Working/Student mamas how & when do you fit in the housework/chores?

[samy23]

Some days I struggle to keep on top of the housework, with working, studying, volunteering, childcare, cooking dinner, shopping etc....It seems like im constantly playing "catch-up" with all the house chores, and it really gets me down when it's all piling up yk?

When do you find the time to do your housework?...how do you fit it in?

[Alyantavid]

I do a big clean on Saturday mornings when the kids watch cartoons. During the week, we just maintain. Dishes get done after they're used and right after dinner. I sweep the kitchen floor and wipe down the bathroom while ds2 is in the tub. I do all the laundry on Sundays and then do a load or two on Wednesdays if we need to. I grocery shop on my lunch break one day a week.

I've found, in my case, it's much easier to get my house in the shape I want it and then maintain that the rest of the time. The kids can and do pick up after themselves and have a few chores that help out.

[RollerCoasterMama]

I don't. I'm usually stuck in a rut of just keeping up! But before moving into my own place with DS, I did a TON of decluttering. So that helps. We have minimal toys (both DS and me!). I keep meaning to do a bit clean when STBX has DS, but usually I just collapse in exhaustion instead. And this summer I'm going to start adding online classes to the schedule!

I finally admitted that I suck at housekeeping and need help. I am tweaking the budget and rehiring the cleaner we used last year. She kept me on my toes. Since I didn't want to waste her time having to pick up, my house had to be picked up on a regular basis so that she could do the deep cleaning part. She keeps me on my good behavior, and it works great. And when we decluttered to put our house on the market, I found out how nice it is to have less stuff. The less stuff to be thrown around (DS is skilled!) the better. So my cleaner is starting in a month and I'm really excited to have her back. (She's fab: got laid off from a marketing job a few years ago and just started doing all sorts of fun things on the side--events, photography, organzing, even paid to scrap-book!! But she needed a regular paycheck, so she cleans too. And she's terrific and has lots of initiative to do whatever needs doing!!!)

When I hear the cleaning routines of some people, it just overwhelms me. I love my house to be clean and neat, I just don't have the energy at the end of the day! So I'm sacrificing other places in my budget to get help where I need it.

[nolansmummy]

I clean on the weekends. I try and do basic stuff during the week like unloading the dishwasher, and picking up some toys, but big stuff like laundry, mopping, vacuuming gets done on the weekend

[Quinalla]

I make sure to do a little each day during the week and DH and I will do bigger stuff on the weekends. As long as I keep moving some and talk/sing some, I can usually wear my girl in a sling and do a lot and it keeps her entertained, so I usually try to have at least a 15-20 minute session of doing a bunch of stuff with her slinged, making sure to switch to something else (and then back later) if she starts getting bored with one thing. I can get quite a bit of laundry, dishes, spot cleaning (been using 7th Gen. stuff or just dish soap so that I don't worry about cleaning around her), general picking up, even vacuuming done this way. For anything that needs a good scrub for awhile, I wait until she is sleeping or DH can entertain her. And I will use her bouncy seat too, putting that in the middle of the kitchen floor or wherever, if she isn't in the mood for the sling.

I also try to get in another 15 minute cleaning/organizing bout after she goes to sleep for the first time at night. I don't get both of these in every night, but I make an effort to do so and it really helps keep things fairly well maintained. I do need to get better about the more deep cleaning stuff, it tends to get put off until we have guests over I'd like to get a schedule going where I rotate through the deep cleaning stuff each weekend, but I'm not there yet.

[1jooj]

I'm blessed with a flexible schedule, so I have occasional days at home when kids are in school and I don't have work to do. I attack laundry, vacuuming, floors, etc. when I have these opportunities.

In between those blessed days, I try to throw in a load of laundry every couple of days (I do about 5 loads a week). I sweep the kitchen floor nightly and try to hit other floors when I can find them. Kids do room cleaning once mid-week and once on weekend.

We also do a weekend big clean. Sort of. We're kind of a chaotic family, and as both parents WOHM, kids are in school and we have a farm, we have long days outside the house. So we don't see it.

[moonyoungi]

umm..I don't. And I don't really mind. We do some cleaning on weekends. We basically do laundry during the weekdays and maybe basic kitchen cleaning here and there. But school work and children come first. When we are really in a pinch, we just do "healthy" (relatively speaking) frozen dinners.

[docta]

my partner & I were always stressed & arguing about housekeeping, and having a baby didn't help. when our daughter was 8 mos. old, we finally agreed to hire a housecleaner and asked around for recommendations, and found someone who worked for a very reasonable rate twice a month. We will never go back! even though there are things that could be improved, we realize that just having the house cleaned is more important than a perfect cleaning. Also, we now have time to spend together with our daughter or to work on projects rather than just trying to keep up with basics that we couldn't seem to stay on top of consistently. Also, having a housecleaner forces you to tidy up frequently, since they can't clean if your house is cluttered. Now if we could just figure out a way to manage planning & cooking meals more effectively....