Managing with no cleaning help

amother

Sat, Jan 11 2020, 9:03 pm

anyone have suggestions for keeping my house clean and neat with two toddlers and no cleaning help? I feel like I shovel while its still snowing Smile

I cannot afford help right now, so thats not an option. I also work full time, and after I clear off supper all I want to do is crawl into bed Smile

SuperWify

Sat, Jan 11 2020, 9:19 pm

Let go of your expectations.

Crawl into bed for 40 minutes when you feel you have more strength cleanup for 1/2 hr with a timer.

Plastic ware.

Teach your kids to cleanup their toys.

Teach your DH to clean up after himself at the very least (easier said then done- still working on that one...)

Laundry for the week Sunday

Fold and listen to your favorite podcast on Monday evenings

Amarante

Sat, Jan 11 2020, 9:45 pm

As posted let go of expectations and triage.

I used to use the flylady system as she was all about doing what you can do in 15 minutes so that you aren't in total chaos. It's worth at least checking her website out flylady.net for some tips.

She is a huge proponent of the clean sink idea and attempting to keep clutter from overtaking the whole environment. In other words, if you do nothing else but have a clean sink, it creates a beacon of order. amid the chaos and makes it seem less hopeless.

familyfirst

Sat, Jan 11 2020, 9:50 pm

Then crawl into bed:)

Sufffestions:
Don’t clean whole house every day
Do one or two rooms a day so that by the time the week is done every room had one good cleaning

Leave bathroom forThursday after baths so it’s done for shabbos

Simplify laundry. Hang what needs to be hung but everything else goes into baskets. Basket for socks, baskets for underwear, basket for pajamas basket for towels (try to fold those if you can) etc

At least it’s clean and organized

Baths two- three times a week

Easy dinners- make the crockpot your friend

cbg

Sat, Jan 11 2020, 9:54 pm

IMHO- doing laundry more often- smaller loads was easier for me. Others find it harder.
Freezer meals are a BIG time saver

Clorox wipes for the bathroom- any time I’m in there I wipe down the sink the toilet seat and wipe the floor. This way you can keep deep scrubbing 1-2 x a week

A big laundry basket to do a quick pick up of all stuff. When something is out of place in the basket it goes. At night when everyone is sleeping it gets sorted

DH sweeps, vacuums, mops floors

Everyone needs to help out

zaq

Sat, Jan 11 2020, 10:20 pm

It’s tough. It’s work. It’s constant and never-ending. You have to work on it all the time. Once you accept that fact,
you’re halfway there.

1. Have less stuff. Especially toys. Your dc needs no more than 2-3 toys out at a time. Put the rest away and bring them out in rotation. If you own a wash machine, you and your kids don’t need nearly as much clothing as if you have to use commercial machines.

2. Designate a “home” for everything. If you can’t find a home for it, don’t bring it into the house, period.

3. Have a one-in, one-out policy: for every new item you acquire, get rid of an item of equal or greater space value. A new dress is not compensated for by tossing an old pair of socks or a coffee mug.

4. Start teaching your kids NOW to put things away. Make it easy for them by labeling drawers and cabinets with pictures, mounting coat racks and the like at their height so they can hang things up, and using bins or drawers for most things.

5. Clean up and put things away as you go. It makes a job take longer but there is no mountain of tidying to do when you finish.

6. Make putting things away easier than finding them. E.g. shoe racks and bags make it easy to match up shoes but are harder for kids to use. One big bin or drawer for shoes means the shoes will be all mixed up, but it’s easy for kids to just throw the shoes inside.

7. Take advantage of your high energy moments. If you wilt after supper but have energy in the morning, get up half an hour earlier and clean up then. After supper, put the dishes to soak in a pan of soapy water and wash them in the morning, if you can stand the thought of a pan full of dirty dishes soaking overnight.

8. Do things in little bites: Once or twice a day, set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes and tidy up as much as you can in that window. This is not fine detailing work but big sweeping cleanup—clearing the mail and junk off the kitchen counter, not sorting the mail; hanging up the towels in the bathroom and putting things back in the medicine cabinet, not polishing the faucets.

9. Do things in little bites: Once or twice a day, pick up and put away 5 things. Make it a game with the kiddies, too. Since they’re nearer to the floor than you are, have them each pick up two or three things and bring them to you. You can incorporate a counting jingle, too, if you like.

10. Use bins, baskets, bowls, jars, boxes and containers of all kinds to corral multiple small items. For example, put a small tumbler in the bathroom cabinet to hold all those long, thin things one stores there: nail files, clippers, thermometer, tubes of one thing and another. Use a basket with a handle to hold all the stuff you use on a regular basis—makeup, deodorant, lotion, brush and comb, and so on—keep it on your dresser and carry it into and out of the bathroom with you. Don’t clutter up the bathroom with your personal stuff.

11. A tip I learned from the owner of a professional housecleaning service: keep a dedicated sponge or cloth in the bathroom and wipe down the sink surround every time you use it. No one else in the family will, of course, but your wipedown two or three times a day will be enough to prevent that gross buildup of dust, hair, toothpaste, spit, soap, mineral deposit, body fluids that shall remain unnamed, makeup, mildew and scum that collects on the surface. Remember to wash the sponge or washcloth now and then.

12. Do the same for the kitchen sink surround once or twice a day.

11. Accept reality. Your house will never look the way it did before you had kids until your kids grow up and leave home. Shoot for presentable, not pristine.

amother

Pewter

Sat, Jan 11 2020, 10:38 pm

Keep a bottle of windex, or any all purpose spray u use often, in each area of the house- in bathroom vanity, under kitchen sinks etc so whenever there’s a spill or any buildup I take out the cleaner and clean it right away instead of walking all over trying to find one then forgetting about it.
I do kids linen one week then my linen the next week so it’s not too overwhelming.
If the mess gets too overwhelming then u have too much stuff, get rid of anything you don’t need and like the posters above- empty counters look amazing and makes everyone more motivated to clean.

amother

Black

Sat, Jan 11 2020, 10:40 pm

Just so you know, housekeeping feels a lot like shoveling while it's still snowing even once the kids are older Banging head

It's hard! I've been through times without cleaning help and working full time. I didn't work Sundays, so I focused on getting a lot of housework done then. Sure, I would have preferred a sparkling house for shabbos, but it wasn't at all realistic, especially in the winter. So my deep cleaning happened on Sunday, and touch ups throughout the week. If you nap on shabbos, you might have more energy motzei shabbos too.

amother

Pewter

Sat, Jan 11 2020, 10:44 pm

I sweep under the couch and mop there every 2-3 weeks to avoid a big pileup of dust and lost legos- makes you feel good that at least under the couch is clean if the rest of the house is chaos Very Happy

Do a different shelf in the fridge whenever you feel like it every couple weeks or whenever needed so it always looks decent.

thriver

Sat, Jan 11 2020, 11:01 pm

Give the kids shmattas “to help” while you do the real cleaning. This way they will not be busy undoing while you are cleaning and praise them for their “cleaning.” Maybe this will motivate them to keep it a little cleaner.

Not sure how old your toddlers are, but I’ve seen kids as young as two and three clean up their plates after eating. They will need prompting, but if you encourage it in a positive way (and of course continuously remind them until it becomes standard), they will be able to help themselves.

Love the other suggestions on here.

You can do it!

Validate yourself and keep your standards realistic for your situation. Do not compare yourself or your home to anyone else.