The laziest question ever. (household routine) - Page 2

[seashells]

Originally Posted by Alyantavid

I don't spend 2 hours total cleaning a day. And yes, thank you, my dh does do something around the house.

And not to stir up the whole sahm/wohm debate, but yes there are people home at my house every day, most of the day. All meals are made at home, every day. Lots of crafts and activities are done at home, so we do need to pick up after those. Just because I work full time does not mean that my house is empty for 8 hours a day every day and when we are home, we're not just sitting there to keep the house clean. My kids know how to pick up after themselves and do a great job. My house is cleaner than most people's homes that I've seen and I don't spend every spare second cleaning it.

I didn't mean to make a SAHM/WOHM debate. I'm not a SAHM anyway. I don't know what your circumstances are, you described your day like you were away all day and came home at night, I didn't think I was going to offend you by admitting we had different circumstances

[Gentle~Mommy :)]

When I worked full time (pre kiddos) I had a cleaning lady come once a week, she spent 4 hours and did everything from top to bottom.

Now that I am a SAHM I try to keep on top of things as they happen or when the opportunity arises (ie) if I go to the bathroom, I give the sink a wipe and straighten or change the towels or give the toilet bowl a wipe. I don't wait for a cleaning routine, I tidy and straighten as things present themselves.

I don't think 2 hours a day is out of line, I don't think you have to do that all at once but just over the course of the day.

[Ruthla]

If your kids are home during the day, I assume there's also an adult at home with them? Whether that adult is Mom, Dad, a grandparent, or a paid child care provider, it's still an adult in the house who can (theoretically at least) clean up some of the kids' messes as they're made/remind the kids to clean up. If the babysitter does a craft project with the kids, and then makes sure the craft supplies are cleand up when they're done, then the babysitter has done 5-10 minutes of "cleaning". If she feeds the kids breakfast and then puts the breakfast dishes in the dishwasher, that counts towards the daily total of "minutes spent cleaning." Basically, if your home is occupied during the day when you're not personally there, then others in the home are likely doing these "bits and pieces" of cleaning in your absence.

I honestly don't know how much time is spent cleaning each day. 2 hours does sound like a lot, but when I think about washing dishes for 5 minutes after breakfast and lunch and another 15 after dinner (which includes washing pots and counters), that's nearly half an hour just on dishes (and it may go over that on some days.) Then another 10 minutes tidying up a few times a day is another half hour. Washing and putting away laundry, always done one load at a time, adds up too. And do I add in the time DD1 spends organizing her room or DD2 spends organizing the living room?

If 2 hours is the average, then I probably spend more than that. I'm doing laundry for my mom as well as myself and my kids right now. Due to my chronic health issues, I work slower than others. I get the work done, but I can only do a little bit at a time and spread it out over the whole day.

[Alyantavid]

Originally Posted by seashells

I didn't mean to make a SAHM/WOHM debate. I'm not a SAHM anyway. I don't know what your circumstances are, you described your day like you were away all day and came home at night, I didn't think I was going to offend you by admitting we had different circumstances

Well your comments just struck me and I got defensive, especially the "doesn't your dh do anything" one.

[Cativari]

I don't think I spend that much time cleaning daily, if I make an effort to keep things maintained.

What I'd suggest is to do a very deep clean and maintain. Set a schedual or set times to clean with time limits.

When I'm on top of things here is what I do:

I have two cleaning times: a morning one (about 9-10am or before we leave for errands) and an evening one (just before DH gets home from work). Each are about 15-30minutes for an entire house picking up this time includes a quick vacum or sweep of the main rooms.

I'm a big fan of baskets (or rubbermaid tubs) that things get put into through the course of the day. In the living room/family room (which ever you spend most of your time in) keep a baskets for each of the other rooms and laundry. Also baskets in other rooms that collect stray items over the course of the day (I just usually go around with the living room baskets but some find it easier to have them for every room).

For bathrooms I make sure I have those toliet cleaning tabs. And I try to spray the shower with vineger. I only clean mirrors as needed (once every few weeks).

For laundry I'm going to start something a bit different then just doing for everyone all at once like I've been doing. I'm going to assign everyone a laundry day that way I can start transitioning the kids to doing their own laundy when they get older. I have to get the baskets for it.

Also for clothes I don't fold the kids' stuff. We have dressers and every thing gets unfolded when they find something to wear so it's a waste of time. DD 3 puts her own clothes away most of the time. I also don't seperate clothes unless they're new, not color set, have special wash needs or extremely dirty. I have found that with most (not all) stuff it doesn't make much difference in stuff and just takes extra time. The stuff that does get sorted is seperated right away.

For dishes I keep the amount in the use to a minimum. I only have out enough stuff to eat on and cook with for one meal. Usually 4 plates, 4 bowls, 4 of each eating utinsil and whatever it takes to cook for the meal. I also try to have the sink full of hot soapy water when I start preparing food so cleaning washing is easier.

As the kids are getting older I encourage them to help. I don't have a set list for the kids yet because they are so little but DD will be getting one soon (when I can figure out a system I like).

For the larger taskes that don't come around often (window washing, cleaning the binds, winterizing...) I only do them as needed. They usually get check once a month or so when I do a deep cleaning.

I have two days where I don't do anything but hang out with the kids and take it easy. (I only clean the spills and pick up the emergancy messes). On these days I try to have easy to prep meals that don't require a lot of dishes to make. On these days I'll do a frozen pizza, sandwiches, take out, or leftovers.

Hope this helps

[sunnmama]

Originally Posted by Alyantavid

yes there are people home at my house every day, most of the day. All meals are made at home, every day. Lots of crafts and activities are done at home, so we do need to pick up after those.

I'm guessing (hoping?) the people at home while you are working are cleaning up as they go, contributing to the 2 hours of cleaning.

[Alyantavid]

Originally Posted by sunnmama

I'm guessing (hoping?) the people at home while you are working are cleaning up as they go, contributing to the 2 hours of cleaning.

Ok well I don't consider picking up after coloring to be cleaning.

[aprildawn]

No way. 2 hours each day?

I let my kitchen pile into a total mess throughout the day because I hate the feeling of cleaning it all. the. time. Breakfast, lunch, snacks just pile up the mess. At 4pm I clean up the kitchen, fix dinner. After dinner DH cleans up the kitchen. Our girls put their toys away. Then we have baths.

1x week I vacuum with my big vacuum cleaner. Otherwise I use the quick vacuum sweeper. It's not as good, but it does the trick. 5 mins.

1x every 2 weeks I clean the half-bath.

1x every 2 weeks I clean the upstairs bath (toilets, floors, etc.)

1x week I mop the wood and tile downstairs.

1x week I do all the clothes laundry.

1x every 2 weeks I clean linens.

DH changes and washes sheets. He also changes the kitty litter (both jobs he held onto even after I had both our girls!! I got so big it was hard to lean over the mattresses that are against the wall to put the fitted sheets on!! And we all know the horrific dangers of kitty litter to a pregnant woman!!)

I think it might all add up to 2-3 hours week + the daily kitchen and clutter cleaning up which is probably 30-45 mins/day. My house is clean. Not spotless, not perfect, but clean. I'm a clean-freak, and I'm satisfied with it considering my life-stage.

[sunnmama]

Originally Posted by Alyantavid

Ok well I don't consider picking up after coloring to be cleaning.

Well, as the SAHP of a tornado-two-year-old, I certainly do consider picking up after coloring, legos, dinosaurs, books, coloring, legos, dinosaurs, books, coloring.....all day long to be cleaning

But also the meals, no? Do they just leave the table and counters a mess all day?

And there are inevitably messes (a spilled drink--even just water, tracked in mud, a marker that missed the paper, etc) to be handled as they occur.

It adds up!

[Alyantavid]

Originally Posted by sunnmama

Well, as the SAHP of a tornado-two-year-old, I certainly do consider picking up after coloring, legos, dinosaurs, books, coloring, legos, dinosaurs, books, coloring.....all day long to be cleaning

But also the meals, no? Do they just leave the table and counters a mess all day?

And there are inevitably messes (a spilled drink--even just water, tracked in mud, a marker that missed the paper, etc) to be handled as they occur.

It adds up!

OK, so yes, as a family, we do probably spend 2 hours a day "cleaning" up after ourselves.

[eclipse]

We don't spend too much time cleaning. My kids are 8, 6, and 4 - so capeable of cleaning up after themselves. I remind them throughout the day to pick things up as they go (doesn't always happen!). The kids get to go on the Wii for about 20 minutes in the evening before bedtime, but only if certain things are cleaned up. DD puts away toys in the playroom, DS1 puts away toys/books/run away arts and craft projects in the den/office, and DS2 and tidy up the livingroom. This rarely takes more than 15 minutes or so. I try to tidy up the kitchen/dining room every evening while they play on the wii, or right after they go to bed - again, rarely more than 15 minutes - the kids have taken care of their own dishes after dinner. I just clean up after dinner, put dishes in the dishwasher, run it if it needs it, quickly wipe the counters, sweep if it needs it. I do have a housekeeper who comes once a week for about 5 hours to mop/wash cabinets, dust, do the bathrooms, etc - but she also does things every week that I don't think really need to be done that frequently - like cleaning the outside of small kitchen appliances, mopping the bedrooms, etc. If I didn't have her coming, I don't think I'd spend 5 hours a week doing the things she does (but she does do them far better than I do!).

[doubledutch]

our house is messy because we don't put in the time to maintain, and i mostly blame dh. i do what i can after work, but the kids want/need my attention and i usually cook dinner as well. dh is a sahd. he does some tidying, but not enough. i'm not talking about actual chores, like sweeping or cleaning the bathroom. just cleaning up after breakfast and lunch and having the boys clean up their toys and projects. i wish he would keep up with those two things during the day.

or if our house were empty all day, i really wouldn't mind spending some time in the evenings sweeping up, folding the laundry and putting it away, wiping down the bathroom. my boys don't mind "helping" me clean for an hour, and i like cleaning - it's the mess to tidy up before i can clean, that's what makes it hard and causes me to be forever behind on housework.

between the two of us, i guess we spend 60-90 minutes a day, and it's not enough for a house where people are always home.

[sunnysandiegan]

This thread is making me want to use a timer every day for a week or so to record *exactly* how much time we (every family member) spends cleaning our home!

Two hours a day SOUNDS insane to me, yet....our house is often company-ready and I enjoy cleaning (most of the time, anyway). I suspect we *do* clean that much, but it is broken up so much and built-in to our everyday lives that it doesn't *feel* like so much.

Today, I made our bed as soon as I got out of it, hung up sheets outside to dry (from yesterday's washing), started two new loads, am in mid-process on all three loads (unusual for me...usually only handle one load a day), ran the Roomba in the living room (involved moving the ottoman and kitten's scratching post), and I think that is all so far.........no idea on how much time was spent..........

[mamadelbosque]

I definetly DON'T spend 2hours a day cleaning. I probably spend 3 hours a WEEK. Tops. I vacume once (yes ONCE!) a week. We have hardwood floors and rugs and untill I start seeing little hair balls in corners, I do *NOT* pull the vacume out. In the evenings I spend 10-15 minutes picking up toys/books and putting them in there spots (pile of kids books under the coffe table, various recipticales for toys mostly involving other toys (ie dump truck) baskets and boxes. I clean the bathroom maybe 2 or 3 times a week, which takes maybe 10 minutes tops (ours is small - wipe down counter, scrub sink, rinse out soap holder thing, maybe give the toilet a quick wipe down/scrub (which I do half the time) and wallah! done!). We generally do dishes twice a day, once after lunch and once after dinner (no dishwasher, so all by hand). I too can NOT imagine taking 2 hours a night to clean. Ugh. Sounds bloody awful!!

[flowmom]

Another thing that I want to add is that many people organize their lives around not messing up the home, even if they have children. We don't. I allow making forts, doing crafts, painting, children "helping" with food prep. That's partly why there is more clean-up. I feel that if I spend 20 minutes cleaning up after a painting session (it takes at least that long), it's worth worth it to me to offer that to my children. I know a lot of parents who would never let tempera paint pass their doorstep .

[mimid]

While I haven't gotten back into it since the girls were born, I found FlyLady to be a great help. I hacked her program to bits so that it fit, but the idea of routines, doing a touch-up of the house once a week, detailed cleaning in a specific area for 15 minutes a day, reducing clutter and every so often doing a 5 minute rescue or 20-odd something toss helped a lot. The first couple weeks I did deep cleaning and then the upkeep was easy.

[sapphire_chan]

Well, I answered "yes" because I assumed that time included stuff like folding and putting away laundry, mopping the floor, and getting toddler "help". For someone who can work without kids, who has the house already set up with homes for places (takes longer to put things away if you have to figure out where they should go) I'd say more like 30 minutes to zip through most nights and a couple nights where you spend an hour and do laundry or some deep cleaning.

[AngelBee]

[bluebunny]

I honestly don't know how much time a day I spend cleaning but it doesn't feel like two hours. I try to pick up as I go about my day and try not to leave one room without bringing something with me to put up in another. I usually run the dishwasher at night and unload it in the morning. I also try to do at least one load of laundry per day. I have found that I can accomplish a lot in 15 minutes so if I'm feeling like the house is getting too out of control, I'll do a quick 15-minute spurt and do as much as possible.

Big things like mopping the kitchen and bathrooms are done on the weekends. During the week, I maintain.

[countrymom]

This is just what I need to be reading to motivate myself....2 hours..wow! I better get on the ball...no wonder I am always way behind.......