laundry and house cleaning poll - for those with little ones!

On Thu, 15 Dec 2005 21:15:32 GMT, dkhedmo
wrote:

With a 5.5yo and a 1.5yo, I'm killing myself trying to keep up with the
mounds of laundry that accumulate and I'm wondering if I'm creating my
own circle of hell by using too many clothes over the course of the
day/week. So, a little poll on laundry and other housecleaning items...
Discplainer - my kids are teens

How many sets of clean, fresh pajamas do you use per week per child?

used to use one every couple of days IF child did not wet or eat in
them. now child sleeps in ts and boxers

If you live in a cold climate and use undershirts, leggings under the
clothes, etc, how often do you put on a clean, fresh item?

Daily

For those with partners working in a "professional" environment, are you
ironing dresshirts or blouses, or sending them to the cleaners?
Send them out

For the members of the household who shower/bathe every day or nearly
every day, how often does each person get a fresh towel? For those who
bathe only a few times a week, does that person get a clean towel every
time?

Once a week, everyone has their own towel and I have a face towel

How often do you change the bedsheets?

Weelkly, air it out daily

Do you ever get all the laundry put away, or are you living out of
laundry baskets?

MOstly, yes, but each person also has a pile in the basement of their
own

How often do you thoroughly clean the primary/only bathroom?

When I did it myself, weekly. I now have someone who does this

How often do you mop the kitchen floor? Do you do any floor maintenance
between moppings?

Weekly, and a quick wipe with a disposable cloth in between if needed

For those living in the stone age with NO AUTOMATIC DISHWASHER, how
often do you do dishes over the course of a day?

I put the bfks dishes in to soak before we leave the house. They get
washed while dinner is preparing, Immediately after dinner dishes are
rinsed and put into soak and done later

If you're not much of a housekeeper, or having a very busy day or week,
what are your "bare minimum" items that you do daily or weekly?
Bathroom and kitchen and a quick vaccum because of dogs, floor picked
up nightly before bed

Any particular comments from those without a partner, or an absentee
partner (away for work, school at night, etc) trying to handle the brunt
of the household responsiblilities?

Looking for a little perspective, becuase I perpetually feel at least
day and a half behind.

-Karen, mom to Henry 5.5 and William 1.5-

"dejablues" wrote in message
My kids aren't that young anymore, but I think my house was a lot cleaner
and I got a lot more done when they were little. For one, I was either not
working or working PT (I now work FT) , and they didn't all have a million
places to go. They also eat more now (you have boys, wait til they get
older!!!) , they fix meals for themselves (but don't always clean up), and
their laundry gets sweatier and dirtier. The upside is that they can do
their own laundry, load and run the dishwasher.

It was the same for me also. My house was definitely much cleaner when they
were little. I had a nice schedule of playtime in the morning where I would
do something with the kids and then came lunch and then naps. I did the bulk
of my housework when they napped in the afternoon. I could fold laundry in
the living room and the toddlers could help ;o) The house we lived in when
the girls were babies and toddlers was very small and easier to keep clean.
Now I have three stories with the laundry in the basement and it's harder to
keep up with the clothes. Now that they are older 13, 10, and 9 my house is
a disaster and it seems nothing ever gets done.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

dkhedmo wrote:
With a 5.5yo and a 1.5yo, I'm killing myself trying to keep up with the
mounds of laundry that accumulate and I'm wondering if I'm creating my
own circle of hell by using too many clothes over the course of the
day/week. So, a little poll on laundry and other housecleaning items...

How many sets of clean, fresh pajamas do you use per week per child?
*****Probably 5/6 on the average. Footie pajamas only get
worn once before washing.

If you live in a cold climate and use undershirts, leggings under the
clothes, etc, how often do you put on a clean, fresh item?
*****Twice per day. Morning and night.

For those with partners working in a "professional" environment, are you
ironing dresshirts or blouses, or sending them to the cleaners?
*****I take the shirts hot out of the dryer and hang
them immediately. This helps with wrinkles.


For the members of the household who shower/bathe every day or nearly
every day, how often does each person get a fresh towel? For those who
bathe only a few times a week, does that person get a clean towel every
time?
*****One each time.

How often do you change the bedsheets?
*****Every two weeks. Can't manage more than that right now.
Of course, weekly is much better. Fresh sheets are wonderful!

Do you ever get all the laundry put away, or are you living out of
laundry baskets?
*****I schedule time each day for laundry.

How often do you thoroughly clean the primary/only bathroom?
*****Probably once a month, with spot cleaning weekly,
or more often.

How often do you mop the kitchen floor? Do you do any floor maintenance
between moppings?
*****Huge mopping every two weeks or more if needed,
with constant spot cleaning.

For those living in the stone age with NO AUTOMATIC DISHWASHER, how
often do you do dishes over the course of a day?
*****I hand wash baby bottles after my daughter is
put to bed, then relax a bit.

If you're not much of a housekeeper, or having a very busy day or week,
what are your "bare minimum" items that you do daily or weekly?
*****I need everything to be basically clean or I can't
enjoy myself, so I'm constantly busy with clean control.


Any particular comments from those without a partner, or an absentee
partner (away for work, school at night, etc) trying to handle the brunt
of the household responsiblilities?
*****In all honesty, my husband makes more work for
me when he is around. When he's not, it's much easier
to maintain clean and neat without so much extra
damage control.

Looking for a little perspective, becuase I perpetually feel at least
day and a half behind.
*****I know what you mean!

-Karen, mom to Henry 5.5 and William 1.5-
***** My son is 17, my daughter 19 months, and my husband,
well, he's too old to look after if you ask me .


Lynne Marie Pisano

Kevin and Kayla's Mommy


Check Out Kayla's Closet(s) at:
http://www.stores.ebay.com/from-kaylas-closet
http://www.buysellcommunity.com/store/Fromkaylascloset/
http://www.newyork.craigslist.com (Search for "From Kayla's Closet")

Sue wrote:
It was the same for me also. My house was definitely much cleaner when they
were little.

It's the opposite for me. My house was fairly clean (always kept the
floors mopped - daily - because little ones were crawling on them) but
there was constant clutter on the floor from toys and such, no matter
how much I kept on top of it. Also white (!) rugs meant dirt showed
very quickly, but they didn't get vacuumed daily. And I had much more
laundry piling up. We had one of those guest bathrooms that also had
the laundry behind a folding door; we'd go for weeks with a giant pile
of laundry clogging up the bathroom floor.

I had a nice schedule of playtime in the morning where I would
do something with the kids and then came lunch and then naps. I did the bulk
of my housework when they napped in the afternoon.

Heh - for me, their afternoon naptime was my "alone" time. I'd get
dinner started but that was about it. I'd either nap too, or read a
book. I needed that recharge-time to gear up my energy for the evening
crunch-time. I did housework during morning nap (one hour), after they
went to bed at night, and laundry only on weekends. In those days, we
had tons of clothes so we could go longer without doing laundry. Hence
the monster pile-ups. I remember always feeling behind, and always
being exhausted.

I could fold laundry in
the living room and the toddlers could help ;o)

My toddlers would unfold everything as I folded! Folding was done after
they went to bed.

The house we lived in when
the girls were babies and toddlers was very small and easier to keep clean.
Now I have three stories with the laundry in the basement and it's harder to
keep up with the clothes. Now that they are older 13, 10, and 9 my house is
a disaster and it seems nothing ever gets done.

When my kids were toddlers I was a SAHM and the house was much bigger,
but IMO did not have a very efficient design (typical center-hall
colonial). Today, they are 11 and 13, I work from home, they're gone to
school and afterschool all day, and the house is 700 sf smaller. It is
much easier to keep on top of things these days, even if I do no
housework during the hours of 9 to 5 while I'm in the house. The girls
are a big help too.

It's easier for many reasons, but mostly because we decluttered our
lives when we downsized. Nowadays we have less clothes (only enough
that'll fit comfortably in drawers and closets) and do laundry daily
instead of letting it pile up. With less possessions there's less to
put away; we only buy things that we have room for and we can envision
a logical home for it. If not, then we discard something to make room
for it. Also I streamlined the decor and got rid of the excess
nick-nacks that always needed dusting. I only keep around those
nick-nacks I don't mind dusting.

And I spent time developing routines that work - like habitually going
through the mail the same time each day; putting backpacks, coats, etc
away in their "homes" once we enter the house; staying on top of the
dishwasher (emptying it in the AM and running it at night). I have
thought through an organization system that gives everything a logical
home so that ensures people in the house know where to put things away
and where to find them. It ups the chances they'll actually take the
iniative to put things away without my nagging!

My kitchen is quite small, but very efficiently designed. It forces me
to keep counters clear because if they're not, I have no room to
prepare meals. And the design makes the workflow more convenient - like
it takes only two steps to clear dishes from table to counter where the
dishwasher is, and one efficient arms' reach from dishwasher to cabinet
to put things away. It takes me 1:30 seconds to empty the dishwasher
(the time it takes to cook oatmeal in the microwave).

I've realized one of the reasons my bigger kitchen always had dishes on
the counter was because I simply had more dishes than would fit in the
cabinets! So today with a fraction of the cabinet space, my kitchen is
always clear of dishes (clean or otherwise) because I decluttered cups,
plates, utensils, pots & pans, plastic storage containers, etc down
only to what could fit comfortably in the cabinet. It's lttle things
like this that for me make all the difference.

I also got smart with the tools of cleaning, selecting tools that
appeal to my inherent laziness. For example, it's true that I will
postpone vacuuming for weeks and even months on end if it means lugging
out a heavy vaccuum cleaner! So Roomba is a godsend because it's
effortless to rotate it daily in a different room, and keep the floors
maintained. Since it goes under furniture like beds, it keeps the dust
population down which means less dusting.

Likewise wet-mopping has long been my most loathsome chore of all: I
discovered the Bissell steam mop and now it's so simple, easy and fast,
I am more apt to do it weekly. No bucket to haul around - yeah!!! And
using Glass Plus Wipes in the bathrooms makes it brainlessly easy to
wipe down the bathroom sink, mirror, toilet every single day.

The fact we have stackable laundry units, tucked into a closet, means I
can't stack up laundry because there's no place to stack it. Encourages
me to do only one load a day. I've found one load a day is much, much
easier than doing seven loads on Sunday in a marathon. When I used to
do that, I was likely to peter out by the 5th or 6th load, and have no
energy to fold and put away the last few loads. That meant a floating
pile of laundry - from dirty pile in laundry room by Sunday, to clean
piles on bedroom floors during the week. :-)

Finally, as I said, the girls are a big help these days. Not always,
but most times. They are in the habit of putting their things away
afterschool, and clearing the dining room table right before bed. They
each do their own laundry now, freeing me from laundry two days a week.
(For clothes we throw everything in together and don't sort - and have
never had an issue). They clear the dishes each night and put away
their dirty dishes during the day.

They're responsible for keeping their own bathroom clean between weekly
scrubs/mops (DD11 likes a clean sink so she's the one most likely to
get out a glass plus wipe and wipe it down), and I have a "hands-off"
policy with their bedrooms. As long as I can periodically get a vacuum
cleaner into the room, I don't care what they look like. Both girls are
better at daily making their beds than I am, and about every other
time, DD13 will handle the vacuuming because she likes this chore.
Their rooms tend to alternate between clutter disaster zones, and neat
as a pin. When clutter gets crazy, they'll take the time to go do a
declutter themselves (they used to ask for my help but lately haven't),
because they are learning they like a decluttered room too.

DF is also helpful, but despite liking a clean house as much as I do,
cleaning isn't his thing. He empties the trash daily, puts his dirty
dishes in the dishwasher, and does his own laundry, but otherwise,
that's it for inside the house. He covers all of the outdoor chores
though and I don't lift a finger for any of that. It works out just
right between us because I do things I don't mind doing, and he does
things he doesn't mind doing. No disgruntled feelings like someone's
not doing their share, and nobody complains if the other feels like
slacking off for a change.

jen

wrote:
If hubbie
wore shirts that needed starching and a really crisp finish, I'd send
them to a laundry, so he'd need enough shirts to get through a week and
then some. He doesn't need starch, so I can do them.

Heh - this reminded me of my first marriage. My ex-MIL is an excellent
housekeeper and her house was always white-glove spotless, even though
she worked PT. My ex-FIL always had crisply ironed shirts.

When we first married, I tried my best to match my ex's mother and keep
our house just as spotless, but I always felt I came up short. And I
also took on ironing my ex's numerous shirts.

One day MIL was visiting and she saw me drag out the ironing. "What,
are you CRAZY?? This is one task you shouldn't bother to do yourself!
Too time-consuming! Just send it out! Your time is worth more than the
cost!"

Here all that time I thought my MIL was a perfect creature who kept on
top of all that ironing, and no......... she was sending it out!

I haven't ironed a thing since that day. :-)

jen

With a 5.5yo and a 1.5yo, I'm killing myself trying to keep up with the
mounds of laundry that accumulate and I'm wondering if I'm creating my
own circle of hell by using too many clothes over the course of the
day/week. So, a little poll on laundry and other housecleaning items...

How many sets of clean, fresh pajamas do you use per week per child?
1 pair for 2-3 nights, we only eat in pajamas on weekends.

If you live in a cold climate and use undershirts, leggings under the
clothes, etc, how often do you put on a clean, fresh item?
Clean undershirt daily, might start with 1 every 2 days

For those with partners working in a "professional" environment, are
you
ironing dresshirts or blouses, or sending them to the cleaners?
I tell him do iron it, or wear it wrinkled. I detest ironing.

For the members of the household who shower/bathe every day or nearly
every day, how often does each person get a fresh towel? For those who
bathe only a few times a week, does that person get a clean towel every
time?
fress facecloth each time, fresh towel every 2'nd time. Baths for us daily, for kids every 2-3 days.

How often do you change the bedsheets?
Every 2 weeks

Do you ever get all the laundry put away, or are you living out of
laundry baskets?
Getting better at putting it away. Sundays are laundry days which hubby handles, I do one load mid-week, that's it.

How often do you thoroughly clean the primary/only bathroom?
Once a week.

How often do you mop the kitchen floor? Do you do any floor maintenance
between moppings?
Mop every 2 weeks, or "spot-mop" sweep daily.

For those living in the stone age with NO AUTOMATIC DISHWASHER, how
often do you do dishes over the course of a day?
What? No dishwasher? That will never happen in our home.

If you're not much of a housekeeper, or having a very busy day or week,
what are your "bare minimum" items that you do daily or weekly?
Can't relate, me and husband share chores equally and we always do them, even if we save them all for the weekend.

Any particular comments from those without a partner, or an absentee
partner (away for work, school at night, etc) trying to handle the
brunt
of the household responsiblilities?

Looking for a little perspective, becuase I perpetually feel at least
day and a half behind.

I'm sorry you feel this way, have you considered hiring a cleaner? I
know my mother hired one for $40 every 2 weeks, she would thoroughly
clean bathrooms, floors, vacuum, and dust.

KR

"dkhedmo" wrote in message
nk.net...
With a 5.5yo and a 1.5yo, I'm killing myself trying to keep up with the
mounds of laundry that accumulate and I'm wondering if I'm creating my own
circle of hell by using too many clothes over the course of the day/week.
So, a little poll on laundry and other housecleaning items...

How many sets of clean, fresh pajamas do you use per week per child?


5

If you live in a cold climate and use undershirts, leggings under the
clothes, etc, how often do you put on a clean, fresh item?


We live in a cold climate, but we don't wear longies.

For those with partners working in a "professional" environment, are you
ironing dresshirts or blouses, or sending them to the cleaners?


N/A. Though we both are professionals, the day of the suit is pretty much
gone around here. That said, I don't iron. DH does.

For the members of the household who shower/bathe every day or nearly
every day, how often does each person get a fresh towel? For those who
bathe only a few times a week, does that person get a clean towel every
time?


Weekly.

How often do you change the bedsheets?


Weekly +

Do you ever get all the laundry put away, or are you living out of laundry
baskets?


Put away almost every day. It goes something like wake up, push the button
on the coffee maker, throw in a load. Come home from work, reboot the
machine. Once kids are in bed, fold and put away, except for the kids stuff
which gets put away the next am.

How often do you thoroughly clean the primary/only bathroom?


I have a scotch brite scrubbie thingy in the shower. When I am done with
myself, I wipe the shower down and rinse it with the hand shower attachment.
I wipe the outside of the toilet with a cloth I keep in the closet every
morning. I swish the bowl about every couple of days. And I wipe the sink
top every day. It adds about 2 minutes to my shower procedure.

How often do you mop the kitchen floor? Do you do any floor maintenance
between moppings?


I am supposed to sweep after cleaning the kitchen every day. But it is the
chore that gets ignored most often. I do it about weekly.

For those living in the stone age with NO AUTOMATIC DISHWASHER, how often
do you do dishes over the course of a day?

If you're not much of a housekeeper, or having a very busy day or week,
what are your "bare minimum" items that you do daily or weekly?


It varies WIDELY.

Any particular comments from those without a partner, or an absentee
partner (away for work, school at night, etc) trying to handle the brunt
of the household responsiblilities?


www.flylady.net

Looking for a little perspective, becuase I perpetually feel at least day
and a half behind.


As flylady says, you are not behind. We don't want you to catch up.
Babysteps, babysteps, babysteps. You can do anything for 15 minutes.

-Karen, mom to Henry 5.5 and William 1.5-

wrote:

Smartest thing we EVER did was to put the laundry room up on the
second floor when we renovated. It is on the same level as the
bedrooms, and the main bathrooms - the place where 95% of the
household laundry is generated.

This is the first thing I'd change about my house if I could. I even have a
spot for it. I currently shlep it from the second floor down to the
basement.

--
Nikki
Hunter 4/99
Luke 4/01
Thing One and Thing Two :-) EDD 4/06

dkhedmo wrote:
With a 5.5yo and a 1.5yo, I'm killing myself trying to keep up with the
mounds of laundry that accumulate and I'm wondering if I'm creating my
own circle of hell by using too many clothes over the course of the
day/week. So, a little poll on laundry and other housecleaning items...

What a great thread! I feel like I'm drowning in laundry, it doesn't
help that we live North Eastern US so can't dry clothes outside at the
moment and our dryer is about 20 years old and takes 3 hours to dry a load!

My son is 13 months old, there's me working full time, the man who has
been at home for 8 months but is about to go back to work and a friend
who has been staying with us while he is between houses, add a cat and a
dog and there's a lot of traffic in our house!

How many sets of clean, fresh pajamas do you use per week per child?

Depending on how dirty he gets them either at breakfast or hanging
around before bed reading or playing, usually 3 or 4 a week, some footed
ones and some lighter ones depending on the weather.

If you live in a cold climate and use undershirts, leggings under the
clothes, etc, how often do you put on a clean, fresh item?

Usually he gets a clean vest each day but if it's really cold or we're
running late I will leave the onesie he wore under his jammies on in the
morning. The man is at home with him usually so to be honest he gets
fresh clothes when I change them or they're obviously dirty and the man
notices. I have come home to both of them still in their bed clothes
many many times, man calls these "Lounging Days!"
Leggings get worn 3 or 4 times before washing if they haven't been soiled.

For those with partners working in a "professional" environment, are you
ironing dresshirts or blouses, or sending them to the cleaners?

That would be me, I luckily don't work in a businessy office so I wear
non-iron clothes, Man will need to have ironed shirts when he goes back
to work, he sends them out.

For the members of the household who shower/bathe every day or nearly
every day, how often does each person get a fresh towel? For those who
bathe only a few times a week, does that person get a clean towel every
time?

This may be bad but we use a towel until it's dirty, so for my son that
might be 2 weeks with 3 baths a week, for us that is usually a week of 4
or 5 showers. I haven't adopted the American way of showering every day
yet and after 11 years here I don't think I ever will.

How often do you change the bedsheets?

When they're dirty...maybe every 2 weeks.

Do you ever get all the laundry put away, or are you living out of
laundry baskets?

This is the thorn in my side, I never ever ever seem to get on top of
the laundry, it drives me nuts, as soon as I see some light at the end
of the tunnel, there's another overflowing basket. I saw someone posted
a link to flylady so I may go over there and see what she has to say
about it. I love to get the laundry put away, I love to see bedrooms
without heaps of clothes on every surface but that is rare.

One question you folks might have some advice for me on: What do you do
with clothes that are not dirty but not clean? Clothes that have been
worn but are not ready for washing, do you fold them and put them back
in drawers?

How often do you thoroughly clean the primary/only bathroom?

Once a week with some use of Lysol wipes on surfaces in between.

How often do you mop the kitchen floor? Do you do any floor maintenance
between moppings?

Once a week or more, two animals and 3 adults wreck a floor, with snow
and ice outside it gets really bad so we swiffer it every couple of days
or more and then mop with bleach and boiling water at the weekend.

For those living in the stone age with NO AUTOMATIC DISHWASHER, how
often do you do dishes over the course of a day?

We have a dishwasher but don't use it a lot, we wash dishes as they are
used, I hate a pile of dishes in the sink or beside it.

If you're not much of a housekeeper, or having a very busy day or week,
what are your "bare minimum" items that you do daily or weekly?

I'm not much of a housekeeper, I have lower standards than the man does
so it causes many many arguements, my bare minimum includes making the
bed, an unmade bed does drive me nuts, it's just not comfortable,
picking up debris from the living room, dirty clothes in the hamper,
coats and shoes put away, dishes washed and that's about it.

Any particular comments from those without a partner, or an absentee
partner (away for work, school at night, etc) trying to handle the brunt
of the household responsiblilities?

I'm sure my man would have many comments, none of them complimentary ha ha.

Looking for a little perspective, becuase I perpetually feel at least
day and a half behind.

Lucky you I feel about a week behind!

"shinypenny" wrote in message
It's the opposite for me. My house was fairly clean (always kept the
floors mopped - daily - because little ones were crawling on them) but
there was constant clutter on the floor from toys and such, no matter
how much I kept on top of it.

Oh sure, I had toys too. I had containers for them in the living room though
so before I went to bed I just scooped them all up and put them away.

Heh - for me, their afternoon naptime was my "alone" time. I'd get
dinner started but that was about it. I'd either nap too, or read a
book. I needed that recharge-time to gear up my energy for the evening
crunch-time.

I actually like to clean so for me that was relaxing. What I don't like now,
is that nothing stays clean for very long.

It's easier for many reasons, but mostly because we decluttered our
lives when we downsized. Nowadays we have less clothes (only enough
that'll fit comfortably in drawers and closets) and do laundry daily
instead of letting it pile up. With less possessions there's less to
put away; we only buy things that we have room for and we can envision
a logical home for it. If not, then we discard something to make room
for it. Also I streamlined the decor and got rid of the excess
nick-nacks that always needed dusting. I only keep around those
nick-nacks I don't mind dusting.

I truly need to do this. We have way too much junk and clutter. I really
need some organization around here. I was going to have a garage sale over
last summer, but I never did have time. I vow to do this year though. And I
am going to buy baskets, hooks, and anything else I can find to help with
the clutter and organization.

My toddlers would unfold everything as I folded! Folding was done after
they went to bed.

I gave them washcloths and socks and they thought they were helping. They
would then leave what I really needed to fold alone. )

Finally, as I said, the girls are a big help these days. Not always,
but most times.

Mine are not huge helpers and it is something that I am working on. They
feel like they don't have to do anything and I cannot get across to them
that I need help because I work all day. Even though I am home, I still need
help. It's a constant battle for me to get them to clean up after
themselves. This is big issue for me and my kids and like I said, we are
working on it.

DF is also helpful, but despite liking a clean house as much as I do,
cleaning isn't his thing.

My hubby is having some problems right now so isn't too helpful. His job is
to cook though and he is holding up his end of that particular chore. I
would much rather clean and do laundry than have to cook meals unless it is
baking something fun, but I don't have too much time for that anymore.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)