Yeah, my house is always a mess.
It's much, much better than recent years, though.
We have five kids, and elderly uncle and a messy parrot. We homeschool. So my house never gets a break. There is never a time where everything is done at the same time.
I have been on a serious decluttering kick and have gotten rid of everything we don't use on a regular basis. I mean everything. And that makes it easier to straighten up at night, at least.
Really, I'm okay with not having a perfectly clean house all the time, I grew up in one and don't miss living like that. But I do want to walk through my house and not get black on the bottom of my feet either. I'm trying to find the balance, and I think if it was just me I'd be doing great!
But, I have these kids that follow me around undoing what I've done.
:
I try to keep the d/w empty so we can fill it as we go, and run when its full. Emptying it is the worst part for me.
Same with the washing machine, once its full I wash in cold, switch to the dryer and hope someone is around to fold it when its done. Its a miracle if it gets put away.
Someone goes around at night and collects all the trash from the various trash cans, replacing bags as needed. Then it gets taken down to the toter. Recycling, too.
We recently got a Roomba that is set to run after we go to bed, so the floor is swept every night. (Motivation to make sure everything is picked up before we go upstairs.) And dh runs the Scooba before he leaves for work in the morning. I come down to a clean floor.
I wipe down the bathroom when the kids take a bath, and wipe down the powder room many times a day. (We have three boys.
)
There are two things that overwhelm me - laundry and toys. Laundry I've finally pared down and am doing okay with. Not great, but we all have clean clothes at least. Toys are such a hassle. My kids don't even play with them. They get left around and broken, pieces everywhere. I hate them! I just got rid of 99% of them, with the kids blessings. I scooped everything into a pile and asked them what they wanted, then I asked them if they cared if I got rid of the rest. Surprisingly, they didn't care. Now they play in that room all day. It's great! I'm on the lookout for cute little treasure chests for each of them.
My three year old kept the most - trains, cars, characters, trucks, etc. The baby has her kitchen set and wooden food, a baby doll, a basket of blocks and her little books along the wall in the living room. I can handle that.
Anyway, I'm rambling...so I'll be done now.
