Argh! I'm just having a hard time today with the house. It's like we got all crazy over the holidays and bouncing back is taking extra long. Looking at all I have to do is depressing me today because I feel like nobody helps tidy, they just make more WORK for me!

Anyone else in that boat?

I plan on checking in as I tackle stuff today in the hopes that I stay motivated.

• 1 load in washer
• 1 load out of dryer and dumped on couch

A.

I know exactly how you feel. I have class all day today, but tomorrow I will have no other excuse so I'll have to just get it done. Bleh...

Here's where I'm at now...

COMPLETED

• 1 load kid clothes in
• 1 load out kid clothes from yesterday out
• 1 load quilts in
• 1 load kid clothes out
• 1 load quilts out
• 1 load master bedroom sheets in
• made my lunch

NEXT UP

• reboot dish washer
• put away dry dishes
• declutter master bedroom floor
• vac floor
• tidy nightstands
• Remake the bed once clean sheets are done
• Put away all the clean laundry piling up on the couch

Nrrrrgh. But doing it!

A.

Astrophe - well done! For feeling unmotivated, you sure are attacking the stack! I can relate to not having pick-up help. Since I work full-time, and was probably enabling the problem, I announced to DH and DS that I wanted to see exactly how much mess I was making myself, and in order to do that, I wasn't going to pick up any of their stuff (so I could see how fast my clutter was accumulating). Within two days they were losing keys, homework, books, pens, badges ... and clearly the root cause was in their court.

Another method is to get a box for each involved person, and to shovel all their stuff into it instead of putting it back where it belongs. That's easy enough to do ... the only problem we've run into is that the box itself can become a permanent fixture!

Thanks for the encouragement. It's just depressing me. I'm sticking to laundry and bedroom themes today.

We accumulate clutter and I'm the only one who DECLUTTERS. So I've been taking pix today and posting freecycle stuff too.

A.

Well, I have to clean a portion of my house everyday to get to all the basic areas each week, and we do cloth diapers, so there are at least two loads of laundry per day that need to be completed.


Today I have cooked two meals, done one load of dishes (after this post, the second load goes in), washed three loads of clothes (folding is also after this), cleaned my guest bath, cleaned my kids' bath, and straightened the living room.

Pretty normal for me . I have, as mentioned, a load of dishes, laundry folding, and dinner left to cook.

My cleaning schedule is as follows, and is very helpful in me getting things done wi an infant and two toddlers tearing everything apart.

Monday: baking day
Tuesday: sweep and mop the wood/tile downstairs
Wednesday: clean guest and kids bath
Thursday: vacuum upstairs and dust
Friday: clean master bath
Weekend: clean and declutter any other areas needing it (like a cabinet or pantry)


This makes the task of home keeping a lot more manageable, and if I miss a week it is no big deal, since it gets done on a regular basis. It also makes it very easy to spend fifteen minutes spot cleaning for company (thus cutting down on my embarrassment with someone swinging by unannounced).


You got a TON done today, congrats!

Omg. I absolutely understand not being able to get this crap on track after the holidays. And all these Snow Days the kids have been having! Usually I love them but as soon as I saw the School Cancelled this morning I wanted to cry because it KNEW it meant blanket fort in the kitchen and I dont WANNA wash all those blankets again today! /whine off

I am right there with you. We've been running around like crazy since Christmas and haven't had a single weekend at home (business trips, visiting family, obligations, bridal showers, etc etc etc). This Saturday is my deep-clean day, and honestly, I'm so excited. Sarah will be at work, so it's just me, my cleaning supplies, some loud music, and a whole day to do nothing but get it taken care of.

Chickies, I'm 72, have no family responsibilities and never seem to keep up! Let me know if you find the secret.
(Of course, spending part of my day online is not a help!)

Once in a while we go hog wild and clean everything top to bottom when we have time. Tuesday we had a guy come out to give us an estimate on new windows so my husband cleaned everything thank goodness.

During the week, if I can see the half of my dining table we don't eat at I consider it a success.

Saturday however, it's like a dozen loads of laundry, sweep, mom, vacuum, both bathrooms (which get seriously icky with a 3 year boy old who's mastering aim), dusting everything, sanitize all kitchen surfaces, sanitize all baby toys/bottles then move on to prep work for weekly meals.

I need a fairy god-maid.

Wow! So many of us! Maybe we need a check in weekly thread or something?

A.