Fess up: How many of the home schoolers here...

[cdrumm4448]

have a really clean house. I know you have to be out there somewhere. You know, those born organized people who can do 6 things at once, are always prepared, etc. I certainly am not one them, but I'd like to learn your secrets. I do Flylady, but there's always room for improvement! So fess up!

[ChemMommy]

My home is not neat.

[Jennifer in MI]

While I wouldn't say that I can do 6 things at once, I do keep my house pretty clean. I don't function well if my house isn't clean and neat, so it's a priority for me.

 

The thing that helps the most around here is not having much stuff! Really. I don't have any clutter. There is a place for everything and everyone knows where most things go. I have a schedule for housecleaning and everyone pitches in. My three older ones are at the ages where they can really actually help and be expected to clean well. That helps a lot!

 

Good luck!!

[Prudent]

My house is pretty clean and organized most of the time.

 

But I'm no superwoman.

 

1) I only have 2 children. Big families have a much bigger workload.

2) I live in a condo, so I don't have outdoor chores.

3) I'm neat by nature, so cleaning isn't as painful to me as it is to others.

4) My oldest child is 3, so I only spend a couple minutes a day homeschooling :tongue_smilie:

[Loupelou]

Well, I won't say my house is spotless, and I just pretend my teenage dd's room is not part of my home by keeping the door shut, but I do like to have everything in its place.

 

Some ideas from our house:

 

- weekly chore chart, let everyone pick their own color.

 

- laminated chore charts in every room - helps them to check off responsibilities

 

- shelving, baskets, containers for organizing in each room- try to go through kids' stuff at least twice a year, be brutal!

 

- decide what kind of schedule you'll keep, we do chores after breakfast and a spiff up in the afternoon before dinner.

 

- keep cleaning supplies readily available so everyone knows where they are. We have a caddy in each bathroom and under the kitchen sink.

 

I've seen some really great getting organized articles lately that list a couple of things to do each day and get your house organized in a short amount of time. Here's a link:

 

http://www.justmommies.com/articles/home-organization-plan.php

 

I'm sure there's more but that's what I can think of right now.

 

Also, try to remember that your family does live there. You aren't like many families who get up, eat, and leave only to return in the evening to eat and sleep.

 

Happy organizing!:D

[Shelly in IL]

It is definitely an effort. My goal is to start getting better help from the men in the house. Maybe it will get easier then? We also have 6+acres to take care of - with my husband being gone most of the summer, that has largely fallen on my shoulders as well. Eldest has been gone alot this summer, too. Not much help!:blink:

[dhudson]

:001_smile:I'll admit that mine is pretty neat and clean. It's not eat off the floor clean as my mom's was but I like it neat and clean. I do fly lady, have three kids who help clean and I schedule cleaning time into each day.

 

My classroom is a huge big mess as I am moving and re-organizing books and things.:tongue_smilie: So my house is not perfect.

[PineFarmMom]

Our house stays fairly neat. I will admit at the outset, though, that I am organizationally challenged. I am better, by far, than I was 10 years ago, but still my mind just doesn't think in an organized fashion. There are also different times of the day when it is not neat just because of activity/homeschooling.

 

What I've discovered is that when my home is cluttered and messy I just don't think clearly and I get frustrated more easily. The dc and I work together to keep it tidy. It's not me, the martyr, slaving to keep it nice. It's "let's set the timer for 15 minutes and each of us do our job." Typically, with the 3 older dc and I, we can blast through our home in 30 minutes and have everything neat in each room. That doesn't include vacuuming, dusting & mopping. I'd say it started 8 years ago when I felt my oldest was old enough to help. I've just cycled each of them into chores and we now work together.

[LibraryLover]

It's pretty neat, but it's a constant battle. My mother helped me wash baseboards last week. I like things tidy, but I am not very good at pushing the kids to do more. (Well, they do their own laundry and know how to cook, it's that I don't like to nag them about everything, all the time. My standards, if met, would be uncomfrotable to them, I think. I have a streak of OCD that way that I try to control so that others feel comfortable in their own home). So I do the same things over and over again daily. I am about to break down and replace our broken dishwasher, which I don't want to spend money replacing. But it's making me nuts to always have dishes in the sink. I thought I could do this, but I can't.

Edited August 1, 2009 by LibraryLover

[farmmom4him]

Our house is "clean", but very lived in. How is that for honesty?

 

I have projects on our dining room table (only used to eat when company)

 

My dining room is my school station--

 

Our family room is the toddler play room.

 

 

Our bathroom and Kitchen are used FREQUENTLY--there are people in this house and only one bathroom. :lol: It is cleaned at least once a day. ;)

[Georgiana Daniels]

Well, I won't say my house is spotless, and I just pretend my teenage dd's room is not part of my home by keeping the door shut,

 

:iagree:

 

 

Other than teenage dd's area, we're mostly tidy. Not deep-cleaned, but not overly cluttered either. No eating off our floors, but we're not a mold fest either.

 

Learning to strike a balance....

[OnTheBrink]

NO, and it frustrates the living you-know-what out of me. I'm working on it; dd is with her dad for the next 2 weeks, so I'm cleaning, organizing, decluttering. Having 3 cats and dog also contributes to the dust. I wish I had dust-free pets!

[Garga]

:iagree:

 

 

Other than teenage dd's area, we're mostly tidy. Not deep-cleaned, but not overly cluttered either. No eating off our floors, but we're not a mold fest either.

 

Learning to strike a balance....

 

That's us, too.

[Crissy]

I keep a clean house. I can't think straight with messes all around. I don't like a dirty bathroom, and I hate a messy kitchen. My life is just more pleasant when the house is clean.

 

Keeping up with household chores around here is just a matter of doing the next thing, as well as enlisting the help of the other people who live here. My boys are a big help when it comes to cleaning/picking up throughout the day.

[sassenach]

Not I. We're not slobs, but we are nowhere near neat and tidy. Our saving grace is that we host small group once a week. The house gets very clean on Fridays, and it's just a downward spiral after that.

[joannqn]

I have a homeschooling friend whose house is always very tidy and clean. She has 6 kids, too. She doesn't have clutter at all. She does the tidying. Hubby likes to clean...he'll mop, vacuum, do dishes, etc. Her oldest has aspergers and will spend alone time folding laundry to calm down. Everything is always put away when they are done with it. She also doesn't have pets contributing to the mess/dirt.

[Pongo]

I keep a clean house. I can't think straight with messes all around. I don't like a dirty bathroom, and I hate a messy kitchen. My life is just more pleasant when the house is clean.

 

Keeping up with household chores around here is just a matter of doing the next thing, as well as enlisting the help of the other people who live here. My boys are a big help when it comes to cleaning/picking up throughout the day.

 

 

Exactly the same here. I am a laundry lover. I love clean laundry. I never have more then 1 load to do:)

I have friends that think I spend my days cleaning, funny..I don't. I do the same schedule every week, pick up right after a mess, and I mop,sweep and vacuum every day. I stay on top of it so it only takes about 1 hour of my time daily.

[MamaT]

I have to have things neat. I cannot function in chaos. Everything has a place and my dc know to put things back when they're done, clean up after themselves, etc. if they want happy mama instead of grumpy mama. Everyone has chores and except for the weekends, when I try to lighten up a bit, things are neat and clean.

[Janet in WA]

The only secret I have to share is that homeschooling means your kids are home more to share in the housework. In fact, they can do most of it once they're old enough (which is probably younger than you think). Our home was much cleaner after we began homeschooling than it had been before. Once we were all home more during the day, it was much easier to include home maintenance in our daily routines. Cleaning the bathrooms and emptying the dishwasher were just as much a part of our lives as was math.

[elise1mds]

:001_smile:I'll admit that mine is pretty neat and clean. It's not eat off the floor clean as my mom's was but I like it neat and clean.

 

 

That's my house, too!

[JennifersLost]

My house is not extremely neat.

 

BUT....

 

Ever since I really purged things I have found that it is pretty darn easy to get it neat. My kids are 7 - 16, so I just divide up all the jobs and we get to it.

[TammyinTN]

I keep a very neat house. I can't sleep with mess hanging around. So each night the house is put back in order before bed. Rooms are tidy, trash emptied and bathrooms orderly. The den and dining areas are clean of stuff sitting around. I love waking up to a clean kitchen and a clean sink. I blame my parents for this...when they worked shifts they inspected the house when they arrived home, if you didn't do what you were told, they woke you up and you did it in the middle of the night. I would never do it to my children but they appreciate a clean and tidy home and help out bunches.

[Perry]

My house is pretty neat and organized. When it gets cluttered and dirty it makes me feel out of control and tense.

 

The kids do their own laundry, and keep their rooms picked up. They are also responsible for all the bathrooms, except mine. Dh and ds do the yard work. Everyone is responsible for their own belongings, and if they leave their stuff out, it disappears after one reminder. They don't do that too often anymore.

 

It's not as clean as I'd like it, because I can't keep up with the animal hair. I vacuum nearly every day, but there's always more hair.

[Staci in MO]

I've done Flylady, and she helped, but this planner works much better for me:

 

motivatedmoms.com

 

It lists you chores for the day. Everything is broken down into manageable chunks. There are probably 30 minutes or so of tasks listed for each day. In addition to that, there are also chores listed on the side that you take care of every day: (dishwasher, wiping out sinks, etc.)

 

When I follow this list consistently my house is very clean. When I fall off the wagon - not so much. But I'm falling off the wagon less and less these days.

[Desert Rat]

Me. I have one day a week that the house gets cluttery and messy but cleaning day is the following day. Otherwise, my house is clean, not just tidy. I didn't realize how neat I was until I went back home to visit family for 8 days. I thought the people who called me OCD were over reacting. I've changed my mind on that one. :o)

[swellmomma]

Well the main floor is still relatively clean, but that is because I cleaned it before bed last night and we have barely been home. THe upper level and the basement, I would hide my head in shame if anyone actually saw them right now. Hopefully by the end of the weekend my upper floor will be cleaned up again. Of course it never lasts long with these little tornadoes living here.

[Donna]

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

No, seriously...I used to be able to keep up with my house and the kids until our lives were taken over by outside activities. Now I have lowered my standards and settle for generally picked up and a good cleaning once a week.

[Dirtroad]

I could during first few years... but now, I am losing the battle. It is still cleaner than my Mom or SIL & several friends (but they aren't role models by any means). Kids help tremendously... but we can't get rid of all the clutter (DH is master of collecting) and I have about given up.

 

It is frustrating & we have a baby due in oct... so it is going to get worse.

[Pink Fairy]

Our house is picked up through out the day, and my dh is awesome at keeping ithe floors vacuumed and mopped. My specialty is organizing, and the kids do the dusting and the bathrooms. The whole thing is a family effort, now that the kids are old enough to be helpful. Before that, when everyone was little, we had a housekeeper come in.

[MariannNOVA]

probably all of the time. It has always been a priority for me, and I cannot - literally cannot - do anything if something in the house is out of place. And, everything must be clean - sparkling clean -

B/c of this, I have become ruthless about not accumulating anything that we do not need. In fact, today, DH and I are in the final phase of the lower level (our classroom, a media room, and a bedroom/bathroom) purge! We began 4 weeks ago when we 'created' the media/guest room; stopped for a couple for a couple of weeks while we had guests; and started the final 'push' yesterday (DH took a day as he will be on travel next week) sorting books, getting closet kits in, and filling boxes (yes, more boxes) for the Thrift Store. We have been working since 8am and probably have another 2 hours and then we get to go to Lumber Liquidators to look at laminate floors for the 'classroom' - which means moving everything OUT of the room -- but that's okay b/c there is probably 90? less in this room than there was a month ago.

SO, the stuff that creates clutter and mess is not allowed to live here (can't do much about the kids, but I am on them constantly).

With everything else in order, chores that might give me difficulty (putting away cleaned and folded laundry) become mush easier for me to do.

[Peri]

While I wouldn't say that I can do 6 things at once, I do keep my house pretty clean. I don't function well if my house isn't clean and neat, so it's a priority for me.

 

The thing that helps the most around here is not having much stuff! Really. I don't have any clutter. There is a place for everything and everyone knows where most things go. I have a schedule for housecleaning and everyone pitches in. My three older ones are at the ages where they can really actually help and be expected to clean well. That helps a lot!

 

Good luck!!

 

:iagree:

 

I'm the same way. I just can't focus or concentrate if there is a mess around me or if there is clutter. My husband and my mom both hate to throw things away so they both drive me nuts. I sometimes am so fed up that I walk around the house with a big plastic garbage bag and I just start tossing stuff in it ... and yes it goes in the trash. I figure if its important then they would have or should have put it somewhere safe knowing how I am. If they lost something important then at least they will learn ... I keep saying that but it hasn't happened yet:glare:.

[Audrey]

have a really clean house. I know you have to be out there somewhere. You know, those born organized people who can do 6 things at once, are always prepared, etc. I certainly am not one them, but I'd like to learn your secrets. I do Flylady, but there's always room for improvement! So fess up!

 

 

If the house is not always "company ready" I am not a happy camper. To me that means that bathrooms are cleaned everyday, kitchen floors are mopped everyday, counters wiped, etc. And all the carpets vacuumed daily. Our house rules include:

- personal things (toys, books, etc) can be out, but they have be tucked away if someone comes over. I have storage baskets on shelves and on the coffee table shelf that pretty much takes care of that.

- no one leaves their bedroom without making the bed and tidying up.

- storage is key. Everything has a place. Use it.

 

My secret for getting all of this done while working a nearly full-time job (from home with some travel) and homeschooling is: I have a husband, and he isn't allergic to housework. :D

[Laura Corin]

My house gets cleaned in rotation, so pretty much everything gets cleaned between once a week and once every two weeks. I do a lot of quick wipes in the bathrooms to keep it looking presentable. The utility/boot room gets cleaned about once a month and I wash the kitchen floor when it gets sticky.

 

Tidiness? The sitting room and my bedroom aren't bad - I pick up stuff every day. The boys are working on consistent tidiness in their rooms still. The study/spare room is useable but wouldn't win any prizes for style. I fight a constant battle with the kitchen.

 

ETA: I wash clothes every day - I never let that mount up. There's something about keeping the washing under control that contributes to sanity.

 

Laura

Edited August 1, 2009 by Laura Corin

[MariannNOVA]

:iagree:

 

I'm the same way. I just can't focus or concentrate if there is a mess around me or if there is clutter. My husband and my mom both hate to throw things away so they both drive me nuts. I sometimes am so fed up that I walk around the house with a big plastic garbage bag and I just start tossing stuff in it ... and yes it goes in the trash. I figure if its important then they would have or should have put it somewhere safe knowing how I am. If they lost something important then at least they will learn ... I keep saying that but it hasn't happened yet:glare:.

 

That is exactly wht I do! :iagree: My husband hasn't really learned from my doing this, but the kids have definitely changed their ways!

[Linda1951]

Mine the rugs is vacuumed twice a week, the floors mopped twice a week, I have different days that we do different things. It tends to keep us on track and make sure it does stay clean.

[Amy loves Bud]

Our house stays fairly neat. I will admit at the outset, though, that I am organizationally challenged. I am better, by far, than I was 10 years ago, but still my mind just doesn't think in an organized fashion. There are also different times of the day when it is not neat just because of activity/homeschooling.

 

What I've discovered is that when my home is cluttered and messy I just don't think clearly and I get frustrated more easily. The dc and I work together to keep it tidy.

 

 

 

I could have written this exactly!

[mommaduck]

We have an organised and clean house, but it gets "messy" and is "lived in". We have 9 ppl in this house and we homeschool. We LIVE in our house, not just sleep in it. However, I don't like ppl over, because I like it immaculate for company.

[tex-mex]

While I wouldn't say that I can do 6 things at once, I do keep my house pretty clean. I don't function well if my house isn't clean and neat, so it's a priority for me.

 

The thing that helps the most around here is not having much stuff! Really. I don't have any clutter. There is a place for everything and everyone knows where most things go. I have a schedule for housecleaning and everyone pitches in. My three older ones are at the ages where they can really actually help and be expected to clean well. That helps a lot!

 

Good luck!!

 

We just moved from a 3500 sq ft home to an 1600 sq ft apartment... for my sanity, we had to REDUCE clutter, extra stuff, furniture. My home is clean, but I gotta say it is easier to clean a smaller home!

[Nestof3]

I think I would qualify, though I have my priorities. I am not such a neatfreak that I vacuum my ceilings every week or anything.

 

A place for everything and everything in its place is more my style. Cleanliness is most important in the following rooms: kitchen, bathroom.

 

Dusting for example is low on the list. Ben is responsible for dusting the living room once a week, but I only dust the tall things in the office from time to time. Usually, I'll be starting the laundry, take a towel and just wipe it down.

 

Secret # 1: Multitask

 

So, this is one of my secrets. I multitask. When I carry my washcloth to the bedroom, for example, I'll often wipe down the hallway wall, door casing, or bathroom wall. When I wash the clothes, I'll take a towel I am about to wash, dampen it and wipe down the washer and dryer surfaces. While I'm waiting for something to boil, I'll wipe down the rangehood. I clean while waiting on hold for an operator as well. I wipe down the bathroom sink when I go to bed and buff with my facial towel. It is "cleaned" twice a week.

 

 

Secret # 2: Delegate

 

Another secret is delegating. Here is our current chore schedule for Nathan and Ben. They also help fold clothes and put their own away along with towels.

 

NATHAN

 

Daily -- Morning

Get dressed

Make bed

Brush teeth

Litter box; give cats water

 

Monday

Scrub bathtub

 

Tuesday

Windex back and front doors

 

Wednesday

Windex fronts of oven, dishwasher, washer and dryer

 

Thursday

Clean bathroom sink and toilet

 

Friday

Sweep front walkway and deck

 

 

BEN

 

 

Daily -- Morning

Get dressed

Make bed

Brush teeth

Sweep kitchen floor

 

Monday

Clean bathroom sink and toilet

 

Tuesday

Clean bathroom floor

 

Wednesday

Vacuum sofa and recliner

 

Thursday

Windex outside of hamster cage; dust bookshelf

 

Friday

Windex back and front doors

 

Secret # 3: Go to bed with a neat house.

 

Everynight (barring something unusual) I do the following:

 

vacuum living area and hallway. Often I'll run into the rooms too. Remember, our house is only 1,100 sq ft.

 

wash a load of clothes. I usually dry them as well at night, and they are folded and waiting to be put away in the morning by each family member.

 

run the dishwasher.

 

The boys have to have all toys cleaned up, no clothes lying around, dishes, etc.

 

Secret # 4: Deal with things immediately

 

Mail falls in this category. It is much better to deal with it when it comes as opposed to letting it pile up. I toss recyclable things in the bin, put bills due in the envelope for the month it is due, put magazines or catalogs I'd like to peruse in the bathroom or on my bed.

 

Put the appt on your calendar when you receive the appt. Don't leave those little appt. cards lying around.

 

Clip the coupons when you get them. File the restaurant coupons away in a file folder in your drawer for date-night. Go through the sale papers and recycle everything you are not interested in.

 

Secret # 5: Keep a sense of order throughout the day

 

I remind my boys throughout the day to put things away when they are finished with something. I'm okay with Legos spread all over the floor as long as they are cleaned up when they are finished with them.

Edited August 1, 2009 by nestof3

[tricia]

We go through stages around here. We have a really big family and I find that it totally depends on what is going on in everyones lives. But I think for the most part I could welcome a guess unexpectantly. But there are those times when it can be downright scary in my house. :tongue_smilie::tongue_smilie: So a person is definitely taking their chances paying a visit without calling.

[Stacy in NJ]

clean. Right now my windows are in need of washing, some of my kitchen cabinets need to be cleaned out, my laudry room needs re-organizing, but, for the morst part, it's neat and tidy.

 

We vacuum 2 or 3 times per week, wipe down the bathroom daily, clean the kitchen every day.

[TXMomof4]

My house is not extremely neat.

 

BUT....

 

Ever since I really purged things I have found that it is pretty darn easy to get it neat. My kids are 7 - 16, so I just divide up all the jobs and we get to it.

 

I've discovered that even if the kids pull out all of their toys and play hard for 2 days, we can get the house company ready in about an hour. Of course, I have a housekeeper come in once a week to do deep cleaning, but I wouldn't be embarassed to have someone over given an hour notice.

[TracyR]

Our place is cleaned but live in as well. Its not dirty but it has clutter only because we live in a small apartment and have no room for anything we have.

[Nestof3]

:iagree:

 

ETA: I wash clothes every day - I never let that mount up. There's something about keeping the washing under control that contributes to sanity.

 

Laura

[Nestof3]

While I wouldn't say that I can do 6 things at once, I do keep my house pretty clean. I don't function well if my house isn't clean and neat, so it's a priority for me.

 

The thing that helps the most around here is not having much stuff! Really. I don't have any clutter. There is a place for everything and everyone knows where most things go.

Good luck!!

 

 

Same here. It's nice that everyone knows where the scissors and tape are, and everyone knows where they go when they need to be put away.

[kalanamak]

My house is not neat, but clean. The floors, the clothes the beds the toilets. The kitchen is brought up to snuff daily. Toys get wiped down when grubby. Muddy shoes are dried in the sun and given a stiff brushing. Cobwebs are dusted out monthly.

 

But....books, papers, art supplies, trimmings of paper, paper airplanes, the odd balloon, stuffed animals, drip drying undies, sweaters, pencils, marbles, they are about.

 

I do not vouch for hubby's bedroom, BR or den.

[Annabel Lee]

clean. Right now my windows are in need of washing, some of my kitchen cabinets need to be cleaned out, my laudry room needs re-organizing, but, for the morst part, it's neat and tidy.

 

We vacuum 2 or 3 times per week, wipe down the bathroom daily, clean the kitchen every day.

 

I would have to clean for a cleaning lady/housekeeper! :D It's a super-small house w/ too much stuff, and we have boxes of things that we've been sorting to get rid in the middle of the living room.

 

Nestof3, I noticed some good books on this topic up for swap on your paperbackswap bookshelf. I was tempted to ask about them but then I thought I'd better spend my time actually cleaning & not reading about cleaning if I'm ever going to get anywhere. ;)

[Nestof3]

kitchen floors are mopped everyday :D

 

You're my hero. That's one thing I've been wanting to add, especially during the summer with all of the lemonade spots that end up on my floor. It's just that it's one more thing!

[Audrey]

You're my hero. That's one thing I've been wanting to add, especially during the summer with all of the lemonade spots that end up on my floor. It's just that it's one more thing!

 

 

You can do it! It takes maybe 15 minutes total once you get your groove going on it. To some that might seem excessive, but in our house, I feel it's a must. Although we have a regular front entrance and entry hallway, we enter the house through the mudroom and kitchen (the mudroom runs parallel to the kitchen). It sees a lot of traffic, and some of it is not nice tidy traffic (it's a farm, KWIM?).

 

Also, everyone comes in the kitchen. That's just the way things are done in our area. You sit in the kitchen with casual company and have a tea and dainties. So, that floor had better be clean because people will notice.

[Jlynn]

clean and mostly organized house here. But I have a small home and only have two kids and my oldest is 10 and the youngest is 4months, so I have the time and help to get it done...plus we don't allow our son to leave toys out overnight so that keeps me from getting bogged down. I wouldn't say I can juggle 6 things at once though : ) Not even close.