If you dont control the house, the house controls you

[pedro038]

@giangnt Truth.

 

[tigerchick224]

@giangnt I feel this whole thread down in my soul! The house always fucking wins. I have an 8, 9 and 2 year old. Oh and 3 animals. Also hoping for a romba for Christmas+

 

[asche_autumnsdescent]

@giangnt I don't know how people stay on top of the chores. I have a 4 year old, 2 year old and a 1 year old. There is never more than one room clean at a time. I feel like people that have clean houses must clean after the kids are in bed or they have a maid or they just follow. Behind the kids with a dustpan and broom. There's honestly no point in doing cleaning unless it's right before bed because they're just gonna fuck it all up again

 

[tthomas]

@asche_autumnsdescent My kids are the EXACT same ages! All girls! OMG being a SAHM drains me of Everything. I love my girls but like you said, no point in cleaning until they are out for the night!

 

[faramir23]

@giangnt Man, I feel this. The other day I did laundry in the morning. By the afternoon, several newly cleaned items had already gotten dirty again. I wanted to scream. My family is lucky I haven't boycotted yet. Lol

 

[giangnt]

@faramir23 laundry is by far the worst that takes over.

 

[evoldog]

@giangnt All day everyday

 

[leighmethodist]

@giangnt I have three kids and pregnant with number 4. All the housework falls to me, simply because my husband works a lot. I homeschool our oldest 2, so the house is in a constant state of being lived in. I try to keep it as picked up as possible, but I don't get every room swept every day, it's just not feasiable for me. I do as much as I can without stressing out. I get the dishes done, counters cleaned off, and toys picked up off the floor. I get breakfast, lunch and dinner done. I make sure my kids have food and clean clothes. But that's it. All deep cleaning gets done at some point, usually a Saturday morning when we don't have school to do and can spend all morning working on it.

My house isn't picture perfect, but I'm not stressed. I have time for myself and my kids also don't live in filth. I think it's a happy medium.

 

[giangnt]

@leighmethodist I'm also homeschooling starting this year with my 4yo. I def understand this. I have a lot of animals though so basically every room gets mopped once a day or else I face with animals also running my house lol. This life style can be super stressful sometimes but so rewarding.

 

[leighmethodist]

@giangnt My older two are 10 and almost 8. School takes us till lunch time usually and then we are all ready for a break when the toddler goes down for him nap after lunch so I built his naptime window to be down time for everyone. I will grab a nap, eat some cookies, even bake, because I find that relaxing.

It's for this reason though that we don't have pets. We used to have two dogs and a cat, and I was always needing to do something. Then we moved and the cat (who we had for 10 years) ran away. We rehomed both dogs because we no longer had a yard. I didn't realize how stressed out the pets were making me until we didn't have them anymore. Things stay cleaner longer, there's way less dirt and dander. I don't want pets again until the kids are grown and gone. I know my limits and don't add anything to my plate I can't handle.

 

[giangnt]

@leighmethodist I def agree life without pets would be much easier. Im 15 hours away from my home town and going back to school to pursue veterinary medicine. So pets are huge for me. But dang it's hard sometimes. Theres ALWAYS something to clean. I'm so nervous to start homeschool would u care if I DM u later for advice?

 

[leighmethodist]

@giangnt Haha no its fine! Don't be nervours, it really is easier than you think!

 

[mcgrain]

@giangnt Yes! The damn animal hair EVERYWHERE. We have 3 cats, 2 dogs, also fish, lizards. After I get the 2 kids to bed, I spend about 1-2 hrs vacuuming, fresh water, litter boxes, etc...it’s never ending! What animals do you have?

 

[giangnt]

@mcgrain We have 2 dogs, 1 cat, a cockatiel. We had two mice but they recently passed so we are getting the kids two rabbits for Christmas. Batman and tinkerbell lol. I love animals, I hate cat litter tho lol

 

[mcgrain]

@giangnt Oh my 2 rabbits? You are a brave woman, much braver than me! They seem like a lot of work

 

[jsw1190]

@leighmethodist That’s about the best I do and I have less kids and don’t homeschool lol, I’d probably die if I added those to the mix. Hats off to you!

 

[blessed09]

@giangnt I live in a small apartment with just a 4 year old (cat & husband too).

Which seems like it wouldn’t take long to clean, but the thing is, when there is even a small mess you can feel it. There is so little space to begin with having all of us there. I literally vacuum daily because if the floor isn’t clear it feels even smaller.

The kitchen/living/dining room is one area, so if one space is messy it all feels messy. We also share a bedroom and I have to keep everyone’s clothes organized (without a dresser—there just isn’t room) or I get really stressed out!

But when we get a house and I go back to work I’m not sure how I’m going to keep the house clean either. It seems like there will be other things to do like bigger areas that will get dusty.

Although I cannot wait to have my own washer & dryer, haha!

 

[giangnt]

@blessed09 I'll be starting vet school soon so I'm also wondering when or how do we juggle this all. I also live in an apartment so I def feel you.

 

[blessed09]

@giangnt I went back to school when he was a year old. I had no one else to watch him outside of class hours. (And he was still waking 4-10x a night).

Even though we have a small space we got an extra freezer (chest freezer). Before each term I packed the thing full of freezer meals.

I took disposable foil trays & lined with parchment paper, put food in, wrapped in freezer foil multiple times, then in freezer bags.

It was absolutely the best decision I made!

Good luck!

 

[tanzm]

@giangnt Do you ever had your kids clean up after themselves?