[~*Bethy*~]

So I am terrible at "keeping house" Im not a good housewife Everyone I know is like OCD about cleaning and I keep wishing for the drive that they have to keep a clean house. What is your cleaning schedule that you have? What motivates you to clean? How can I keep the energy up with 2 toddlers that come thru and trash the place faster than I can clean? How about toys - what do you do to keep them in order? Its like toys-r-us puked on my floor...

HELP!!

~Beth

[Lash]

I have zero excuses... I'll probably really clean when Shannon comes, but otherwise our house is a wreck most of the time. We are just gone so much that cleaning is the very last thing I want to do. Clint usually cleans and he ALWAYS does dishes (I cook though almost every night)

[**jessie**]

I just try to keep up on it so it doesn't get too bad, but I am far from OCD about it. I do dishes as soon as I'm done with them and wash/fold one load of laundry every day or every other day. Every Friday, I wash the bed sheets, towels, and bathroom rugs. On Thursdays, I clean both bathrooms and do a clean up of the kitchen. On Wednesdays, I vacuum all the floors and mop them. I try to vacuum the floors every other day, just because of the fact we have pets. I have no advice about all the toys!

[**Jenn**]

I have the attitude of it gets done when it gets done. Ian actually does a lot of the cleaning while I'm with the boys. As for the toys, we keep them in one room--it's actually the living room and dining room. During the day its usually a mess in there but before bed we all clean up. So at the end of the day it gives the illusion of clean. That's all I really shoot for. I'm so wiped by the time the boys go to bed I don't have energy for much else.

[~*Bethy*~]

Thanks ladies!! If I had a washer and dryer it would make my life easier, but we will change that very very soon!!

[Resi]

Before Oliver I did my major cleaning on the weekends when I was off. My husband has ALWAYS been so good about cleaning. He cleans everything. He does laundry, vacuums, dishes, mopping, bathrooms. You name it and he does it. Now that he has 3 days off per week he does most of the cleaning then. We still have a hard time keeping up with it all. I only takes a day or two and the mess is back.

[*JenJen*]

I am horrible at cleaning. I can cook, no problem..but cleaning is another story. I'm trying to get better at it and do a little each day.

[petalfuzz]

I get overwhelmed very easily so I don't clean. Today I vacuumed for the first time in a month! I'm trying a new system, though: I haven't gone to the website but got the book Sink Reflections by the FLY lady. Go to: FlyLady.net: Your personal online coach to help you gain control of your house and home I'll check it out for the first time now!

[~*Bethy*~]

Ive tried following them before but #1 I dont get dressed every day and #2 one of their main things is getting laundry done and I dont have a washer/dryer so we only do a few loads a week...makes for a messy house...

[A*LOT*OF*HOPE]

I clean on the weekends only!! I hate coming home from work and cleaning!! Dh is great, he does most of the laundry and dishes....and all of the cooking, he also mows the front and back yard!! I vacuum, clean little box, make bed, clean living room, dust and clean floors!! I absolutely hate cleaning, but it has to be done, I hate when people come over and think my house is messy.

[Adriana's Mommy]

I usually clean when I get home from work or on my days off. But there are days I'm just to darn tired to do it.. So my DH does it.. Since we both work, we share house cleaning chores.. If I was a stay at home mom, I'd have the house clean at all times, since I would be home..

We've also taught Adriana to pick up her toys and put them in her basket and she also put her books away.. Which helps out alot..

[Mars]

I clean the entire house every Saturday morning. I usually get up early, 6 - 7am, and put on the laundry. Then I vacuum/sweep the entire house and mop the kitchen. Then I wipe down the counter tops, stove tops and things like that. I'm usually done in about 2 hours. About every quarter I give the whirlpool tub a major clean and mop the entire house.

[Oriyan]

The cleaning is done on Wednesdays and Saturdays around here although Saturdays is the big cleaning day. Wednesdays is just mopping, vacuuming and dusting.

[*krista*]

I'm bad about cleaning too. I wouldn't say we have a set schedule, we just do it when it needs to be done. DF is very good about cleaning... he does all the dishes (I can't because I have pretty sensitive skin and he insists on using bleach). Dishes are the thing I hate the most.

Although I will say I am getting better on household chores in general. I'm learning how to cook, which can surprisingly enough be fun if you do it right! Baby steps, baby steps...

[Trannyfromtheuk]

I normally load the dishwasher and washer at least once a day (i have been a bit lax these past few days as Gary has been ill and i have been nurse bloomin' Emma!) I then mop/brush the laminate when Mia goes down for a nap her toys also get put away thenaswell... I brush everyday and mop maybe every other.
So by the time she gets up all house work is basically done and all there is to do when she goes to bed is to put her toys away!

Bed sheets get changed once a week, i hoover the stairs when they start to look dirty (thats the only place in the house we have major carpet other then bedrooms) and the bedrooms get dug out maybe once twice a month. I clean the bathroom as i go acutally I think you can tell a lot about a person from the state of their bathroom

[*krista*]

We just did the "omg your uncle the meticulous neat freak who's house is always emaculate and who hates animal hair just called and said he will be here in 20 minutes" dash! Ever done that one? It's amazing what can be done in 20 minutes by two frantic people.

I think he just knocked on the door....

[..Christine..]

Before I got pg I would clean every other weekend- and do laundry on the weekends I wasn't cleaning! Now, or lately, I dont' have the energy!! I hate it but all i want to do is sleep and so the cleaning is moving to the bottom of the list. DH is gotten really good about cleaning and doing the dishes and laundry! I know, like right now, I need to just get off the couch and get something done!

[Adriana's Mommy]

Originally Posted by ~*Bethy*~

How can I keep the energy up with 2 toddlers that come thru and trash the place faster than I can clean? How about toys - what do you do to keep them in order? Its like toys-r-us puked on my floor...

My mom owns a child care center and she has a degree in child development and other stuff I don't know about.. But she already told me that I NEED to teach Adriana to put her toys/books away once she's done playing with them.. I know that this can be done because Adriana puts stuff back when she see's me cleaning.. I just need to work on her by putting her stuff away when she's done playing with them.. I need to get her to do this before she turns 2 years old because she'll be going to my mom's child care center (aka preschool) and all the kids put their stuff away.. Adriana will be the youngest child there, so she needs to be taught now or she's going to have a tough time adjusting and the teachers are going to go crazy.. lol My mom says, it can be done because at such a young age, they are so eager to learn..

I just wanted to pass this information on to you.. Wish me luck with the training.. lol

[Mod-LadyCoconut]

Originally Posted by Lash

I have zero excuses... I'll probably really clean when Shannon comes, but otherwise our house is a wreck most of the time. We are just gone so much that cleaning is the very last thing I want to do. Clint usually cleans and he ALWAYS does dishes (I cook though almost every night)

haha NO CLEANING! I didn't get to clean when you came

I can pretty much ditto Lauren's response. Our house is cluttered/messy but not 'dirty' ya know? Ben's pretty good about cleaning and he too always does the dishes b/c when I'm done eating the last thing I wanna do is get up and clean. I always like to think we ccould make a schedule where it's like 'tuesday -- bathrooms... wednesday -- vaccuum or something' but it just winds up where on an off day ben or i spend like the whole day doing the house top to bottom... and then wait til the next time haha.

[*kyle*]

DH and I clean every weekend. We split up the chores - one of us will vacuum and mop (we have no carpet and a dog who sheds a lot so this is a big job) - the other does the kitchen/bathroom and other surfaces. I used to prefer the kitchen/bathroom part but when I'm pregnant I do floors because of the chemicals.

Dishes get loaded in the dishwasher (thank god for that invention!) as they get used, trash and laundry are on an as needed basis. DH does trash and I do laundry because we both hate the opposite chore.

For the past 2 weekends we were traveling out of state so by the time we cleaned yesterday, the dust bunnies were threatening mutiny! It was filthy!