Any working mom NOT have a housecleaner?

[Anonymous]

Two full-time working parents with long commutes here- no housecleaner or lawn service. What I'd pay for would be a meal planner/grocery shopper! I know they have online meal plans, but we have dietary restrictions, including food allergies, so those plans never seem like a good fit for us.

[Anonymous]

Two working parents here. One child in school (kindergarten) and we do pay for before-care. We solve the yardwork problem by only living in a townhouse where the HOA takes care of the small amount of yardwork necessary. For cleaning, we divvy up the tasks and do them as it is convenient to us: I prefer to do mine day-to-day, a little bit at a time, so there's never a big chunk of stuff to do. DH prefers to do his all on Saturday morning.

[Anonymous]

We had a housecleaner (once a week) while growing up... maybe late ES through HS. I can totally understand where my mom thought it was helping, and maybe it helped her, but I HATED having to "pick up" before they came.
They also did a friend's house, so I think there was some concern about comparisons But I remember thinking, if we're doing all this, why not just run the vacuum and be done with it?!
I would much rather tidy and clean one area at a time, when I can, rather than drop everything and frantically tidy the entire effin' house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two full-time working parents with long commutes here- no housecleaner or lawn service. What I'd pay for would be a meal planner/grocery shopper! I know they have online meal plans, but we have dietary restrictions, including food allergies, so those plans never seem like a good fit for us.

OP here. I used to be in your shoes re the food allergies (so severe that I had to be "on call" for school every day--hence, my only going back to the office recently, after things calmed down). I would keep it ridiculously simple. Assuming you eat meat, make a list of the acceptable meats, veggies and starches and just stick to that. If everything can be thrown in the crockpot, so much the better. I had a rough list of about two dozen meals I could do easily, and I put the rotation on the calendar. On weekends, DH would take the non-FA kids out for pizza, PB&J, or whatever as a treat.

Sorry you're dealing with this. I was a SAHM at the time, and I felt like cooking and shopping for DC was a job in itself.

Apologies for hijacking my own thread!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two full-time working parents with long commutes here- no housecleaner or lawn service. What I'd pay for would be a meal planner/grocery shopper! I know they have online meal plans, but we have dietary restrictions, including food allergies, so those plans never seem like a good fit for us.

OP here. I used to be in your shoes re the food allergies (so severe that I had to be "on call" for school every day--hence, my only going back to the office recently, after things calmed down). I would keep it ridiculously simple. Assuming you eat meat, make a list of the acceptable meats, veggies and starches and just stick to that. If everything can be thrown in the crockpot, so much the better. I had a rough list of about two dozen meals I could do easily, and I put the rotation on the calendar. On weekends, DH would take the non-FA kids out for pizza, PB&J, or whatever as a treat.

Sorry you're dealing with this. I was a SAHM at the time, and I felt like cooking and shopping for DC was a job in itself.

Apologies for hijacking my own thread!

PP here. Did your kids outgrow their allergies, or are they better able to manage themselves now that they're older?

Actually, you hit the nail on the head- we are vegetarians, and most vegetarian online plans seem to rely on, or at least heavily incorporate, nuts/peanuts, which are exactly the allergies we're dealing with. It's a topic for another thread for sure, but one child likes being a vegetarian and chooses it on her own accord; I'm a vegetarian as well. The FA kid is also a vegetarian but is such a picky eater, he doesn't eat meat and has no interest in it. Ack!

[Anonymous]

PP, DS did the immunotherapy program at Johns Hopkins with Dr. Wood. He was born with six severe allergies and is down to one mild, soon-to-be-gone allergy now. I highly recommend checking it out. The wait for an appointment is long, but you can put yourself on the wait list. Very much worth the visit.

[Anonymous]

I work 35 hrs/wk, DH works full time, and we don't have any household help, either for the housework or yard. It just isn't in the budget. Our house is reasonably clean and neat, but with two dogs and a child it isn't shiny clean. We do the clean the bathroom while child is in the bath trick, or now that he is old enough to be alone in the bath I fold laundry within ear shot while he bathes. Our house is very small, and that helps. It doesn't take more than 30 minutes to deep clean any one room, and we don't deep clean all that often. The kitchen is cleaned every night after dinner, with all dishes done and countertops wiped down and clear. DH usually does that while I put DS to bed, and then I finish whatever remains while he walks the dogs. All done by 8:30. I HATE clutter, and so I am constantly decluttering as I go - hanging up coats or handing the coat to its owner to hand up, trashing mail, tossing toys left on the couch into a basket to be taken up to the bedroom at bedtime. Saturday or Sunday DH takes DS out for a couple hours and I do whatever cleaning has to be done in peace. I kind of like that time.

[Anonymous]

we hire someone to clean every couple months. So it isn't a regular expense but we get the benefit of their attention to all the detailed cleaning that I never get to. Totally worth $120 every couple months.

[Anonymous]

LOL I had a housecleaner when I was single, no kids! Best $200 a month I could spend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FT WOH with no housekeeper and no plans to get one.
-Our house is really, really small - so although I bitch about it, cleaning it doesn't actually take that long.
-I tend to do one room or one activity at a time... think "mop kitchen floor" not "clean kitchen" or "mop ALL floors." I do as much as possible in 30 second sprints while DD is blessedly entertained by something else. You can accomplish a lot while your 3YO attempts to get stickers off the sticker sheet
-I clean the full bathroom (except for the tub) while DD is IN the tub. Then I clean the tub while I shower.
-We only have carpet in the bedrooms and DH is willing to vacuum those, when left a very specific to-do note. He actually does a really good job.
-clutter is the thing that drives me nuts, and it is just not allowed to happen. Periodically I sweep through the house and toss everything of DH's that doesn't belong, into a big bin and sit it at his side of the bed. I pick up the flotsam and jetsam of daily life every minute, it's practically a nervous habit. Mail does not come in the house unless it needs to be opened. The mail is picked up and sorted, and mostly recycled, before I put my key in the door this helps a lot.
-DD's toys are picked up nightly, in the living room at least. She is very good about cleaning up one activity (say, painting) before moving on (to dolls or such). So at the end of the night there's usually just one or two or twelve kinds of crap spread all over, which she helps to clean up before bedtime.

It's totally doable, and while I KNOW my standards could be higher, my house is neither a pigsty nor a health hazard.

Do you have any kids that need to be driven to and from evenind activities? That's a killer on the cleaning schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FT WOH with no housekeeper and no plans to get one.
-Our house is really, really small - so although I bitch about it, cleaning it doesn't actually take that long.
-I tend to do one room or one activity at a time... think "mop kitchen floor" not "clean kitchen" or "mop ALL floors." I do as much as possible in 30 second sprints while DD is blessedly entertained by something else. You can accomplish a lot while your 3YO attempts to get stickers off the sticker sheet
-I clean the full bathroom (except for the tub) while DD is IN the tub. Then I clean the tub while I shower.
-We only have carpet in the bedrooms and DH is willing to vacuum those, when left a very specific to-do note. He actually does a really good job.
-clutter is the thing that drives me nuts, and it is just not allowed to happen. Periodically I sweep through the house and toss everything of DH's that doesn't belong, into a big bin and sit it at his side of the bed. I pick up the flotsam and jetsam of daily life every minute, it's practically a nervous habit. Mail does not come in the house unless it needs to be opened. The mail is picked up and sorted, and mostly recycled, before I put my key in the door this helps a lot.
-DD's toys are picked up nightly, in the living room at least. She is very good about cleaning up one activity (say, painting) before moving on (to dolls or such). So at the end of the night there's usually just one or two or twelve kinds of crap spread all over, which she helps to clean up before bedtime.

It's totally doable, and while I KNOW my standards could be higher, my house is neither a pigsty nor a health hazard.

Do you have any kids that need to be driven to and from evenind activities? That's a killer on the cleaning schedule.

Very true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FT WOH with no housekeeper and no plans to get one.
-Our house is really, really small - so although I bitch about it, cleaning it doesn't actually take that long.
-I tend to do one room or one activity at a time... think "mop kitchen floor" not "clean kitchen" or "mop ALL floors." I do as much as possible in 30 second sprints while DD is blessedly entertained by something else. You can accomplish a lot while your 3YO attempts to get stickers off the sticker sheet
-I clean the full bathroom (except for the tub) while DD is IN the tub. Then I clean the tub while I shower.
-We only have carpet in the bedrooms and DH is willing to vacuum those, when left a very specific to-do note. He actually does a really good job.
-clutter is the thing that drives me nuts, and it is just not allowed to happen. Periodically I sweep through the house and toss everything of DH's that doesn't belong, into a big bin and sit it at his side of the bed. I pick up the flotsam and jetsam of daily life every minute, it's practically a nervous habit. Mail does not come in the house unless it needs to be opened. The mail is picked up and sorted, and mostly recycled, before I put my key in the door this helps a lot.
-DD's toys are picked up nightly, in the living room at least. She is very good about cleaning up one activity (say, painting) before moving on (to dolls or such). So at the end of the night there's usually just one or two or twelve kinds of crap spread all over, which she helps to clean up before bedtime.

It's totally doable, and while I KNOW my standards could be higher, my house is neither a pigsty nor a health hazard.

Do you have any kids that need to be driven to and from evenind activities? That's a killer on the cleaning schedule.

No, DD is still too young for that. I am both anticipating (b/c it's fun, right?) and dreading (b/c I solo parent most evenings) the introduction of after school/evening activities.
My feeling (perhaps wishful thinking, LOL) is that when DD is old enough for these kinds of things, she'll also be old enough that I can do more on the weekends without feeling like I'm ignoring her, and I'll have more time in the evenings (b/c it will no longer take 1.5 hours to do bathtime, bedtime, and repeat "back to bed" instructions).
Now I"m sure I'll be told that I am wrong, but isn't that where wine comes in?

[Anonymous]

We've lived with a messier house in general. If your kids are at all old enough to help out - say 6 or older, start training them to do small stuff. Our kids have washed their own laundry since that age. It does take some supervision but generally not for long. They can be taught to dust, vacuum, all sorts of stuff. They can often unload dishwasher or parts of it, load dishwasher, use Windex on mirrors and so on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FT WOH with no housekeeper and no plans to get one.
-Our house is really, really small - so although I bitch about it, cleaning it doesn't actually take that long.
-I tend to do one room or one activity at a time... think "mop kitchen floor" not "clean kitchen" or "mop ALL floors." I do as much as possible in 30 second sprints while DD is blessedly entertained by something else. You can accomplish a lot while your 3YO attempts to get stickers off the sticker sheet
-I clean the full bathroom (except for the tub) while DD is IN the tub. Then I clean the tub while I shower.
-We only have carpet in the bedrooms and DH is willing to vacuum those, when left a very specific to-do note. He actually does a really good job.
-clutter is the thing that drives me nuts, and it is just not allowed to happen. Periodically I sweep through the house and toss everything of DH's that doesn't belong, into a big bin and sit it at his side of the bed. I pick up the flotsam and jetsam of daily life every minute, it's practically a nervous habit. Mail does not come in the house unless it needs to be opened. The mail is picked up and sorted, and mostly recycled, before I put my key in the door this helps a lot.
-DD's toys are picked up nightly, in the living room at least. She is very good about cleaning up one activity (say, painting) before moving on (to dolls or such). So at the end of the night there's usually just one or two or twelve kinds of crap spread all over, which she helps to clean up before bedtime.

It's totally doable, and while I KNOW my standards could be higher, my house is neither a pigsty nor a health hazard.

Do you have any kids that need to be driven to and from evenind activities? That's a killer on the cleaning schedule.

No, DD is still too young for that. I am both anticipating (b/c it's fun, right?) and dreading (b/c I solo parent most evenings) the introduction of after school/evening activities.
My feeling (perhaps wishful thinking, LOL) is that when DD is old enough for these kinds of things, she'll also be old enough that I can do more on the weekends without feeling like I'm ignoring her, and I'll have more time in the evenings (b/c it will no longer take 1.5 hours to do bathtime, bedtime, and repeat "back to bed" instructions).
Now I"m sure I'll be told that I am wrong, but isn't that where wine comes in?

Maybe I'm a mean mom, but when my elementary-school kids complain about helping out, I calmly tell them that if I have to do the work, I don't have time to drive--so which activity do they want to drop? It's not an idle threat; the little time I do have to clean and cook is spent on the road. They groan, but it does get them moving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't. I'm a single mom of one in a one-bedroom rental. We clean as we go, and then I do a little extra a few times a week. It just ... works fine.

plus i. with a newborn.