Let's clean house! (Legit poll)

[pixiepink24]

I'm curious as to how many moms get extra help. I feel like I can't keep this place clean and wanting to know if I'm the only one. Also, I'm a SAHM too so I kind of feel guilty about it.

[sarahh]

We used to have someone come twice a month but we have cut back to once a month for a few months to see how that goes.

[wineandcake]

No. I live in a disaster zone. It's awful, but I'm over trying because it's always a wasted effort. I'm too cheap to have someone clean my house.

[ashiscute]

I've only had a cleaner come once at our old house while I was getting it ready to put on the market.

It is definitely not in the budget for routine cleaning and I really can't see wanting it. Sure my house is a gross mess sometimes (usually) but I feel like that's par for the course with 3 small kids. I'd rather pay someone to watch my kids so I could clean than pay someone else to clean personally.

[hereiam]

I'm a SAHM and my house is always a mess. The stages are
Messy no one coming over
Clean enough for good friends and family
Clean enough for occasional visitors, out of town guests, etc.
I feel that there is always something that needs to be cleaned in my house. My husband and I usually clean house on his day off. The rest of the time we're just trying not to get buried alive. I'm head of laundry and he is head of dishes (no dishwashers machine). We help each other with the others tasks. The living room I try to clean everyday. I have DD pick up the toys and I take care of any trash and dishes that wonder in there and vacuum.
I wish I could afford to have someone come clean but it's not in our budget. I would hate having to clean to have someone else come clean, too.

P.s. I also think that the fact that we do stay home every day makes the mess worse. 3 meals plus snacks worth of dishes, toys being played with, clothing changes from being outside and getting dirty, or my kid just changing clothes because who knows why? etc.

[rachydc]

Twice a month here and she's a godsend. I have no idea what I'd do without her!!! I wish I had the money for her to come weekly, it'd be worth it!

[amch8]

We have a woman (and her assistant) who come every other week. They are magic elves and the house looks so good and the dog loves them and they leave flowers!

For the few months when I was SAH, we did not have cleaning help. I split my chores into six buckets and did one bucket each day during nap. (I gave myself Saturdays off.) It helped me to have a specific schedule each week, i.e. Monday - JR's laundry, kitchen counters, guest room; Tuesday - master bath, sheets and towels; Wednesday - hall bath, first floor vacuuming... etc, etc.

[pixiepink24]

That sounds amazing amch8 !
My problem is being able to walk away from the girls to get anything done. Just for me to go pee or get dressed, there are like two screaming matches and they are fighting. Plus SO is never really home to help. And with nap time, that's the only time I can shower or I can make a yummy lunch. If I shower, W always wakes up at the end. If I make noise and clean, she wakes up too. Just me walking into the kitchen to make their food can cause issues of screaming and fighting. Ahhhhh!

[Deleted]

I suck at cleaning. I SAH most of the time and I feel like that almost makes it worse. Our house was cleaner when we both worked full time because no one was here all day.

[mnj05]

Pig sty over here. We do dishes almost daily (depends on how many were used), laundry on the weekends, and living room daily (clutter). It's hard to keep up, but we do the best we can. DH would like to hire someone, but we live too far out for a reputable company and I don't know that I trust many people in our little town.

[lonegalathome]

I have someone weekly. We used to do every other week and DH surprised me and signed us up for weekly when dS3 was born. She's a life saver and way under charges for what she does.

Since the kids are home all day it can get to be a mess, and I'm at work so not there to clean it. Nanny picks up and straightens, but not full on cleans - and I don't want her to do that - I want her focused on the kids.

I then do all the laundry and DH is in charge of the dishes.

As someone who works out side the home we decided early on (at kid 2) to find a way to fit a cleaner into the budget so we could spend the time we do have at home with the kids and not trying to get a million things done.

[lonegalathome]

@justinslovo, getting rid of stuff has helped so much! I follow Purposeful Mom Life on FB that is about minimalizing your home and its truly been helpful. Less stuff = less stuff to clean and tidy

[pixiepink24]

Feb 22, 2017 11:19:58 GMT -5 @justinslovo said:

pixiepink24 what is it that bothers you the most?

I guess I just feel like it's dirty. Like gross and nasty. I eventually get in a good deep cleaning and almost immediately the floors are covered in food, trash, dirt, etc. I find remnants of food random places, stuff is always stuck to my feet no matter how much I sweep or mop. I just feel like I can't keep up. I clean one thing and when I move on to the next, the previous thing just gets destroyed again. And two toddlers don't help the situation. Weekends are easier when it's just W and I or when we go out on play dates during the week and out of the house.

[catladymeow]

We have thought about having someone come in and clean our house biweekly but right now we are saving every penny for a down payment on a condo so we haven't pulled the trigger. It sure would be nice though! We keep on top of surface level cleaning fairly well but deep cleaning happens very rarely.

[mrsbeachcat]

SAHM with no outside help. Two things have helped:
1) our house is tiny
2) my standards have been significantly lowered over the last year. Now, if the toys are put in bins and I vacuum I consider the place presentable. I'm lucky in that Bill isn't that sensitive to noise so I can vacuum when he sleeps. He also doesn't have that many toys since we spend most of our time away from the house.

One thing that I have found that has helped (but might not help you since you have two) is cleaning as we go. So if we do a messy art project, I basically wipe up the spills with a damp rag or baby wipe as they're happening. I also only ever have three toys out at once.

[pixiepink24]

@justinslovo
Sometimes they get a snack catcher of Cheerios since they wake up at different times occasionally and to hold them off until breakfast. But they eat everything else at the table and chairs. I have to sit right there to wrangle them and make sure they keep sitting down. W is good on her own and so is J but when they are together, they feed off each other. We have a lot of dirt outside from tree removal over the fall so it tracks inside. And I've been pushing the "no shoes" thing lately too. And we are all dark hardwoods and light tile so everything is noticeable.

Oh and J is super scared of noises like a vacuum. But I'm ok with the swifter or wet cloth idea.

[Deleted]

My baseboards and stairs are dusty and my shower could use SUCH a good scrub. If we ever end up back in the black, I will probably hire sharebear05 's service if she's happy with them, but I can't justify the cash until we stabilize. And like @traceyos - I know this stage isn't forever and right now having weekends free with L is more important than a clean house.

I do keep up with laundry and dishes and wiping down counters and tables and the really important stuff. It's the other stuff that I wish was done that isn't, but you can't have it all at the same time, so I try to let that go.

[lovemyirishtwins]

I do not have any help as I am home and it is not in our budget. Like ashiscute said I would rather spend our money on different things.

I cook and clean the kitchen after each meal. I vacuum daily because we have cats. Laundry is twice a week. I mop, clean bathrooms, dust, clean windows as needed.

Give me an hour of no kids and I can clean so much. I often think what I did before kids because it would take me so much longer.

[pixiepink24]

lovemyirishtwins
See, I would LOVE some time without W, but it's not do-able. I think that could help, ya know?!

[lonegalathome]

pixiepink24 no shoes in the house is KEY KEY KEY in my house. Otherwise I don't want to imagine what it would be like. O loves to put his shoes in the little bin I have by the door. Can you gate the kitchen during meal times so they can't get out of the kitchen with food? O will sit with a tub of water and kitchen utensils and measuring cups for a good 10-15min (I put a towel under the tub), and I do kitchen clean up while he does this. Then I mop up the spilled water from his bin and count that as mopping....

[vvvvvfee]

i voted no, it's a pigsty, but probably we're somewhere between kicking ass and pigsty. it's really hard to keep up with the toy mess during the week. DS1 is getting better about picking up stuff (with prompting), but then DS2 will come along and just pull books off the shelves and dump baskets of stuff out.

on the weekends DH and i both clean- give the kitchen a good wipedown, mop the floor, vacuum, laundry, clean the bathrooms... but we let a lot of stuff go for weeks and weeks in between-- changing the sheets, dusting, etc.

daily we basically just wipe up DS2's mess in the kitchen and load/unload the dishwasher. no real time for anything else during the week.

i agree with PPs that i'd rather just have someone else watch the kids so i can clean- it's unbelievable how fast you can get it done with no kids underfoot. it's not in our budget to hire someone to clean, but even if it was, i'm not sure i'd be into it- especially the idea that you have to clean up (i.e. pick up your crap) before the cleaning person comes.

we do have the expectation that our kids will help out more and more as it's age appropriate. we're trying to get DS1 started on some regular chores (feeding the cats, putting away silverware), and really push that he has to clean up after himself.

[lovemyirishtwins]

Feb 22, 2017 11:58:46 GMT -5 pixiepink24 said:

lovemyirishtwins
See, I would LOVE some time without W, but it's not do-able. I think that could help, ya know?!

The only reason I get time with out viv is because dh takes her out in the morning so I can clean or I clean when she is napping. The older two can entertain themselves if they are at home.

[lindylogana]

I wish I had a cleaner but not in the budget. I do a pretty great job of keeping up...my secret I never let anything get too messy otherwise things spiral. On Thursdays the kids know it's cleaning night and that's when I get the bathrooms done, clean the floors, etc. every night besides Thursdays things are straightened up.

[italianmommy]

I chose "No, I'm kicking ass at this mom thing" because I'm beyond lucky to have my husband as my partner. He is the primary cleaner-upper of the house and is the one who comes home and tidies up the place each night. He's the best.

[catladymeow]

Feb 22, 2017 12:38:04 GMT -5 @justinslovo said:

Feb 22, 2017 12:35:22 GMT -5 @mamabear02 said:

Sam does a good job with helping unload silverware and he will grab his toy vacuum while I'm vacuuming...but I just get frustrated when I try to do any other chores because he has to be right there...or making a mess while I'm picking up.

I totally get it sister!

Oh man, E has a toddler sized broom that she loves. She likes to "help" me sweep up after dinner. When she helps sweeping takes like 3x as long! 

[shawnabm1320]

I answered SS because we don't have a cleaner, and I wouldn't say my house is a pigsty, but it's not amazing either. I find that doing the dishes every night and picking up the toys before I go to bed helps keep everything at least look tidy. There are certainly still cobwebs in the corner and dust in hard to reach places - i.e. Martha Stewart would have a cow, but it's relatively clean these days.

I also find that for me it's easier to do a cleaning schedule like cleanmama.net has (it's one big task a day along with one laundry load a day, and then a couple monthly tasks you can fit in wherever) than to try to get it all done on one day. I'm sure that once the baby arrives it will be a pigsty for a while, but I'm trying not to stress about it.

[shawnabm1320]

Feb 22, 2017 12:29:53 GMT -5 @mamabear02 said:

I don't know that I could give up my relaxation time during naptime...and this is why my house is always a mess...

I only do things that I can't do with Forrest around - like take the garbage out or mop the floors. Otherwise he follows me around while I do chores.

[shawnabm1320]

Feb 22, 2017 12:35:22 GMT -5 @mamabear02 said:

Feb 22, 2017 12:32:54 GMT -5 @justinslovo said:

I don't clean during nap time. That is ME time. I try and incorporate the girls into my cleaning as much as possible. Or clean while they are occupied with a craft of a snack etc.

Sam does a good job with helping unload silverware and he will grab his toy vacuum while I'm vacuuming...but I just get frustrated when I try to do any other chores because he has to be right there...or making a mess while I'm picking up.

LOL I often tell MH that usually while I'm cleaning one area of the house, F is destroying another. He's getting better at helping to put things "ba" (back) after he makes a mess though.

[wells2010]

We are constantly cleaning it seems. We do get cleaners in every other week. We clean the basement ourselves. I'll do toilets in between. H helps out a lot, especially cleaning the kitchen. My problem is laundry. We are terrible at doing it and putting it away.

[pixiepink24]

wells2010
Putting laundry away is definitely the thing I struggle with forever. Even as a teen. I like to fold it, sure. But I can't seem to put it on a hanger or in a drawer. So then I live out of a laundry basket with a filled laundry basket of dirty clothes next to it.