How long do you spend cleaning per day? per week? especially anyone with kids under 5

Mics_chick

(Yes I have posted this in the Arms as well just in case some peeps don't visit both forums...)

I've been trying to conquer my untidy house for months and months and months.

I start off with good intentions and on rare occasions have not only tidied and cleaned up but reorganised so that everything has a home.
But my motivation quickly dries up and within a few days I'm [strike]stepping[/strike] tripping over something (usually a toy :rolleyes:) and we're joking that the only way to quickly tidy the lounge is a shovel and a skip :eek:

I just wondered how long other peeps (who actually do some cleaning ) spend on it each day or week - depending on how you schedule it.
I'd like to know so that I've got some idea of how long it might take once I'm into the swing of it (when I do eventually conquer it )

Please help a desperate mum MC

Hapless_2

I have come to the conclusion that the house will be tidy the day the last one leaves home.

Icemaiden

I'd take a look the FlyLady thread first which is great for keeping up your motivation and getting yourself into a routine. This is how I started and haven't looked back since.

oldMcDonald

There is a saying that goes along the lines of 'cleaning the house whilst the kids are still growing is like shoveling snow whilst its still snowing'

I spend around an hour a day doing the laundry, cleaning and tidying, however there are always at least 6 of us at home most days (we home-ed and my youngest is 3), so I have to accept that my home will only ever be cluttered but clean!

Crazychik

I hate housework and try to avoid it like the plague, however - sadly it has to be done! Its all about getting into a routine and doing little jobs regular, which out weigh the big jobs and not doing them all in 1 go. IYSWIM

Try and keep on top of the "junk" which gets thrown in that cupboard! If its not used in 12months, out it goes!

At the weekend, both myself & OH shares the main house chores, hoovering polishing, sweeping, mopping etc of all the rooms!. Between us, it takes max 2-3hrs! OH works full time, I work part time when kids are at school. I try to leave evening's free for their attention/homework.

Evening chores are cooking dinner, iron uniforms for work/school for the next day, feed animals, do pack ups, put a load of washing in, dishwasher loaded up, on & emptied when done, hoover front room every other night, then bath time.

I clean the bathroom thorough at wk end (takes about half hr) and wipe over twice in the week (literally 5-10 mins jobs), same with the downstairs loo. Smaller area, less time!

Bedding gets changed every 2wks. I wash the dirty on the same day, and the wk end they dont get changed I iron them ready.

Only iron clothes as we need, but WM goes on everyday, or at least every other day.

I have 2 children age 11 & 7. So they are pretty good at keeping things/toys in their room. However, we do have a couple of items in the main living room, but they are kept behind a chair out of sight when not played with.

Whilst dinner is cooking, 2 mins swish with the sweeping brush, and wipe down of cupboard doors & surfaces! Done in minutes, killing 2 birds with 1 stone!

Keep on top of things regular & often, they wont take half as long!

I know pinnie's/aprons are a thing of the past, but my Nanna always used to wear one and keep a cloth in the front pocket, when walking up the stairs she would wipe one side of skirting and on her way down, do the other side. Whilst walking through the house, she would wipe door frames/surfaces. Its amazing how many times we walk through the house and walk past these little tedious jobs!

Mics_chick

Icemaiden wrote: »

I'd take a look the FlyLady thread first which is great for keeping up your motivation and getting yourself into a routine. This is how I started and haven't looked back since.

I have but it hasn't worked so far

sharronloves2spend

I probably spend toooooooooo much time cleaning tidying and cooking but have resigned myself to this as i have a busy household . there are six of us 2 adults four kids a dog(very messy) and 1 cat. My routine is as follows: Daily, two loads of washing ironed and put away. All beds made and general tidy of bedrooms, loo cleaned . General tidy downstairs and rugs hoovered(hard floors) and floors swept. All dishes done after each meal. What hasn't been done by 7pm doesnt get done! around 1-2 hours per day.Weekly: thourough clean all floors mopped and all carpet hoovered everything dusted shoes cleaned dog bathed (gardens done when needed) this usually takes around 5 hours on a saturday beds changed every other weekmonthly: windows and car washed and a marathon session on paperwork budjets etc......For me this is "Good Enough" i would love an Anthea style house but with four kids i realise that untill my baby leaves home(sob, sob,) it will never happen. My house is not perfect but routines and systems help it run most of the time efficiently. Oh yeah i have a stict clutter rule, all relatives have to run it by me before they buy my kids anything thats messy, anything brought into the house such as birthdays and christmas has a storage place!! A place for everything and (almost) everything in its place!!!!HTH

sharronloves2spend

Oh Yeah My Kids Are 12, 11, 7, And 4!!

Hardup_Hester

I've always done the same amount of house work, as little as possible!
I have 4 kids, tho they are now 20, 24, 26 & 30.
When the kids were all little the house was always a mess, now they are all gone the house is always tidy, lol.
I used to keep it clean, especially loo's, floors & kitchen surfaces, but never used to worry about it being tidy.

stressedoutmumof1

I was about to type that I spend all day cleaning, and then I realise that I spend more time procrastinating about cleaning than actually *doing* cleaning :rotfl:

Take today for example:

Out of bed at 6.00am, after watching the news, coming on here, drinking coffee, having a bath and hairwash and generally lounging about, I was finally ready to sieze the day at 9.00am :eek: It has taken me all day to tackle the ironing pile, do 2 more loads of washing, clean the kitchen and not a lot else Although I feel that I have been working my a**e off :mad:

I really need to get more organised as I work during the week (9.00am - 3.00pm) and I too have a rule that once DD is in bed, nothing gets done - it's me time

Sorry not really helped you much

shell2001

I have a just 3 year old and a 4 year old. I love a tidy house and everything in its place and to a certain extent I keep the lounge that way. The kids can have their toys out and play but then they put them away, we tend to limit them to one or two things at a time. For example they have the my little pony castle out and the box load of ponies fine, if they then wanna play barbies the other thing gets put away first. We usually put the counter on for say 2 minutes and see it we can beat it, I help that way its a fun thing, usually they count to see who puts the most items in the box.

Some people will think this is mean, its not it is teaching them to pick up after themselves. My aunty nearly had a breakdown when her 3 became teenagers because they did not know how to do anything for themselves, so she had to do everything for them - they couldnt even make a sandwich!! and as for just putting a plate by the sink let alone wash it forget it. She had to clean their bedrooms and at this stage they were 16, 14 and 12. My girls love baking and cooking and yes the kitchen looks like a bomb has gone off after they have "helped" but its soon tidied and they like helping with the washing up too.

By the way the littles can have as many toys out at the same time in their room as they like (we live in a bungalow so they play in there a lot), but they know at the end of the day they have to be put back in their place. I love storage boxes toys, jigsaws, books, etc get put in them and stored in their wardrobes.

As for household cleaning I follow the flylady thread, once you have been following it for a while you spend less time cleaning as its not such a mammouth task. The oven only took me 10 mins to do the other day (racks included) because its done regularly.

Try to do one room at a time, dont overload yourself. DECLUTTER is the major thing. The kids were at Nannies this afternoon so several more items of tat have been relegated to the bin or charity box.

If you dont mind the mess dont worry about it - I'm just a tidy freak! lol