Confessions of a disorganized housewife

[mamax2]

HELP!! I have two small children,( & ), as well as a DH whose a bit of a litterbug (just in the house) and leaves stuff all over the place. Therefore, I am the not-so-proud owner of a very messy apartment, . As I confessed in the title, I am disorganized. Very disorganized. I need tips. How do you do it? You parents who have homes that do not look like war zones? When we moved to this apartment, we sent, probably about 14 good sized boxes to Goodwill, and were really strict with what we allowed ourselves to keep, so the problem isn't really clutter, its just every day mess. Any suggestions on how to organize myself would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[Donald - my hero]

This is too too funny! Whenever our kids were frustrated that Dad was late getting home (he worked in the airport area) we would say he was stopping in to see his "other family" in Milton!

ANYWHO someone passed on this site and I have it bookmarked. TRY it

http://www.flylady.net/

 

[drag n' fly]

This is too too funny! Whenever our kids were frustrated that Dad was late getting home (he worked in the airport area) we would say he was stopping in to see his "other family" in Milton!

ANYWHO someone passed on this site and I have it bookmarked. TRY it

http://www.flylady.net/

that's great


My dh was the same way until I started picking up everything he left around and I put it in a laundry basket and placed it on his side of the bed. I left a note on top of the basket that said "for further assistance feel free to call 1-800- I am not your maid" He laughed so hard he profusely apologized and promised to shape up which he did...he still leaves stuff laying around like salt and vinegar potato chip bags and I just quietly slip them under the sheets while making the bed.....fortunately he has a great sense of humour and thanks me constantly for humbling him!
When your kids are young (and you are tired!) it is challenging. I always kept laundry baskets in the most used area of the house and everytime I found something laying around I asked them to put it in the basket. At the end of the day before supper we would take the baskets and sing the cleanup song. Everytime they put something away I gave them one of those metallic stars our teachers use to give us. When Daddy got home they would proudly show how many stars they had....some days they were covered lol. I found when they are young the end of the day cleaning works best or you are cleaning all day. If you have a playroom you can do the same thing with the baskets and also tape pictures of what items go where if they are not of reading age yet. As they get older they can take more responsibility and I will usually say...family tidy before we move on to the next activity...incentive for cleaning! This works for younger ones too but I found the basket method worked better at the end of the day when they are young. My kids are now 12, 10 and 3 and I still keep three baskets in the kitchen. At the end of each day we place any stuff laying around in the basket on their bed.
My last bit is: If you have not used it in a year you don't miss it and probably never will...toss or donate...obviously heirloom or seasonal dont count but I have found that helped it keeping down the clutter.

 

[mamax2]

I love the idea of the baskets! And I have about 4 good laundry baskets that I held onto. I like the picture idea too. The star idea sounds like it will work in a couple of years, but my older daughter just turned two, and I have a feeling if I give her star stickers, my day will be taken up by cleaning up little stars stuck all over everything! (LOL) and I am so putting any empty chip bags, and candy wrappers he leaves around on his side of the bed I know he'll get it, because he's always complaining about the mess, and I always complain back that he's the one making it. So he picks up after himself for a couple of days, and then it starts all over again. From now on, I will call his side of the bed - The Dump.

 

[minikk]

I started picking up everything he left around and I put it in a laundry basket and placed it on his side of the bed. I left a note on top of the basket that said "for further assistance feel free to call 1-800- I am not your maid"

ROFL!!! That is a good one drag n fly!!

 

[swebri94]

You should put things into little boxes in a garage and have a yard sale. Yard sales are a good way to get rid of stuff & make some money

 

[Donald - my hero]

Good ideas --- but once my son became a teen-ager I just plain gave up! I knew that I did not want him in my room so I couldn't touch his. Only prob .... it was at the top of the stairs so when you went to bed yourself you had to take your life into your own hands!

Only break I got was when he finally grew up enuff to go to college. Now anything he left behind, I just scooped up into boxes. It is his responsibility to deal with when he comes home this weekend for Thanksgiving

 

[mamax2]

Ok, the FlyLady is my new hero. I looked up the site, and as of now have finished my "wake up" routine, and am wearing my shoes. I am also in the process of shining my sink. I have my list of three thing to do today (make the beds, vaccum the living room, and wipe down the bathroom.)
I am also schedualling a break for this afternoon, to get a designer moccaccino across the street. And as she says, I'm all ready for it, because I already have my shoes on!!

Seriously, I love that site. I joined the yahoo group thing too. The "zone" this week is the front entrace/dining room.

And I am off to save myself, and my family from this disaster area -- WOO-HOO!!!

 

[SaraMc]

We take 10 minutes after DS goes to bed and do a scoop up of what's accumulated everywhere and then on Sunday's we do the clean up for the week. We have two laundry baskets for our stuff ( Whites and Darks) and one for DS stuff. This helps a great deal.

 

[drag n' fly]

Ok, the FlyLady is my new hero. I looked up the site, and as of now have finished my "wake up" routine, and am wearing my shoes. I am also in the process of shining my sink. I have my list of three thing to do today (make the beds, vaccum the living room, and wipe down the bathroom.)
I am also schedualling a break for this afternoon, to get a designer moccaccino across the street. And as she says, I'm all ready for it, because I already have my shoes on!!

Seriously, I love that site. I joined the yahoo group thing too. The "zone" this week is the front entrace/dining room.

And I am off to save myself, and my family from this disaster area -- WOO-HOO!!!

You got a lot of great advice from everyone here! I also got some great ideas! WAY TO GO!

 

[Boncho]

that's great


My dh was the same way until I started picking up everything he left around and I put it in a laundry basket and placed it on his side of the bed. I left a note on top of the basket that said "for further assistance feel free to call 1-800- I am not your maid" He laughed so hard he profusely apologized and promised to shape up which he did...he still leaves stuff laying around like salt and vinegar potato chip bags and I just quietly slip them under the sheets while making the bed.....fortunately he has a great sense of humour and thanks me constantly for humbling him!
.

When my husband leaves his stuff all over the place, I scoop it up and pile it on his desk then I just wait for him to ask me where something is.

 

[mamax2]

Thanks for all the great advice everyone! I'm going to try to incorporate everything here into a routine. Obviously the most effective suggestion is to wait until the girls go to bed to straighten up the main rooms. Otherwise, it is just an exercise in frustration

Keep 'em coming!!

 

[tink&cinderella]

The only place my kids can have their toys besides arts, crafts, crayons etc is upstairs in their rooms or in the finished side of the basement. That way, the main floor ; kitchen, living room, dining room, hallway and family room are always tidy.

I always tell my children and dh they cannot afford maid service. We also have a chart on the fridge for chores and one of them is picking up and tidying their room.

At the end of the week, if their chores have been done, their rooms are tidy and they have had a relatively positive week they pick an activity from the family jar. - they love that. This week it was playing a family board game and going to Chuckee cheese.

I love the basket idea

Have fun

Denise