"Question 
o you have an order of how you do the housework? "
I have certain things I am compulsive about doing each day...and they are so automatic for me that I don't even notice I'm doing them. Such as: I can't stand dirty dishes sitting around and don't like them in the sink either so I pretty much rinse them and stick them right into the dishwasher. I run it each night and unload it each morning so I have a place for dirty stuff to go. Also, we have three dogs and I get very ADD-type distracted by anything that moves across a floor, so I use the dust-buster at least once a day to vacuum the hair off the kitchen floor and in the process get all the crumbs and dirt up too. I am compulsive about laundry....we have one big hamper for dark colors and one for white and warm colors, and I cannot stand for the hamper to be full and have no place to put another dirty item...so when either hamper is 75% full (which happens about every 1.5 days) my laundry autopilot kicks in and it's DONE because I can't stand for it not to be. Same about trash cans, recycle bins....cannot stand for them to be full so they practically take care of themselves !!! (the bright side of OCD !!)
Everything else, it's pretty much when I see it needs doing I just DO it. I don't plan...I don't put it off....and I don't overthink it because then it would seem like a big deal....but when it's more of an "oh, looky there, dirt !" and just take care of it, the house stays livable and housework does not feel like a big deal.
One thing I think makes this work for me is that I keep rags and spray bottles of vinegar and toilet brushes and scrub brushes near to wherever they might be needed. This way I never have to go through the house to assemble supplies, because that would make cleaning feel like a big deal.
Also, I may very well find myself with a clean kitchen floor and clean dishes but toys and old mail all over the kitchen island; clean bathrooms upstairs but the carpet up there needs vacuuming (our upstairs vac broke so now it's a pain to haul the Wind Tunnel up the stairs, so that carpet feels like a big job now)...it's very rare that the whole downstairs or the whole upstairs is clean at one point in time....and the two of them both being totally clean together....I don't think it's ever happened ! But since I'm kind of like a Roomba, constantly working my way through the house through the course of the day and cleaning whatever mess is in my area of focus at that time, the messes don't have an opportunity to grow very big or stanky before I get to them.
DH craves the feeling of the whole house being totally cleaned, decluttered, and sanitized ALL AT ONCE....but IMO that pursuit, and being frustrated about it, is pointless.....because we have two little kids and three dogs and that perfect state would last about 30 seconds......and then he would get totally stressed and try to put all this pressure on me to keep it that way at all times, which is completely unrealistic....he does not realize how good he has it with the OCD Roomba-lady thing going on.......I have friends whose houses would make him scream and run !!!!
Anyway, that's how I get it done.....stay intently focused on the mess that is bothering me at the time, and then go on to the next.
And, I came back to add....when I was growing up I had a little friend across the street whose mother made all three of her kids spend two to three hours every Saturday morning vacuuming and wiping and scrubbing every freaking inch of their house until it was spotless....every single week....baseboards, blinds, light fixtures, everything while she patrolled like a drill sargent telling them it wasn't good enough yet....and then all week long, any little mess was like this huge shameful upset. It was horrible. Her kids probably all have crappy childhood memories of Saturday mornings and aversions to cleaning and panic attacks at the smell of bleach, but hey, her house was clean !!! My point is, a clean house is not worth family unhappiness to obtain. Being happy and having fun are way more important. I clean certain things compulsively because I like it done but I don't mind it, am never mad about it, and it's kinda fun ! I think the fun attitude is catching. Our kids argue over whose turn it is to have the dustbuster after I finish with it or who gets to set off the dishwasher or help me unload it. 5-yo voluntarily picks up toys and helps me make beds, 3-yo wants to stuff all the laundry in the washer and start the dryer, etc. and I don't think they see these things as unpleasant chores at all....I think if cleaning is approached with a happy "just DO IT" attitude and we don't dwell on it much, then it stays something that does not feel like a big burdensome deal.
o you have an order of how you do the housework? "I have certain things I am compulsive about doing each day...and they are so automatic for me that I don't even notice I'm doing them. Such as: I can't stand dirty dishes sitting around and don't like them in the sink either so I pretty much rinse them and stick them right into the dishwasher. I run it each night and unload it each morning so I have a place for dirty stuff to go. Also, we have three dogs and I get very ADD-type distracted by anything that moves across a floor, so I use the dust-buster at least once a day to vacuum the hair off the kitchen floor and in the process get all the crumbs and dirt up too. I am compulsive about laundry....we have one big hamper for dark colors and one for white and warm colors, and I cannot stand for the hamper to be full and have no place to put another dirty item...so when either hamper is 75% full (which happens about every 1.5 days) my laundry autopilot kicks in and it's DONE because I can't stand for it not to be. Same about trash cans, recycle bins....cannot stand for them to be full so they practically take care of themselves !!! (the bright side of OCD !!)
Everything else, it's pretty much when I see it needs doing I just DO it. I don't plan...I don't put it off....and I don't overthink it because then it would seem like a big deal....but when it's more of an "oh, looky there, dirt !" and just take care of it, the house stays livable and housework does not feel like a big deal.
One thing I think makes this work for me is that I keep rags and spray bottles of vinegar and toilet brushes and scrub brushes near to wherever they might be needed. This way I never have to go through the house to assemble supplies, because that would make cleaning feel like a big deal.
Also, I may very well find myself with a clean kitchen floor and clean dishes but toys and old mail all over the kitchen island; clean bathrooms upstairs but the carpet up there needs vacuuming (our upstairs vac broke so now it's a pain to haul the Wind Tunnel up the stairs, so that carpet feels like a big job now)...it's very rare that the whole downstairs or the whole upstairs is clean at one point in time....and the two of them both being totally clean together....I don't think it's ever happened ! But since I'm kind of like a Roomba, constantly working my way through the house through the course of the day and cleaning whatever mess is in my area of focus at that time, the messes don't have an opportunity to grow very big or stanky before I get to them.
DH craves the feeling of the whole house being totally cleaned, decluttered, and sanitized ALL AT ONCE....but IMO that pursuit, and being frustrated about it, is pointless.....because we have two little kids and three dogs and that perfect state would last about 30 seconds......and then he would get totally stressed and try to put all this pressure on me to keep it that way at all times, which is completely unrealistic....he does not realize how good he has it with the OCD Roomba-lady thing going on.......I have friends whose houses would make him scream and run !!!!
Anyway, that's how I get it done.....stay intently focused on the mess that is bothering me at the time, and then go on to the next.
And, I came back to add....when I was growing up I had a little friend across the street whose mother made all three of her kids spend two to three hours every Saturday morning vacuuming and wiping and scrubbing every freaking inch of their house until it was spotless....every single week....baseboards, blinds, light fixtures, everything while she patrolled like a drill sargent telling them it wasn't good enough yet....and then all week long, any little mess was like this huge shameful upset. It was horrible. Her kids probably all have crappy childhood memories of Saturday mornings and aversions to cleaning and panic attacks at the smell of bleach, but hey, her house was clean !!! My point is, a clean house is not worth family unhappiness to obtain. Being happy and having fun are way more important. I clean certain things compulsively because I like it done but I don't mind it, am never mad about it, and it's kinda fun ! I think the fun attitude is catching. Our kids argue over whose turn it is to have the dustbuster after I finish with it or who gets to set off the dishwasher or help me unload it. 5-yo voluntarily picks up toys and helps me make beds, 3-yo wants to stuff all the laundry in the washer and start the dryer, etc. and I don't think they see these things as unpleasant chores at all....I think if cleaning is approached with a happy "just DO IT" attitude and we don't dwell on it much, then it stays something that does not feel like a big burdensome deal.
But, how did you do this with young children? (You said you started this after your first child was born...)
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