old style family?

debtfreehopeful_2

Thanks balmaiden but generaly the evening is used up on my degree, plus the baby doesnt go down properly till around 9, roll on the day when shes in bed at 5 with her sister, no doubt then sophie will be up later!

have definately done well today dh came in and said wow. I just have the armchair and coffee table to deal with now which with some help from him i think i can manage. if i get that done then my living room is sorted to well above my usual standard and should be easy to keep on top of. If i dont it shouldnt be too hard to get done tomorrow when dh takes the kids out

thanks all

krispyg76

It's your home, you do the best you can, your not a robot, you can't keep going 24/7

Untill we got our doggie, we were bothered how the house was but a house has to look lived in, you can have the best house in the world but it's not a home without people.

There is a beautiful Tom Waits song "House where nobody lives", it makes me apprecaite what I have, no matter what state :

"
There's a house on my block
That's abandoned and cold
Folks moved out of it a
Long time ago
And they took all their things
And they never came back
Looks like it's haunted
With the windows all cracked
And everyone call it
The house, the house where
Nobody lives

Once it held laughter
Once it held dreams
Did they throw it away
Did they know what it means
Did someone's heart break
Or did someone do somebody wrong?

Well the paint was all cracked
It was peeled off of the wood
Papers were stacked on the porch
Where I stood
And the weeds had grown up
Just as high as the door
There were birds in the chimney
And an old chest of drawers
Looks like no one will ever
Come back to the
House were nobody lives

Once it held laughter
Once it held dreams
Did they throw it away
Did they know what it means
Did someone's heart break
Or did someone do someone wrong?
So if you find someone
Someone to have, someone to hold
Don't trade it for silver
Don't trade it for gold
I have all of life's treasures
And they are fine and they are good
They remind me that houses
Are just made of wood
What makes a house grand
Ain't the roof or the doors
If there's love in a house
It's a palace for sure
Without love...
It ain't nothin but a house
A house where nobody lives
Without love it ain't nothin
But a house, a house where
Nobody lives"

binkybetsy

I have 3 under 5 and it is hard work, so you have my sympathies, truly.
The flylady is good for those who want to tackle it slowly bit by bit, I would recommend it.
I thought I might just share a bit of my routine with you to see if you could get any idea's from it, if that's ok?
I get up, open the curtains and windows and throw the quilt over the end of the bed, this hepls to air the bed and room. Go to the baby and feed him, do the same to his room, sit him in his cot playing, whilst I go to the bathroom. Open the window. I wash and brush my teeth and whilst brushing I take a cloth by the side of sink and quickly wipe around the sink and taps. I check the towels are clean before I leave to get the baby and go downstairs. I wake the other two kids and air their room, but not the beds, they often push the quilts to the bottom of the bed anyway.
On a night I load both the dishwasher and washing machine ready to turn on in the morning, so I switch them on first and then get breakfast. See, by now you're airing rooms, washing dishes and clothes all at the same time and the kids have not missed out on your time.
Once breakfast is finished clear the dishes straightaway to the sink and run some water to steep them. Go get dressed!
Once a week I concentrate on one room, decluttering and dejunking, then cleaning, by friday it's good. One thing I did notice is that if you don't pick up after yourselves (adults) then children follow your example and will make a mess without batting an eyelid.
My last tip is failing all else, just keep your hallway clean, that way at least you can open the door and not be embarrassed about the mess. Elsewhere in my house might look like a bomb has hit it some days, but noone knocking on the door would ever know:D
We've all been in your shoes, maybe without the broken arm, so don't be too hard on yourself.
I can give you the rest of my routine if you like. hth x

beckseven

I can completely identify with this! I work part time and have an 18 month old -the other day although felt guilty I put my son in nursery whilst I spring cleaned the house all day without any interuptions! If i take my eyes off him for a second he will fall over, break something or hang off my leg and I had 10 people coming for a weekend bbq so had to do something because the house was driving me mad! I'm constantly playing catch up but on thursday I cleaned for 8 hours solid washing paintwork, moving furniture etc. At the end of the day though I never go into peoples houses and think what a mess ever. The only thing I would notice if is someone had a dirty bathroom and only because I've got a phobia about that!

givememoney

I'd say to make the house look OK do the following:

Keep it tidy.....have a large box for each child and make sure they along with your help put their stuff in there each night before bed. Muck hanging around will make even a clean house look dirty put stuff away.

Vacuum the carpets and wash the floors. Do this twice a week at least. Clean floor make the whole place look clean it will also keep dusting to the minimum. I can get away with dusting about once every three weeks using this method.

After the last person has used the bathroom get dry cloths and wipe the bath/shower tiles and sink to dry them off. Do this everyday....takes about 5 mins and it will always look clean.

Clean dirty mirrors.

These IMO are the cheats way to a clean looking house.