How to Manage Time at Home

Perhaps having set day you do laundry or clean certain rooms might help. Your 3 year can help you with carrying the clothes to the washing machine and helping you put them in the dryer or helping you take them out of dryer. The 3 year old can help clean up her room and dust things. Yard work we typically do on the weekend.

I looked into flylady.com and I was overwhelmed by it. I am a SAHM, so I do get more hours in the day to get things accomplished, but I was feeling overwhelmed and like a hamster on the wheel. I never got anywhere and the house seemed to always be a mess. On this site someone suggested to another person to work out a cleaning schedule and stick to it. That advice has been a life saver. For me I just made each room a day of the week...for instance Mondays I do the kitchen and dining room and water plants. Thursdays are laundry days and vacuuming. I scrub my kitchen and dining room down on Mondays...that's it. The rest of the week I just pick up normally (dishes, wiping counters etc.).It's not foolproof, but I feel like I am keeping up with things more. BTW, Saturdays and Sundays don't have listed chores...only to pick up the living room so there is family time. It"s helped.

You could try doing the chores with your husband. That way you can talk about you day, be together and get things done alot faster. Hope you find what works for you!

M., I may be able to help. My business, Well Organized Living, tackles organizing, staging and home redesign issues. Since this is thru Mamasource I'd be willing to do a free 1 hour walkthru for you and give you some suggestions for streamlining things at home, developing a schedule to help you keep on top of chores, etc. In addition I am a mom to twin teens and a 20 yr old with down syndrome so I know what chaos is like. I was a single mom for almost 4 years and a working mom as well. Let me know if you'd be interested. I love helping other women!! L.

i work part time and still wonder how to get it all done! hubby works full time, plus there's errands to run and family things to do. where is there time for laundry some weeks is a mystery. i'm happy if i can sit on my furniture, have a reasonable amount of clean laundry, and see my kitchen counters, on a good week! the yard is done in fits of productivity. the rest of the house is done once a month by a house cleaning service. well worth the money!!!!!!! i maintain in between. we also we get a carpet cleaner to come in every few months. letting go is good advice, as is a schedule of some sort. don't do a strict schedule as life will always interrupt it. and yes kids can help clean! ask my 12 yr old when he started housework. ;)

M., I have two small childrens as well 4 & 7. Here is what I have learned...working parents can't do it all. I try to clean a little during the week and a little on the weekends. But to me the most important thing is spending time with my family. The kids are only small once...enjoy them.

I like the suggestion of a schedule. We try to keep a routine. It's not perfect, but it does help.
Next, include your kids in the chores. I realize that they are young, but even the youngest can feel a part. My youngest boy is 1 1/2. He puts away the silverware. They aren't sorted in the utensil drawer, but they make it to the drawer.

Boy do I feel you! I have young one's too and work outside the home as well as trying to establish a business on the side. If you can afford it even everyother week, a housekeeper saved our marriage. We don't have one right now, but during times of high stress and activity, calling one in has been great. Right now we are trying to "maintain".

My husband gets the kids off 30 min before I have to leave for work and I'm able to push the dishes from the night before in the washer, fold a load of clothes I washed the night before and set another to dry and another to wash.

Then, one morning or lunchtime on the weekend, my husband takes them ALL to McDonalds for about 2 hours while I do our weekly cleaning. Nothing ever gets DONE done, but we are managing.

OH and lawn is worth the $20 per week we pay to have it done. We do the watering and weeding, but the mowing and edging is done by a service. And it so doesn't pay for either of us to stay home! A lot of people recommended flylady and if you can do that kudos to you... all she does is make me feel inadequate!

you have a couple of reponses about www.flylady.net on here. Check it out. They have a lot of good ideas for babysteps, 15 minute hot spot cleaning, etc. They do send you alot of e-mails but they are reminders to get up from the computer and do something. Good luck!

Wow, it is so good to hear there are other moms out there with the same problem. I also have 2 young children (1 and 4) and both my husband and I work full time. He is a wonderful husband and helps out so much around the house but, like you, I feel like I don't have time to 'clean house' and when I do I am tired and/or unmotivated b/c I just want to visit with my husband or rest. I know everyone keeps saying "split the chores and do a little during the week" but by the time I pick up the kids, take them home, cook dinner, eat, have bathtime and put them to bed it is already 8:00 or after and I'm exhausted. We have so much laundry between the four of us that it is a constant - I do at least one load each day. Saturdays are reserved for lawn care which is done by my husband but I can't get anything done b/c I've got both kids with me. I understand completely - hang in there, luckily we have wonderful husbands otherwise we'd really be up the creek! I keep being told it will get better when the boys are a little older so my plan is to just do the best I can and not sweat the small stuff. Good luck to you and let me know if you come up with any wonderful ideas!

It's not easy and there is really no such thing as managing it all. My husband and I work full time and have 3 children ages 14, 10 and 2 1/2. The older two are very active in extra-curricular activities so that makes it even more of a challenge!

One question to ask is whether you both need to work. If yours or your husband's salary is all going towards child care, then likely you can live off of one paycheck. But even being a stay at home parent doesn't give you the time to manage everything because I think that is one of the hardest, most time-consuming . . . and MOST rewarding . . . jobs there is!

I usually do a full house cleaning every two weeks usually on Saturday, and it takes several hours (3,400 sq. ft., 3 full bathrooms, ugh!). During this time my husband is responsible for the 2 1/2 year old (the older kids can entertain themselves). This works for me because, like you, at the end of the day I am just too pooped to do any cleaning. I typically use that time to catch up on banking/bill paying, and sometimes to catch up on work. And perhaps actually watch a little TV or read a book . . . what a luxury!

I do my weekly grocery shopping on Sunday, usually late morning or early afternoon. Laundry gets done during the week, whatever days that we're actually home instead of running the kids to various activities.

You also need to learn to let go a little. This was very tough for me (still is!). I always want all the beds to be made, toys to be picked up, dishes washed, etc. But I've learned to turn a blind eye to some of this. That is not to say I don't get frustrated at times. The messier my house is, the crabbier I get! So a little maintenance in between major cleanings goes a long way to keeping my sanity.

Lots of great responses here...and I'm SO with you on this post. As a proud career mom myself about once every quarter (3 months) I take one day and get it all done....errands, laundry, scrubbing baseboards, mopping, ironing etc. I've even taken vacation days from work just to get it all done the way I want it....then spend the interim time to focus on the maintenance.

For example, on my day I take off I try to do every piece of laundry that needs to be done. Then starting on the third or forth day afterward I begin doing one load (sometimes two) of clothes per day. It doesn't take long to do these and I can find time in between switching those loads to pick up dishes from breakfast and prepare for dinner.

I make a habit of every single time I leave one room I glance around to see if there is something....anything....I can take to it's "home" on my way into another room. This helps me keep things where they belong. It's just the habit you have to train yourself to do.

After dinner I always clean the table. Even if the dishes aren't loaded into the dishwasher that night, they are moved from the table and rinsed.

Just take baby steps. Pick a couple of habits to work on first. I've gotten my husband on board with this method and it seems to work for us as well as anything.

Now is my house always clean, spotless and there is nothing to do? Heck NO!! But keeping up the maintenance between the deep cleans is what allows me to spend more time doing what I want to do rather than what I have to do.

Good Luck!
D.

PS: I used to have a housekeeper twice/month which is always nice but I've found that I can do the majority of it this way and save the $$.

This has always been a struggle for me too! I have to say there were plenty of times that I chose time with my family over the dishes! Mine are now 5 and almost 9, and things are much different than when they were 2 and 5! I'm not sorry I chose a "messy" house over time with them... but I do like it clean now and the best thing for me was to do a schedule... Monday-sheets/towels,clean the kitchen. Tue-kids clothes,clean bathrooms. Wed-our clothes,clean master and living room. You get the point! It really helped, otherwise I was running around cleaning everything all the time! This way I don't get "scatter brained" and feel nothing is ever clean - I always have a room that is clean! I like the Mom's post about incorporting the children with chore time - the silverware story was great! As long as they are "with" you and "helping" if possible, they will enjoy the time and learn that this is part of being a family - which is a good lesson for when they're older! But keep it light... it won't always be this hard!

The day of supermom is over. Plan on a schedule and do a little every day like a load or so of laundry while you are doing the dinner. In fact become good friends with the crockpot and set it in the morning and dinner is ready at night. Or cook many large meals on weekends to help during the week. Your 3 year old can be responsible for putting toys back in the box before bed and that will clean up the room. I, too, have worked with kids young and older. My son used to put my canned goods away because he used to play with them and knew where they went. Before they were put away, I would write what was in it in case the label came off. Do the main things and clean good once every three months. As they say, don't sweat the small stuff. When the kids are in school, you will be able to maintain a cleaner home. As for activities when they get busy again, you will have an idea of how and what to do to maintain a clean looking home. The other S.

try a modified version of this to fit into your daily life. Good luck! :)

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