June Cleaver I ain't

I think it is with good reason that sahms can also interchangeably be known as "homemakers".

Why? Because a lot of times we need to practically make the whole darn thing from scratch after our men and children tear it up!

In the spirit of trying to keep on top of the mess that threatens to consume me, I figured maybe we could share trade secrets.

Here's my latest most favorite: at random times throughout the day, I'll ask the kids to pick up just 5 things each. It doesn't have to be a toy, it can be anything that isn't where it belongs. The only other rule (besides the 5 item rule) is that it has to be put where it belongs, not just transferred from one place where it doesn't belong to a different place where it just as equally doesn't belong.

The wonderful thing about it is this- the first few times I asked them to, they groaned and complained but then they stopped when they realized how little time it takes (the oldest is the smartest- he just grabs toys that fell off the toy trunk and sits them back on- it literally takes him less than 10 seconds).

5 things doesn't seem like much, but that's 15 things that weren't on the floor 10 seconds ago. And because it takes such little time I can ask them to do it a few times over the course of the day. And really, what is cleaning but a series of several little steps?

So how about it ladies...spill!

(it doesn't just have to be a cleaning tip, it can be anything that helps you give June a run for her money)

On my good days, I try to have my kids, 2 & 5, spend 10-15 minutes picking up what they have gotten out that day before they have their snacks, which usually is 3 times during a day.  The snack is usually pretty good motivation for them, and it worked really well the week we were in the habit.  However, this is a case of Mom changing her habits first, and that's really hard.  I frequently forget, and sometimes it just doesn't seem worth the effort.

I'd had all the toys (and we have way too many toys as my kids get hand-downs frequently from older cousins and I have a hard time getting rid of anything) pretty much sorted, with bins that had pictures of what went inside, and that worked really well until my two year old got into the "dump everything out so I can sit in it" stage, then one of them peeled off most of the labels, and my knees started hurting so I didn't go down into the playroom and make them clean with me...Talk about a snowball effect!

I hear you about the difficulties of getting the kids to pick up their toys when they have way too many! I once spent all day cleaning the basement playroom. I got about six bags for goodwill. Then my husband got home before I could take the bags out of the house. He has trouble getting rid of things so of course, he looked through the bags. When I was in bed that night, he ended up putting most of the stuff that I had packed away back in the basement. I was so PO'd that I have refused to clean the basement since. I know that won't last long because the kids won't go down there anymore since it is so messy. Soooo, guess who is going to have to clean it again? Me. I try to get them to help but it does't usually go that great. They have discovered money recently though. I am going to try explaining to them about allowance and doing chores to get your allowance. We'll see what happens!

Oh, I so need to have a garage sale, but I can't hardly manage to get the house not disgusting, let alone price everything and sit out for a couple of days.  And I can't quite stomach giving it all away.  I have toddler clothes in bags ready to sell, and preschool clothes in bags waiting for my youngest, and too many of both!  My sister-in-law has been a mixed blessing, as she kinda buys a bit more for her girl knowing mine will get her stuff, but then I have ALL these things to fit into my MUCH smaller house!

And it is good to hear that I am not the only one whose kids won't go into the basement playroom because it is too messy!  Maybe I'm not such a slacker after all.

My five year old can be motivated by money, but the long term saving is still difficult for her.  I've started grabbing cheap "prizes" that end up being a quarter, or less, each, and both the 2 & 5 year old will do a lot for them.

Anyway, it was just so nice to find this group, and people going through the same struggles as me, I just had to chime in!

puh, I was the same way- wanting to have a garage sale but it takes so much time to get ready for it, and I despise having to take stuff back in that didn't sell. At the same time all of the accumulated stuff cost so much it'd be nice to get a little something out of it.

After having it sitting around, slowly driving me nuts, I came upon a solution that I can very gladly live with- I found a local transition house for abused women (and their children). I wanted the clothes to go somewhere to someone that really needs it and that wouldn't be charged for it. I've taken several bags to them and I plan on taking more as I have more because the need is always there.

Good advice qm. I have often felt a little guilty about dropping my stuff off at the goodwill because they often just resell it and it doesn't necessarily go to the needy.

also, puh, be wary of getting too many little cheapie "prizes". You might just end up with still a big mess made even worse by a whole bunch of little cheapie crap thrown in. That is me with the happy meal toys. They are everywhere and just seem to keep multiplying!

Yeah, I find those little things everywhere.  But the rule is that if I'm ready to vaccum or sweep, they have to come pick them up or they get thrown away.  And I'm pretty good at sticking with that one!  They also don't really remember what they got last week, so sometimes I sneak a few out.  I've also tried "toys stay in the playroom" but they want to bring them into their bedroom to play with, and that sounds so reasonable, and it just spreads.  Scooby Doo should have had an episode called The Incredible Toy Monster!

What I really need is to set a routine for all of us during the day, and stick with it!  I had done pretty good there last summer, but then Pre-K started, we all got sick, and just kept passing stuff around all winter, and it all goes out the window.

As for all the stuff - I think I'm getting to the point where I am ready to just get rid of it all.  Hubby sees dollar signs there, but I'm just not convinced people are willing to pay what the stuff is worth.   Maybe put a few of the larger things up on Craig's list.

Thanks, guys, for the support and advice.  My mom is a good listener, but not so good on practical solutions, and we moved a year ago and I'm still having a hard time making friends (Definitely can't invite anyone over 'till the house is clean!)

I wish I was june cleaver! My oldest son, 5, is starting his talk back phase. Whenever I tell him to do something he doesn't want to do, he yells NO! and starts a tantrum. I tell him that he's too old for stuff like that. Plus, lets just face it, the bigger they get, the harder it is to drag them into the corner for a time out when they don't want to go. What a mom to do?

I was so glad to hear someone else have that problem with their 5 year old!  It's like the terrible 2's, except they say mean things too!  That's where my new strength training program comes in handy, lol.

I wish I could have a thumbs up or thumbs down parent meter...

I'm GLAD there's no thumbs up or down meter for parenting!! It would be a bit discouraging to see all of those South bound thumbs :P

Last year (when my son was 5), he used to have terrible tantrums. If you said something to him or told him to do something, and he didn't like it, he would start yelling things like "you don't love me" or even better "I don't love you".

We were really concerned that it would be a problem when he started school, and it was. The first 2 weeks of school I got a few notes from the teacher about his tantrums, yelling at teachers and stuff.

I set up a reward system for good behavior and a discipline system for poor behavior and it worked! He never got another note after that

Don't despair ladies, they'll come around, you'll just get a few more grey hairs in the process! :D

just wanted to say that I am soooo tired of picking up the house. I can't even really clean it because I am always just picking stuff up. I will clean the kitchen at least five times a day! And the dishes.....I use alot of paper products for the kids so why am I still running the dishwasher at least twice a day!! And the laundry. Is it so hard to throw a dirty nighttime pullup in the garbage? I'm sure that the kids are old enough to handle that! I can't tell you how many times I'll do a load of laundry only to find that I missed a pull up tangled inside somebody's pajamma pants and it exlpoded in the washing machine. Or, I will wash some laundry and not get it in the dryer in time and I'll have to wash it again because it is smelly. Ok, complaints over.

YES!  I don't know why I have developed this "shame" about having a house that is nothing close to clean.  I mean, I am not a full time maid, and that is what it would take.  So we pick underwear out of a laundry basket - at least it is clean.

Here is a tip that I'd like to share about public restrooms:  The automatic flushing toilets drive me crazy, because I will just get the paper arranged, or my kid is sitting on it, and then it will flush.  I had read to get small sticky notes to place over the "eye" so that didn't happen, but I never had them easy to get to when I needed them.  So...I get a small piece of toilet paper, spit on it, and stick it up there.  Good ole spit wad, right where you need it.  Gross, but effective.

Lulufit, so glad to hear someone else forgets the laundry in the washer. And I find it is worse in the summer. I can't forget even overnight or else we get the dreadful mildew smell. My house is never clean either....my biggest peave is mopping the floor. I HATE doing it. People come to visit and take their shoes off, I always cringe if I see they have white socks on.......not white when they leave my house.

I make my kids fruit smoothies alot and if I have any ice cream I will tell them that I am making them a milkshake. I let them see me put the teaspoon of ice cream in there and they are satisfied with that amount. It is amazing that when it is a "milkshake" the glasses are drained and when it is just a plain smoothie, there is always some stuff left in the glass. Maybe it really is just mind over matter.

that's a really good snack idea. I've never made a regular smoothie before, I must try that the next time the baby birdies start chirping.

My kids absolutely love smoothies - and they never knew it was SUPPOSED to have ice cream in it, so I had the advantage there.   I use plain yogurt with a bit of milk, and use frozen fruit to supplement whatever fresh fruit I have on hand.  Any leftovers I freeze in popsicle molds, or plastic cups with plastic spoons stuck in, and then we have healthy popsicles.

One thing I did with my second child was buy a package of 25 microfiber shop towels (they were under $10), and I use them for spills instead of paper towels.  They absorb really well, and I leave them in a plastic bin where both kids can get to them, so I can say "Go get an orange towel - QUICK!" and they do.  They also happen to pick up dust almost as well as the Swiffer towels - and a LOT cheaper - so I use them with my Swiffer as well (so do the kids!)

Here's a couple of shortcuts I take with laundry, that no one ever complains about:

I have a plastic bin for washcloths, so instead of folding them, I just throw them in.  An added benefit is the stack never falls over anymore!

I also use plastic bins (shoebox size) for underwear and socks, to keep them sorted in drawers.  While I do match the socks, I don't bother folding underwear, just throw it in the bin.  I was using old shoeboxes, but they got destroyed.

And my house is absolutely chaotic, so when someone recommended FlyLady.com, I checked it out, and it seems to be a good program for me, who has never successfully kept a clean house, who has to clean for a week before company comes just to feel that the house isn't disgusting.  This site is supposed to get good habits started and building on each other.  So, anyone else in my boat - might check it out.

Original Post by lulufit:

just wanted to say that I am soooo tired of picking up the house. I can't even really clean it because I am always just picking stuff up. I will clean the kitchen at least five times a day! And the dishes.....I use alot of paper products for the kids so why am I still running the dishwasher at least twice a day!!

My husband and I have decided that our "final" house will have 2 dishwashers.  We've already drawn up plans and made room for them!  LOL!  I guess I'm lazy!  But maybe someday my kitchen will be clean for more than 2 minutes a week...

CALLING ALL MOMS! ADVICE NEEDED!

Hey guys. I am trying to organize my house and hopefully my life before school starts. I have a basement that is a toy room and the kids have their bedrooms. How do you organize your toys? Most of the toys I'd like in the basement in some sort of organized fashion and then the other toys, like leggos, and other stuff, they can keep in their rooms. My question is this: How do you do it? Do you use toy boxes, bins, baskets? Closet or set of drawers? How do you make your kids clean up their toys? What about art supplies and playdough and crayons? I don't have a system, and what I do have sure the he** isn't working. The basement is always a mess because the kids don't really have a place to put their toys, even though we have bins and a big built in set of drawers. Its really crazy. Somethings got to change. I remember the old saying..."a place for everything and everything in its place". Any advice would be incredibly helpful!

I actually haven't managed it - yet - for more than a week or so.  What it seems to take is for me to stand over my children and tell them exactly what to do - or worse, invent a game to get them to clean up.  What it takes is routine, and consistency, and a WHOLE lot of stubborness on my part - I am working on that!

I bought a couple of 6 or 7 foot wire shelves for the basement/toy room/TV room, and clear plastic bins with lids to put on them.  I labelled each bin with things like "Legos", "Barbie", "Vehicles", "Balls", making sure they had pictures as well so my non-readers knew what went in that bin.  I also had a couple of large bins that were "anything" bins - a catch all for everything else.  At the bottom of one of the shelves I put bungee cords in vertically, and this was the "Zoo" for all the stuffed animals that they could easily stuff (they thought this was cool).

This worked really well.  In my success, I had them clean up twice a day before their snack - they LOVE their snacks, so it was motivation for them.  And it didn't take long.  But then the toddler got old enough that she could easily empty a bin in 30 seconds, and it bacame more of a mess, and we started having to go places without having time to clean, and I got lax, and it all fell apart.

Oh, and for a super quick clean up - use a leaf rake and a snow shovel and some big moving boxes.  I've had to do this a few times - most of the kids toys are currently sitting in the garage awaiting school so I can sort them in peace and decide what to keep and what to get rid of.

I really wish my kid's playroom looked like an ad in the Pottery Barn catalogue. I thought if I bought those beautiful storage shelves with matching bins and baskets, our house would always look company ready. HA HA HA.

Seriously, we have the baskets and bins. All I ask of my boys is to "clear the floor" before lunch, and before bed. Their toys are a ramshakle mess, overflowing those bins and baskets. They somehow know where the toys are they want to play with. Occaisionally, I have a power clean on my own. Sorting, throwing away brokens, putting give-aways in a gigantic bag. And gleefully throwing away all those stupid kids meal toys.

I have one of those giant blue IKEA bags, once a week I collect toys that have found their way into the living room and seasonal porch and carry them back to the playroom. I do have an "art" area on the porch, and it needs constant cleaning up. (why do kids like to take the paper off crayons and throw it wildly about the room?)

My parents started having a clean house after we kids moved out, and mom hired a cleaning woman once a week. I'm looking forward to the same in about 16 years.