big clean once a week.

Mine are old enough to keep each other busy while I clean, which makes a big difference, and my big ones are old enough to be useful. Just today DS2 took his door off and planed it where it was sticking, sanded it, hung it back on the frame and then vacuumed up the mess. (He gets to do housekeeping chores, too. He's going to be premium husband material! )

It will get easier once your kids get a little older. :hug99:

 

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and my big ones are old enough to be useful.

LOL, Mine WANT to be helpful, but usually make the mess bigger trying... they are so sweet. I also do one major clean per week, usually on Friday... including the sheets etc. DH does not do housework in general & I work more than FT right now so I am just getting frustrated I guess... just looking to see if anyone else has this much laundry & dishes? DH makes a huge mess in the kitchen making meals for himself... never for anyone else even if I ask. <_< That is probably why I have double meal clean-up/ kitchen work. I cook for all, then he cooks for himself... and MESSY. grr. Any ideas on how to keep up during the week are appreciated... thanks.

 

I just hired a cleaning service yesterday. I can't keep up at least to my cleaning standards. When I clean the house I don't feel like it is clean enough! I am getting my house cleaned bi-weekly for $55!! I think that is a great deal!

 

Hmmm...I've never counted & not sure I want to know Probably 2 loads of laundry per day, on average. I only vaccum our FR everyday, that one is the worst because that is where we enter the house. The rest of the house at least once per week, sometimes two if it needs it. Why is your DH making his own meals? Is one of you on a special diet and the other isn't? I would put a stop to that - either he cleans up his own kitchen mess or eats what you fix, or makes enough for all.

 

I never counted before. maybe I should try.lol

I have been doing laundry NON-STOP. ( well only to sleep anyway) since yesterday. but Im getting ready for my yard sale and a m2m sale so im rewashing everything. Today we pulled out a built in dresser in the master and moved two different dressers in there. I washed a few windows too.

Would love to be working on the yard aswell but we are still under about a foot of water back there.

and when my dishwasher aka DH gets on the dishes they will be finished aswell.

 

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Why is your DH making his own meals?

He makes breakfast for himself when he wakes up... just enough for himself... and dinners several night a week because he wants what HE wants, not necessarily what I make. He does not look through the fridge at what might be in the leftovers. I am not a bad cook. He just prefers his own cooking i guess...

 

Yea..... I'd make him clean up after himself if that's what he wants.

But for us, I HATE being the only one doing 'chores' and there are so many (count: ALL) chores that DH hates as well. One thing that helps us in the kitchen arena anyways is purchasing paper plates/bowls, plastic cups/silverware and also using papertowels as often as possible (for sandwiches and such) in place of plates. Cuts WAAAAY down on the amount of dishes. For us, the convenience is worth the extra $10 we spend. We do re-use the cups and I will try to re-use the same bowl for my cereal each morning (they handle a quick rinse out pretty well for 3-4 days) to cut down on the amount of trash.... And the rest is recycable anyways so it makes me feel a little better.


As for the rest.... hahaha Laundry we do when we're out of clothes (That's about 2-3 loads per week) and the rest stays heaped in a pile on the floor. I can't seem to stay on top of that to save my life! Vacuuming we went and got hardwood floors for the living room, ceramic for the dining/kitchen so I'll use the swiffer Vac a couple times a week, vacuum the rugs as necessary and the rest of the house maybe once/week (working on refinishing hardwoods throughout the house to make this chore easier)

For me DH doesn't clean up after himself in the kitchen (but also doesn't cook that often either) and he has this BAD habit of leaving bottles/cups/trash strewn around the house wherever he finished using it at. The kids have a hayday with this (as we speak I have bedding being washed because someone got the ice-cream cup that had been left behind) and it doesn't matter HOW many trash cans I leave through out the house, somehow stuff just NEVER makes it there.....

 

Let me see if I can remember it all...
Sunday: Two loads of darks and two loads of whites, dishes
Monday: Two loads of towels, vaccuum, dishes, sweep and mop kitchen
Tuesday: Load whites and load darks, dust, dishes
Wednesday: Bathrooms, towels, vaccuum, dishes, sweep and wet swiffer kitchen
Thursday: Grocery shopping in the morning, dishes
Friday: My clothes, dishes, vaccuum, sweep and swiffer kitchen
Saturday: Toilets and sinks, dishes, dust if company

Yardwork gets squeezed in as necessary weather permitting. Dh doesn't cook unless I don't feel like it. He manages the heavy yard work when he's home and does any of the chores I ask him to do. I usually have him help with the kitchen floors once a week or the bathrooms. If we have company he'll help do a thirty minute quick clean on everything that needs it. I do the bulk of it all, but I'm the one that is home most of the time. The oldest two dd's are responsible for their rooms and getting their laundry sorted into the appropriate hampers. They also help unload the dishes when asked. I'm sure I've forgotten something but that's the general idea. I try to do the bulk of it in the morning when the older two are getting ready for school and the little two are still quiet and cooperative. Oh, I unload the dishwasher first thing in the AM and run it when we go to bed every PM.

 

I do two loads of dishes a day ... one in the morning and one at night
some days tons of laundry and others one or two and sometimes none...depends on if im sick of it or not
vaccum every day
the kids rooms get cleaned twice a week for vaccuming
bathroom once a week
windows from handprints once a week unless they are really bad
and sweep the kitchen with the vaccum every day
three meals a day
dogs
and in summer i like to mow for exercise and silence every 4days and he weed eats.... we have a huge yard

 

I've never officially counted but I am alway behind. I HATE housework, hate it, hate it and it feels like I spend 75% of every day doing it. I can't wait until my kids start begging for allowance so that I can pawn some of it off on them .

But seriously, I do make a list everyday so I have a vague idea. It probably equates to 1-2 loads of laundry per day, 3 meals per day equals 3 massive messes in the kitchen that need to be cleaned per day, a full sink/dishwasher full of dishes per day, vacuuming seems like it always needs to be done, I try to pick up every room in the house everyday (although my bedroom suffers because it doubles as the office and we don't like the kids in there, you know the list - yours is probably frighteningly similar. It's just a neverending battle, we did try the cleaning lady thing but I was never completely happy with the work they did and I felt like I had to pick up for them to come anyway so I figured I might as well go the extra yard, save a buck & do it myself. Although I find myself rethinking that decision daily.

 

I run the dishwasher 4-5 times per week. I plan meals so that we have leftovers for lunch the next day and try to cook double batches of meat so it covers two nights worth of meals. This cuts down on a lot of dishes (and saves time/energy too).

I do laundry 2-3 times per week. If I've only done it twice per week. I wash clothes both times, towels on one day, and bedding on the other.

I agree that vacuuming is an exercise in futility -- that goes double for mopping. I sweep daily and mop a couple times a week. I keep a spray bottle of water/vinegar in the kitchen and just spray and wipe sticky spots with a rag in between mop jobs.

I clean the boys bathroom while they are taking a bath, then tackle the tub after they are out and with DH. I clean the master bath after they go to bed. The third bathroom (in no man's land) gets cleaned once a week. :blush: I keep a container of wipes in all the bathrooms for quick counter/fixture wipe downs in between cleanings.

Garbage I only have to empty every other day or so. We do a lot of recycling, so that cuts down on how much actually gets thrown out, and we don't have as large of a family as you, so that makes a big difference in all these areas too.

 

Let's see... I do it all. Well my oldest DS does the hallway (we have a mobile home). I do the cooking, the dishwasher, the laundry. If I stay on top of it, the dishes are done daily, with some left over for handwashing. I do at least 2 loads a day of laundry, and IF i stay on top of that it's a good day. Often it gest dumped in a corner and folded on the weekend, when my older DS is around for help. There isn't a room in this house that is not cluttered. We have 4 people living in 900 sq feet. Not a nice picture. I vacuum the living room every other day. Not enough time in a day to do it daily. I cook big meals during the week. But breakfast is often dried cereal (the twins don't like milk on it yet), and lunch is sandwiches, or soup. It's exhausting just trying to keep up to my three sons. But we do our best.

Teri

 

I don't keep track of the number of loads,etc...but it is CONSTANT!! and we only have 2 boys and no pets. I also have a cleaning lady every other week. But I still work my butt off everyday.

I really feel since I became a SAHM, much of my time is devoted to cleaning. Being in your house all day with young children equals one thing....MESS! I guess it doesn't help that I hute clutter and am a neat freak.

As the boys have gotten older, it has become easier to stay on top of things. They can entertain themselves for long periods so I can get my work done in one chunk of time. They are also less messy. Mealtimes are no where near the mess of 2-3 years ago. Now, I have started trying to organize ever closet in our house along with attempting to purge out the entire attic. That was something that I rarely got to when they were babies. It is such a great feeling to have less clutter and organization. I function much better.

 

Ha I like this topic! I do about 2 loads of laundry every day and then there's usually one day a week with all the misc other stuff...ie sheets and blankets. I do about 1 1/2 loads of dishes (in the dishwasher!!) every day. I vacuum at least once a day (big fuzzy dog!). Sweep and wipe up kitchen a couple times. Wipe bathroom down every other day. Pick stuff up constantly.

You would think with all that work my house would be clean!!

I'm starting to notice little things like a thin line of black yuck along the baseboards in my kitchen. I know a toothbrush would clean it nicely...If I ever hire a cleaning person that will be their job, all the weird little stuff that builds up.

I can't wait until my boys are old enough do clean some of the messes instead of making them all!

 

That seems like a heck of a lot. I hired a mother's helper (and fired the cleaning service) who comes twice a week for six hours total. Her main job is looking after the babies so I can accomplish what I need to without stopping every 30 seconds. My major cleaning gets done when she is here. I do three loads of laundry each day she is here and whatever else needs to be done that requires me to be out of the room for more than a minute or two. However major cleaning gets done when DH is here. Saturday or Sunday morning dh does bathrooms. I vacuum every day (we have three dogs) and I mop/steam the floor twice a week. I swiffer it after meals though.

A few notes: you only have three kids and unless you are playing catch up or potty training, you shouldn't have that much laundry. PJ's are worn two nights in my house. As for dishes, do you reuse sippy cups? We get a cup of milk and water per baby a day and they get refilled and put in the fridge so that cuts down on dishes. I run the dishwasher after lunch and before dinner then again after dinner.

 

i run the dish washer every night, and rinse dishes after meals.
i do 3 loads of laundry every other day... 1 load of clothes/ towels & bed sheets..

i never vaccume... i hate to vaccume.. but i scrub spots off the floor..

my biggest advice is shower curtains and lots of them..
i use them for everything.. under the dining rm table, under playdough, under the sheets on the bed..

good luck

 

QUOTE(Twinsanity+3 @ Apr 7 2008, 10:21 AM) [snapback]709324[/snapback]
PJ's are worn two nights in my house. As for dishes, do you reuse sippy cups? We get a cup of milk and water per baby a day and they get refilled and put in the fridge so that cuts down on dishes.



We recently started doing the 2-night PJ thing and I'm LOVING it! (We have always done the sippy thing suggested above, that was the rule in my house growing up -- one cup per day)