My home is a mess

Emm-in-a-pickle

Gilly, I`m glad you`re feeling better - but don`t overdo it!
Taliahmai - Welcome! I`d agree that `general clutter` & clothes are the worst problems,
and that Alec Eiffel`s observation about wardrobe stuff is true of mine too! (I WAS going to tackle some clothes sorting today myself - but clearing LR, emptying the hearth and mantelpiece ready for the chimney sweep are today`s excuse...)
Re your spider anxiety - the huge ones (Teggies) are unlikely to be in clothes piles, but would it help at all if you used a clean pair of kitchen tongs to handle the clothes pile? And even wear a pair of gloves as well? Just to help put a feeling of `distance` between you and any potential spiders...
Also, I think asking your mum to help might be a good idea, if only just to get you started, but perhaps a few words from her to your 2 older kids might help? If you`ve always been a `pushover` perhaps a joint effort, grandma joining in with the talking about getting the kids to do a bit, might reinforce the message. Good luck.

Alec E, anything hot enough to mark the lino would probably be too hot for the buns.
I`m thinking warm the tiles/stones in hot water till they`re warmed right through.

alec_eiffel

Do you have a launderette nearby? It might be worth as a one off to get it all done and dried there - service wash will cost more but someone else will do the work and you won't have to hang around. Then all you have to do is put it away. If you need to buy more hangers do it.

If you have the space for a few airers I'd go for it. I put stuff on hangers when they come out of the machine and put them on the airer that way they're already hung up and ready to be put away as soon as they're dry and you can get a ton of stuff onto each airer that way. It kind of sounds like the drying is the biggest issue for you - a td is meant to be a time saver but if a load takes ages then it's never going to keep up with demand.

Do you have room somewhere for some coat hooks? One hook for each person in the house so bags and coats can be hung up as soon as you all get home to stop the pile up on the chair.

All the other stuff sounds like a two minute tidy before bed would really help. We always have a two minute look round and see what needs doing - rubbish/recycling to the bin, my quilting stuff in my stash bag (I'm never going to put it away so somewhere to stash it is ideal), dishes to the sink, laundry to the basket/machine/pile, magazines etc to the magazine shelf, shoes to the porch etc. It makes all the difference.

In terms of the children being unhelpful I think having a chat is a fantastic idea, if they know they're being part of a team rather than being punished with chores maybe they'll buy into it. I agree with Emm too, getting Grandma on side might be a winner.

Cat501

Taliahmai - I could have written your posts! In fact I think I wrote one almost exactly the same not long ago, especially the Sp*der bit!!:eek: I've done what Emm suggested, wearing gloves - and poking about in the pile (okay, pileS!) with a big stick! I even put a hairband round the wrist of the gloves for extra protection:rotfl:

House is still a total tip but I've got my annual gas safety check tomorrow, it was meant to be last week but I put it off Can't do that again though so it's a mad rush today to get the kitchen/hall/living room presentable, which means making my bedroom even worse than it already is:eek::eek:. Ho hum....funny mad rush this is, sitting at the pc!!

hugs all and welcome to all the new people, sorry I can't keep up with everyone's news, apologies as I'm sure I've missed very important things!

Taliahmai

Thank you all for your replies....i feel so much better knowing im not alone in this!

The kitchen tongs and the rubber gloves is a great idea...thank you!

The laundrette idea is aother one i hadnt thought of but would be really good idea. I dont think there is one near to my house, but there is in town. I've also just checked my emails on facebook and there is a local clothes drive to raise funds for a little boy with lukemia (sp?) so its a great incentive to sort them wardrobes/drawers out too! I've just told the kids about it and asked them to help me and they are really happy to help him out :)

I also didnt think to hang things up to dry, i do have room for airers (if the clothes are off the floor lol) but i could also hang them on the curtain poles as there above the radiators, so will dry fairly quick too.

we have just got soaked to the skin coming back from school so ive sent them to get into there pj's ad tol them we need to 'talk'....its going to be a challenge, there really mardy today lol.

Im going to phone my mum tongiht too and talk with her, she only lives round the corner but i feel less embarrassed if its over the phone. I just know shes is going helop but she will moan and whine at me about letting it get into this state to start with, all the way through....i think i will just have to bite my tongue and put up with it!

i'm so glad i finally managed to post, you guys have given me some great ideas already, thank you!! I just have to follow them through now

alec_eiffel

Love the idea of using the curtain poles!

Good luck with the chat. Maybe get the biscuits out if you have any! And maybe mask them for suggestions of what they could do to help so it feels like a two way process not just you dictating what's going to happen (even if that really is what's going to happen!)

gilly1964

Emm-in-a-pickle wrote: »

Gilly, I`m glad you`re feeling better - but don`t overdo it!

I promise I won't - have sent you a PM x

tattycath

so far I've sorted out 3 drawers and sorted out loads of clean laundry ready to be put away.
Now going back upstairs while i'm motivated to do it.
Just sorting some stuff out in loft

sonastin

Tahliamai - could you arrange it as some sort of reward thing. Getting grandma involved could work well here to. I'm thinking along the lines of spending the day on Saturday tidying the living room so that you can then all sit down together and watch a DVD, play a game, whatever-passes-for-quality-family-time in your house. Or tidy up the kitchen with the kids so that you & they can cook grandma a surprise meal (which means they need to clear the table as well). Make it a team effort with a target at the end that they will enjoy and it will seem less like giving them jobs or punishing them.
And then grandma can have a quiet word with the kids about getting them to help keep it that way - particularly if its done in a consipiratorial way of "make sure that mummy doesn't make a mess either" - makes them feel like they're not being got at.

I had a busy weekend of tidying the garden and baking. Finally tackled the bathroom of doom this weekend too. You would think it was a full turkish baths the way I procrastinate on cleaning it but it really is just a tiny shower cubicle, toilet and teeny wash-hand-basin. Its so small that its easier to clean the floor with a cloth than get a mop in there but its still taken 6 weeks (or more ) to do anything about cleaning it. Still, its done now - I don't have to worry again until, oh lets see, Christmas?! :rotfl:

(OK maybe I'm not that bad. I'll set myself a target of halloween instead )

YORKSHIRELASS

Well done Tattycath and Taliahmai. Remember baby steps all the way - choose one small job and finish it. Even if you only clear the clutter off the sofa its a start! If you have got something with a timer on it challenge the kids to see who can move the most clutter to its proper home in 20 minutes.

Mind you the trouble with kids when they are that age is they have so much stuff. Are there places to put everything away? Thats always been part of our problem we always seem to have too much stuff and nowhere to put half of it.

Feeling fed up today. In fact I am feeling fed up a lot at the moment. Have done some paid work today though which will help my bank account which is not looking too healthy.

Its been pouring down all day and tomorrow looks wet too. Need to jiggle the wet washing about and might even have to put the tumbler on. Poor DS2 was sick this morning - he has got a bit of a bug I think - so I couldnt avoid putting the wm on.

Glad to hear you are picking up Gilly. Hi to everyone else. Right, off to find something on telly. I am guessing that the fire wont be lit because I havent brought in any logs and no-one else is likely to have done it!

tattycath

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

Well done Tattycath and Taliahmai. Remember baby steps all the way - choose one small job and finish it. Even if you only clear the clutter off the sofa its a start! If you have got something with a timer on it challenge the kids to see who can move the most clutter to its proper home in 20 minutes.
Thanks
Mind you the trouble with kids when they are that age is they have so much stuff. Are there places to put everything away? Thats always been part of our problem we always seem to have too much stuff and nowhere to put half of it.
That's our problem too-not enough storage...or is it too much stuff??? lol
Feeling fed up today. In fact I am feeling fed up a lot at the moment. Have done some paid work today though which will help my bank account which is not looking too healthy.
(((hugs)))
My bank's not too healthy either, I only got paid last week.

Its been pouring down all day and tomorrow looks wet too. Need to jiggle the wet washing about and might even have to put the tumbler on. Poor DS2 was sick this morning - he has got a bit of a bug I think - so I couldnt avoid putting the wm on.


Glad to hear you are picking up Gilly. Hi to everyone else. Right, off to find something on telly. I am guessing that the fire wont be lit because I havent brought in any logs and no-one else is likely to have done it!

We've had lots of rain too.
I have managed to half fill my car boot with stuff to go to charity