[Guest_Retro_Mumma_*]

I used to clean my house when DS was having a nap or at night time when he went to bed.

But now he is 18months sometimes he doesnt have a nap and now im pregnant by the time I have finished the bath time ritual I just want to go to sleep myself.

I was thinking of giving him a snack in his high chair outside while I mopped the foors, is that a mean thing to do? Put him outside while I clean?

When do you clean your house?

This post has been edited by Retro_Mumma: 26/04/2012, 02:49 PM

[ell80]

I do it whilst DS (2y3mo) follows me around 'helping'. Everything takes 7 times as long, and the house never looks 'cleaned' as I can only do a bit at a time, rather than a full clean. But over the week, the same stuff (floors, washing, cooking, etc) does get done bit by bit.

Super frustrating.!! It would be wonderful to have a clean house again rather than the constant cleaning that never seems to end...

Your DS is a bit younger than mine, but he may be able to help...?

When mopping, DS's job is to help squeeze out the mop. He 'helps' me dip it in the bucket and then squeezes it twice (not sure if he realises my hands are also on the squeezer) and then gives it to me to mop until the next dipping and wringing is required.
With washing, I sort the clothes, turn them the right way in, etc and then put them in a pile infront of the machine and he puts them in. Then I do the powder and turn the knob but he gets to push the 'go' button... With hanging them out, he selects one from the wet basket and hands it to me to hang.
With the dishes he has a stool and puts the dirty dishes in the sink of water one by one and then I wash them.
Everything takes soooooo long.

[MAGS24]

After DS1 was born I realised that the house wasn't going to be spotless ever again so now I spend about 30 minutes a day cleaning the house and the rest of the time I spend playing with my four year old, looking after the six month old and doing exercises on the Wii and exercise bike etc, household shopping. DH comes home at 5pm so I usually wait till about 4pm and then put dishes in the dishwasher, tidy the kitchen, put clothes in the machine, and do a quick run around the house tidying up so that it looks a lot better than when my DH went to work. I can get things done pritty quickly. I only mop the floors once every couple of weeks because they don't get very dirty and same with the vacuuming, except for the floor in the lounge room which DH vacuums on the weekends because I don't like the vacuum cleaner.

Once a month DH and I do a full house clean and make everything look nice.

When I was pregnant last year, I didn't do any housework at all because my back wasn't very good and I was barely able to look after DS1 as it was.

This post has been edited by MAGS24: 26/04/2012, 03:21 PM

[Matthias' mum]

I do everything as I go where possible - dishes straight in the dishwasher, benches wiped straight away etc. If there are crumbs on the floor from DS, I clean them straight away.

Everything else gets done while DS "helps". He likes wiping things, so I give him a damp cloth, and he wipes all the cupboards, his toys etc, while I get on with other stuff. He has a toy vacuum that he uses while I use the real vacuum. When I hang the washing helps hang it. When he was younger, he used to hand me the pegs. I have a small toybox in my bedroom that he plays with while I make the bed, put washing away etc.

The only thing I haven't figured out how to do with him around is cleaning the shower. DH or I do these on the weekend while the other keeps DS busy.

DS is actually getting quite good at cleaning, so I'm quite happy for him to help for as long as he's keen too!

[amesv]

I do a lot of my cleaning while the kids are playing, I try to keep everything fairly tidy all the time so I never have to spend a long time cleaning, it's more often but only takes a short time, I vac every other day but becuase I do it so often it only takes 15min. The mopping I will do at night or I will put the tv on for 30min.