House cleaning advice . Help PLEASE

[Militarywife07]

 

Ok Ladies I need some help. I am a stay at home Military mom of three. My husband is Navy and we are stationed in Spain .. I have a 6 year old son a 4 year old daughter and a 3 year old son. The two older ones are in school and I babysit a 5 year old on a regular basis after school weekends ect.. And we also have a 2 year old Spanish bodega dog ( like a terrier ) and a 10-12 week old puppy ( we think she is a lab)Well my house is to say the least messy. No it isn't filthy or anything by any means. My main issue is Laundry. There always seems to be a massive pile of it that needs done . I get it almost done and then the kids pile more on top . It is so frustration. They go in their rooms pull massive ammounts of clothes down onto the floor ( that have just been washed ) and then say that they are dirty and pile them into the laundry room with the dirty laundry. My husband is beginning to get frustrated with me because I cannot keep up with the house work. While the kids are in school I clean the house and it seems as though when they get home if I am not walking behind them 24-7 that it is right back a mess again. The living room, bathroom ect all seem to pile up over night. Do any of you ladies have any advice as to how to get the house clean, clean and then keep it that way ?? We are moving back stateside in May ( to Virginia Beach ) and I would like to be able to keep the house REALLY clean while the hubby is away on the ship and even now . Please could someone give me some advice ? Anything would be great .

[VioletPlacebo]

Well, first off, tell your kids to knock it off with the laundry lol   I'd say if you make them help you with the laundry (put their laundry in the washer and help take it out of the dryer, sort it, carry to their room, etc.) they will probably stop messing around with the clean clothes.  Secondly, what really helps me is a cleaning schedule (mondays clean the bathroom, tuesdays wash the floors, wednesdays windex and dust, etc.) and a checklist of bigger projects that need to be done. For instance, I don't just say "clean the bathroom" I say clean the toilet, scrub the tub, clean the sink, was the floors, etc.  and check them all off when they're done. We have a rule that if you are done playing with something you put it away before you get the next thing out. Give the kids a reward chart for helping you out where they can earn stickers/tickets/something that they can trade in for non-monetary prizes like extra TV time, choosing what's for dinner, picking out more books at the library, etc.  

[boonie594]

Check out flylady.com.  It has helped me a lot,  Good luck!

[cpflum08]

Do just one load each day so that way your more likely to put it away. Or have the kids put it away. Then clean every day, like bathrooms on mondays, kitchen on tues, dusting on weds, mop and sweep on Thursday's. Fridays you can deep clean one room or something like that. At the end of the night pick up and put things away, and get your kids to help. I put little tags on my DD baskets with the picture and name of what is to go in it. It has helped so much!

[07lilmama1108]

I get dd involved. She is "given the priveledge" to get the empty basket, take the clothes out of the dryer and help me fold and put away all the clothes. Its a game and we do whatever she wants to do next. Her responsibilities are hanging up her clothes and putting them in the correct drawers. It helps her feel like she is helping and actually stopped her from taking clothes off the hangers and calling them dirty. When she has dirty clothes she puts then into the dirty clothes immediately or we get on her as she takes them off. We kind of scared her and said of she doesn't bugs will start living in her room..... but it keeps the house clean and she ameven picks up her dirty dishes or whatever.