I keep Lysol wipes and a bathroom wand that has disposable sponges in every bathroom. Back up sheets and towels. Automatic vacuum that can go around the room by itself plus a cordless vacuum. Make kids responsible fir their own rooms. My kids are teens, they have a meal card for breakfast and lunch.

I work part time and when my kids were younger, we hired someone to drive them to activities, make dinner, do light cleanup around the house and do laundry. Makes life a lot easier.

Anonymous wrote:I follow a lot of efficiency experts/minimalists/etc. online and some common suggestions include doing the following every single day:

1. One load of laundry (wash/dry/fold/put away)
2. Full cycle of dishes (unload and reload)
3. 15 minute "reset" (set a 15 minute timer and have the entire family run around the house putting crap away for 15 minutes.)

Longer term - you need to declutter your life, both in terms of stuff but also in terms of commitments and processes. Sign up/volunteer for fewer things and activities. Create a set meal plan for week 1, week 2, week 3, and then just start over with week 1 again. Stuff like that.

I was also going to say declutter.

OP the difference between a maid once a week and twice a month is exponential. Also, in 6th grade the need to start doing their own laundry. And, as soon as they can reach, emptying the dishwasher.

OP, the key to this is routines. Write them out!

You say that you meal prep, but are you meal planning reasonably? Put faster simple meals on your busy nights. Do you have a backup meal that you can toss into the rotation if your commute is really long or you end up with a band concert one night? We use tacos for that. I keep a 1.5 container of taco meat in the freezer. Defrost while you chop up lettuce cheese and toppings, cook shells and you have dinner! Save big feasts for the weekend and freeze leftovers.

Laundry: toss in a load as soon as you get home. Flip it as you sit down to dinner. Fold it after dinner. (I don't like to leave it sitting in the dryer all day.) This lets you toss in something really dirty, like the shirt that came home with tomato sauce on it.

Give everyone an assignment when they come home. Maybe the kids empty the dishwasher while you start dinner and DH pulls in the trash cans and walks the dog.

Are your kids in the habit of putting their dishes into the dishwasher? Make them clean up their snacks, etc. Lunch boxes get disassembled and put away as soon as they come home. Lay out outfits for tomorrow as they undress today (this is key for my ADHD kid who wears a uniform and can lose more belts/wallets/ties than I ever thought possible.)

Look at your tools. My Dyson stick vac is a godsent. So easy to run around after dinner or when there's a spill. Anyone can handle it.

Keep an inventory. Go to Target or put in an order for dish soap, Tide, Cascade, body soap, tin foil, baggies, etc. Keep an extra in reserve. As soon as you finish one item and pull out the reserve, add it to the list so the replacement is there before you run out again. Some people order, I like to go to Target about once a quarter and just load up on our usual items. If you have an Alexa, add things to your shopping list as you work and then you have a ready made list at the store.

Organize everything so it has a place. Then put things in their places. If you have too many of something, cull. Having a charging "shelf" in the kitchen where people can also put their headphones, keys and wallets saves time in the am. (My kids are now teens and some drive. Keys are the bane of our existence.)

Tackle bigger projects on the weekend. Attack the laundry this weekend. Organize the kitchen next weekend. Kids rooms/drawers. Linen closet. Garage. Etc

Build in time to rest and relax! Takeout Fridays are our favorite.

If I were you I would hire help for 2 years and get the house and schedule working well also decluttering and pulling back from activities and then start pulling back help and taking on the home tasks yourselves. Give yourself two years to transition and let the kids age a little bit more before taking on more home responsibilities. In those two years they will have to work on putting dishes in the dishwasher, laundry in the laundry basket, toys away, and clothes back. It will be enough for them.

We also as a family do a 10 minute reset every morning and evening. That helps with putting everything back.

When the kids were younger toys could only be in certain rooms. Same for food.

I am a single mom with no money and no help and full time custody. I had an organizer organize my entire house. Everything has a place. I couldn't afford to keep buying new things because they couldnt be found. Kids have different baskets for each activity they are in and those clothes go in there. They also have a Monday to Friday drawer set where they put their clothes in on Sunday for school. It has a phone charger on top and they make sure they charge their phones there too. I have labels in the fridge for food. I have an area for kids to put their sports bags in. The kids have checklists to take care of their stuff each day and for hygiene and homework. I have my own checklists on a family planning app for my housework and home tasks. My kids are older and we started this when the youngest was around 10 after the divorce but it's worked much better. Before it felt like I always had a backup and after I knew I wouldnt. I have a cleaning person come and do a deep clean 4 times a year and an organizer come twice a year. I also hired a driver for the drives I couldn't do but with more help that wouldn't be needed. I have a smart oven I can meal prep quickly for for meals and turn on in the afternoon and we also heat up frozen meals several times a week. My kids buy lunch at school and as they've gotten older can make some of their own meals. It does get better when they are older. Just give it a couple more years.

Something is wrong with you all if a maid twice a week isn’t enough. Why are you all such slobs?

I follow a lot of efficiency experts/minimalists/etc. online and some common suggestions include doing the following every single day:

1. One load of laundry (wash/dry/fold/put away)
2. Full cycle of dishes (unload and reload)
3. 15 minute "reset" (set a 15 minute timer and have the entire family run around the house putting crap away for 15 minutes.)

Longer term - you need to declutter your life, both in terms of stuff but also in terms of commitments and processes. Sign up/volunteer for fewer things and activities. Create a set meal plan for week 1, week 2, week 3, and then just start over with week 1 again. Stuff like that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Um.

Your kids are NINE and TWELVE. They can pack their own lunches. The twelve year old can be responsible for doing all her own laundry. The nine year old can bring her laundry down to the basement to be washed.

You have a TWICE WEEKLY MAID and that's not enough?

Are the kids putting their dishes in the dishwasher? Unloading the dishwasher? They should be.

What does the maid do twice a week???

I can’t imagine what can’t be done with a maid twice a week and kids who are perfectly capable of helping.

Sorry, just saw twice a month.

Increase maid to once a week. Everyone has to tidy up beforehand. Keeps it in check and kids learn to do this at least once a week.Or twice if you really need it and can afford it.

Get groceries, household items, prescriptions delivered or shopped for and you just pick up. Buy chopped veggies, bagged, washed salads, prepared dinners, pizzas. Make meal prep easy and use fewer pans, dishes. Or try meal delivery.

Take sheets and towels to a fluff n fold place or dry cleaners do this. They fold sheets better than I can. Even better if they pick up and deliver. Get a lot of your own clothes dry cleaned. They also mend and iron without cleaning.

Take a day off once on a while if you need to just organize, clean, de-clutter and drive donations someplace. Ask your kids if they have things they don't need anymore and get rid of it. If you don't have time to donate stuff, throw it away. If you are really busy, it's not that time of your life to worry about it.

Do a little bit every day. Shredding papers, putting things away, whatever. 30 minutes.

The maid needs to come weekly. Agree with other advice on laundry/cooking etc.