How do you keep your house tidy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only person in the world who doesn't fold laundry? If it creases, I iron it and put on a hanger. But the vast majority gets stuffed in drawers. I'm the antithesis of Marie Kondo!

No, I fold everything or put in on hangers.

Me too.

I recently Konmaried my clothes and so now everything is stacked to be visible and easy to extract. I do have more stuff then i need but little by little, I am discarding stuff.

[Anonymous]

Stop bringing crap in. Guaranteed that your kids have too many toys

[Anonymous]

You need time, inclination and sometimes money. Also, a supportive family allows you to have a tidy home. I sometimes have a tidy home and then sometimes I do not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids will lie down and tantrum for two hours before they will clean anything up. I’m so jealous of people whose kids will clean up.

Why do you allow this? They behave like brats because you allow it. Try parenting your “spirited” children

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only person in the world who doesn't fold laundry? If it creases, I iron it and put on a hanger. But the vast majority gets stuffed in drawers. I'm the antithesis of Marie Kondo!

When my kids were the ages of the OP’s kids, I had two hanging shoe organizers in the laundry room. As I pulled stuff from the washer, I put pants, shirt, 2 pairs of underwear, socks, and pajamas in each one. That way kids could find their clothes and they always matched (I had another one in between the 4 y/o and the 7 m/o). Nothing was folded, and the kids got dressed in the laundry room.

[Anonymous]

I actually really think the key is just to not cook very much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only person in the world who doesn't fold laundry? If it creases, I iron it and put on a hanger. But the vast majority gets stuffed in drawers. I'm the antithesis of Marie Kondo!

I don’t fold my 2 year olds clothes - they get put in bins. I was meticulously folding and hanging, and then I realized I never actually reach into the closet to grab hanging items or folded items.

[Anonymous]

Pick up and clean up as you go along. I never allowed house to become e a mess. Kitchen was always cleaned as soon as dinner was finished. Everything has a place and is put back after using. I started teaching my children to put toys away as soon as they were walking. You can make a game of it. FWIW, I am not a neat freak, I just cannot stand a mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The nanny prods the kids to tidy (tidied for them but started having them help around 2.5, and now at 5 and 7 just tells them to do it) toys, and nanny does their laundry and food.

Twice a week cleaners Mondays and Thursdays.

DH and I are both otherwise very neat.

No. Curious what the cleaners do twice a week ?

The cleaning lady (and her ... cousin? Niece? I'm not sure) clean the kitchen, dining room, bathrooms. They dust everything, mop and vacuum the living room, dining room, office, guest room and family room. They wash all the linens and change the bedding. Each time they're over they deep clean something different. They empty all the trash bins, they sweep the deck.

Thanks for your response. The above question should have said, "Not being snarky, but curious what the cleaners do...?" I am thinking of bringing in the cleaning service every week. I feel like they never get a chance to really deep clean anything much less tackle the floorboards. Once DC2 starts K in the fall, we should have more disposable income to throw at this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only person in the world who doesn't fold laundry? If it creases, I iron it and put on a hanger. But the vast majority gets stuffed in drawers. I'm the antithesis of Marie Kondo!

No, I fold everything or put in on hangers.

Me too.

I recently Konmaried my clothes and so now everything is stacked to be visible and easy to extract. I do have more stuff then i need but little by little, I am discarding stuff.

Basically nothing of mine gets folded. The only things in drawers are: underwear (not folded), socks in balls, PJs (not folded because they're either silky or zip up sleepers for the kids), work out clothes (not folded because they're spandex), leggings (not folded in a small drawer). We hang everything. I LOVE how easy it is to put together outfits and kid outfits with hanging clothes. I even hang newborn onesies. Nothing ever gets hidden in drawers.

I'm Type A and extremely organized, so this isn't a lazy thing.

[Anonymous]

I don’t fold anything either. Everything in my drawers is stretchy and doesn’t wrinkle and/or I don’t care - underwear, leggings, very casual tshirts, etc. keep all my “nice” clothes on hangers, including jeans. Same with my toddler’s clothe

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids will lie down and tantrum for two hours before they will clean anything up. I’m so jealous of people whose kids will clean up.

Then throw their crap out. Bag up their clothes and leave them with two outfits. They don't clean because you don't make them. Make them.

+1. And the great thing is you really only have to do this no more than a couple times, and probably just once. After that they'll be cleaning in no time with just the mention of a threat.

[Anonymous]

DH and I split bedtime/cleaning. Whoever does bedtime does bedtime, whoever does not do bedtime cleans quickly yet efficiently until the bedtime parent emerges victorious lol. Then we usually spend the evening together and what's done is done.

If a LOT more work is needed, we mutually decide how long we'll give ourselves and divide and conquer.

We live in a fairly small apartment so we don't have a ton of square feet to cover, so this (+ maintenance work of of doing dishes as dinner is prepared, etc.) works for us. Our apartment is never IMMACULATE, but it never gets crazy, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The nanny prods the kids to tidy (tidied for them but started having them help around 2.5, and now at 5 and 7 just tells them to do it) toys, and nanny does their laundry and food.

Twice a week cleaners Mondays and Thursdays.

DH and I are both otherwise very neat.

No. Curious what the cleaners do twice a week ?

The cleaning lady (and her ... cousin? Niece? I'm not sure) clean the kitchen, dining room, bathrooms. They dust everything, mop and vacuum the living room, dining room, office, guest room and family room. They wash all the linens and change the bedding. Each time they're over they deep clean something different. They empty all the trash bins, they sweep the deck.

Thanks for your response. The above question should have said, "Not being snarky, but curious what the cleaners do...?" I am thinking of bringing in the cleaning service every week. I feel like they never get a chance to really deep clean anything much less tackle the floorboards. Once DC2 starts K in the fall, we should have more disposable income to throw at this.

I didn't detect any snark, don't worry. Sometimes I leave them a note asking for them to deep clean something specific. Like the time my DD was laying on the floor and noticed dust balls in the light fixture. I asked them to dust all the ones DH and I unscrewed and took down.