Married with children, how do you keep a clean, tidy house?

[Can Do (Phil 4:13)]

I'm wondering how women who are stay at home, full time mothers to small children (under 5's) keep their house so nice and clean? I'm so gosh dern tired that I can't be bothered to clean the walls, put the clean clothes away in the draws, DO IRONING. HOW do you all do it? How do you stay motivated? I'm in TOTAL awe of those mothers who can, because to be honest, I really don't want to be bothered, hence my motivation question.

Faithie

[Giaour]

Faithie,

My first response was "you don't". But I don't think you were asking for that kind of advice.

When I stayed at home with my son, I included him in my chores. I made them fun for him. He helped me cook and clean.

We played a color game by teaching him to sort laundry by colors.

He grew up to be quite the cook by helping me in the kitchen. I let him do the easy stuff. Getting the ingredients and setting the table. All before he started school.

You would be amazed at how much work toddlers can do.

When he was too small to push the vacuum, I attatched the hose for him and he scooted it over the floor for me. Sounds like child labor laws were broken but he had fun with it.

We made it a game.

[Scarletprayers]

Ahhh, I'm not sure if this is answering your question or not.............but maybe just more for something to think about. My sister's house was always immaculate, my house was..................................well lets just say lived in. I played with my children, I read to them, we made up stories together and drew the pictures for them. We cooked together and laughed and who cared if the clothes needed to be put away.

Well now that we are both Grandmothers, my sister, wishes she had been less worried and focused on the house and more focused on her kids. Her kids, when they talk about the fun times..............they are talking about when they were at my house!

Laundry can wait.........children can't!

[amazingrace]

I attribute the 'always immaculate and tidy house' to June Cleaver, Harriet Nelson, Donna Reed and Aunt Bea who were always perfectly dressed and never broke a sweat. In the real world, one needs to find a balance between neat and clean, and relaxed and happy. Most days, my house was in a state of 'organized chaos' until about 2 in the afternoon. Then I encouraged the kids to pick up and put away so the house would look nice for when their dad came home. Sometimes it worked that way, other times it didnt. In any case, as long as the house wasnt dirty, it was okay. My husband, for all of his worts and wrinkles, was always a pitcher-inner... so I could count on him to help out when he was at home.

[IslandRose]

I'm wondering how women who are stay at home, full time mothers to small children (under 5's) keep their house so nice and clean? I'm so gosh dern tired that I can't be bothered to clean the walls, put the clean clothes away in the draws, DO IRONING. HOW do you all do it? How do you stay motivated? I'm in TOTAL awe of those mothers who can, because to be honest, I really don't want to be bothered, hence my motivation question.

Faithie

YOU IRON???

I always did things the easy way. Give each child a small basket with their own laundry to put away. Who cares if the underwear is folded. If your hubby is picky about his, you can do his and then let the rest of it just be put into drawers any way. Do you have a clothes dryer or do you hang your clothes outside? If you have a dryer, pull the hanging clothes out one at a time at the end of the cycle and put them on hangers. I find that most of these will not have to be ironed at all if I just give them a shake and hang them while they are still warm. And if you hang clothes out to dry, put your hanging clothes on hangers before you put them out, then only the ones used for best dress will have to be ironed, the rest will be smooth enough. Every child loves to dust if you make a game of it. They may not do the best job of it, but if you have them do it a few times a week, most of the tables should look great...most of the time..lol. Keep a roll of paper towels in the bathroom and wipe out the sink and the tub handles and spout last thing every night before you go to bed. Then each morning theres a nice fresh bathroom and it will only need a good cleaning once a week. Dishes were always my down fall. I never had a dish washer when my kids were young, and that is the one job I have always disliked. Mostly, I just sucked it up and forced myself to do them immediately, because I hated it when I would get a big pile and no matter how hard I tried to ignore it, it just would not go away.

[hmh]

Have your husband help with the chores.

At least I do anyway.

[mrs]

I attribute the 'always immaculate and tidy house' to June Cleaver, Harriet Nelson, Donna Reed and Aunt Bea who were always perfectly dressed and never broke a sweat. In the real world, one needs to find a balance between neat and clean, and relaxed and happy. Most days, my house was in a state of 'organized chaos' until about 2 in the afternoon. Then I encouraged the kids to pick up and put away so the house would look nice for when their dad came home. Sometimes it worked that way, other times it didnt. In any case, as long as the house wasnt dirty, it was okay. My husband, for all of his worts and wrinkles, was always a pitcher-inner... so I could count on him to help out when he was at home.

Lol thats what we did to.It was the understood thing that if it wasn't neat right away, it was to be before dad got home.

[kodischild]

I'm sorry, I was a bit confused about the post. Did you really use "small children" "clean" and "house" all in the same sentence? I suggest professional mental health help!

Ok, ok, I know it can be done. If I remember right there was a flylady at flylady.net who would help you out. Well, she won't come to your house and clean for you, but she gives day by day instructions in how to start making the house look good.

She was all the rave on my old homeschool boards. Personally I decided she was nuts when she said you should make your bed as soon as you get up, don't even leave to go to the bathroom. Ok, sure, the bed would get made, but then I would have to clean up the floor and do the extra laundry all because I didn't run to the bathroom first.

[tuco22]

Hey, add 2 cats to the mix and see what you get!

[Mikeyjay]

My wife worries about this allot and she gets so exhausted...i help out of course but i am a bit more laid back...i don't really care too much if the place isn't immaculate as long as we are all healthy and happy !!!