I’m wondering if anyone has tips or a cleaning schedule to go by on keeping the house clean. I do an okay job but my husband still complains about dishes in the sink, carpet not being vacuumed enough etc. To be honest I hate cleaning with a passion! Hate it but I know I have to do it.
Any experienced stay at home moms/wives have tips on what you do daily and how much time you take to clean up? What’s your cleaning schedule like?
Thanks!
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I’ve been married for 5 days now and we have a son who is 18 months old. 🙂
I don’t really have a cleaning schedule as such. When I see something that makes the house messy I clean it up. Simple as that. I’ve never really been a super clean person myself and I don’t like doing the cleaning but it is my job so I do it anyway.
For me, the trick is to stay on top of the house work. Vacuum every second day, wash the dishes every night, clean bathroom/toilet once a week. Change the bed once a fortnight, dust once a year and usually laundry three to four times a week.
I think that if the surfaces are clean and if there are no rats and cockroaches running around then you’re doing an alright job. Maybe you should get you man to clean the house once to get an idea of his expectations, but if he is wanting you to scrub the walls and floors with an old toothbrush every day, then he just needs to get over it.
Oy oy oy …do I ever love your question. I was wondering the same thing today! I am competely exhausted. I make everythign from scratch from chicken soup to cakes, healthy fruit smoothies for the kids, I knit, sew etc and all it feels like I do is rake the house from one end of the house to the other picking up toys, shoes, mitts, garbage, cups etc.
LEt me know if you ever find a short cut!!!
Personally what I do is like the bathroom 1x a week for a hard scrub, and 1x a week lightly just to rebuff it.
Floors must be swept after kids leave to school in morning and then after bedtime again.
Same thing goes for dishes.
Laundry can be every other day.
Some cheating I do is to just "bag and hide" the dishes when I dont have energy to wash up.
I throw them in a shopping bag and tie it and put it in a cupboard. Dirty laundry can be put in a garbage bag and thrown out back until tommorrow if you want the hamper to look empty. Pots and pans can soak overnight in the oven, unfolded but dry clean laundry can hide in the dryer.
I do the fridge about 1x every 2-3 weeks, big job. and wipe each shelf down (45 sec job) 1 x a week.
Do your carpets just 30 mins before he will walk in from work.
I too have a husband that says that I don’t do enough!– this is my usual days events…..
Get up get kids to school,- ( I have 3 kids by the way )- this usually takes about hour- hour and a half each morning.
come home and DON’T sit down!! LOL- (would be different for you as you need to rest as much as poss)
I then vacuum the lounge and dining room, picking up things -ie toys etc as I go along-vacuum hall way and make sure that all the dishes are washed up from breakfast, wipe down sides and check cooker is clean.
then go upstairs to check over bathroom, making sure that toilet is clean and sink and shower- so I normally wipe those over,making sure they are shiny—-
then I make the bed and make sure that bedroom is tidy—all of this is done at the same time as putting washing on and drying it and folding and putting away- at lunch time, I have to go to the school again to pick up my little girl from nursery- so work has to stop.
!
when back at home, I make lunch- then wash up the plates again, I then either spend time with my little girl by reading to her or she helps me with the house.3 hours later I’m out again to pick up the other two-back home at 3:30 to start the dinner.
Settle kids to do homework etc and manic rush to get everything done before hubby arrives home at about 5.
And then the next day begins again—- that day I would probably do the ironing and some other thing that I hadn’t done the day b4.
I don’t really have a schedule, I just do it becuase when it’s all done i have that feel of satisfaction and also it keeps th peace as my husband likes a clean house as well.
All the best with baby. :O)
I wash the dishes 5 times a day.- after three meals and twice in between to do glasses etc that have been used.
I wipe my counters as soon as they have been used.I vacuum, sweep and mop everyday. I have four kids and a husband that has a very dirt job so i actually was around 4- 5 loads of laundry a day.I dust every couple of days.
Each room in my house gets a thorough (top to bottom) once a week. To make this easier I usually do one or two rooms each day, doing them all in the one day is impossible with four kids and working.
I don’t particularly like cleaning either.but it doesn’t do itself(unfortunately)Your cleaning amount may be less then mine f you have less kids.
Want a tip though? NO MAN wants to come home from work and see dishes in the sink, toys on the floor, laundry piled up and no dinner ready. Cover those bases so when he walks through the door…its clean, he has food and your happy to see him.
He’ll be happy.
I have 3 kids, 1,3,8..i clean/laundry for about 30 minutes in the am before the little ones get up after my oldest leaves for school, then i clean after lunch and dinner for about 30 minutes and then work on laundry after the kids are asleep..even when i’m not cleaning, i usually am organizing something while i’m playing with the little ones lol…i do the deep down cleaning on the weekend..usually Sundays.. mop floors, cleaning toys, dusting, bathrooms..etc. It helps to clean with the music on and dance while you clean..makes it kinda fun =) I have a dish washer and usually load it after every meal time and run it at night if needed. Vacuuming once a day..maybe twice if the kids go in and out alot.
I do the dishes after every meal, as soon as everyone is done (unless we have guests or something) i never let them build up, otherwise it takes too long. I vacuum every day (have three kids) and do that last, when everything else is clean (counters etc, so no crumbs can fall etc) I dust with a damp cloth every 2nd day (Australian summer, very dusty) and do 2 loads of laundry every day (like I said three kids and construction worker husband). The bathroom, I clean thoroughly every week, but clean/disinfect toilets, sinks and benches every day.
I’m a bit of a clean freak though, It takes me a few hours every day. I am a stay at home mum (14, 12 and 10) my husband does help out with dishes etc, even though he works. Its all about compromise, and working out a plan that works, and treating your housework, like any other out of the house job you would do. You just do it properly.
To be honest though, I am known amongst my friends as a bit of a 1950s style housewife. I just love being a home maker. My husband doesn’t have any expectations, and would be happy for me to work outside the home or stay at home, its my choice. Being a homemaker is as much a hobby for me as it is a lifestyle. Its a sickness i know.
I put on Beyonce on FULL blast, spend an hour doing all the cleaning and shake my booty while doing it. I HATE cleaning too but its gotta be done.
You can make sure the dishes are all done before he gets home but that part about the carpet is crap. He can do the carpet if it isn’t to his liking. What are his real complaints? It seems like he is just looking for excuses to argue with you.
Do what you can, especially now that you are pregnant. I think marriage counseling is important as the tension will increase.
i clean once in 2 weeks (i.e, vaccuum, clean bathroom, mop floors and dusting) and i load the dishes in the washer whenever i see any dishes in the sink. when its all loaded, i use the dishwasher every other day. i iron my husband’s office shirts and pants every 2 weeks too. i just press 10 shirts and 3 or 4 pants each time. my husband usually does the laundry once in 2 weeks but today i’m doing it myself. i cook every other day. what i hate the most is scrubbing the bathtub. but we’re just 2 ppl at home so not a lot of dirt or other stuff to clean. oh and we do grocery once every 2 weeks. so most stuff is once every 2 weeks lolz.
btw congrats, i’m due on 10th august, 2011 🙂 good luck to you!
I’m not a SAHM, but I don’t necessarily like to clean either. My favorite tactic is to challenge and reward myself. For example, I challenge myself to get the whole upstairs clean before noon, and then I can do something I enjoy for an hour. Or just have a schedule– Mondays are laundry and bedsheets. Tuesdays are bathrooms, etc. It helps to break down the work into smaller pieces.