Any advice or help with a messy house?

Question

My house is a wreck. I have 4 kids. I can't find anything. Sink is full of dishes. Tons of dirty clothes. Toys are everywhere. I just can not keep up with it. I clean one room and then, its messed up by the end of the day. Does anyone have any advice to give me? I can't follow each kid around and make sure they are cleaning up after themselves.

Answer 1

Watch the show, "Clean House" which is on cable.  It will help you! --Toni D.  

Answer 2

first get your kids out of the house for the day! use grandparents a drop in daycare or a babysitter!! then take it one room at a time organize everything use square tubs or those clear drawers! u could also make window seats which double as a great place for storage!! and are supper cute!!! make sure everything has a place and lable it!! then you will know where everything goes so that you can just put everthing where it belongs!! my favorite way to organize is by using cube selves and those canvas little cube drawers, and a lable maker! if you dont have a lable maker come up with cute ways to lable it! at micheals they have really cute cut outs that you could use as lables if you are organizing your kids rooms!!! once you have taken it one room at a time depending on the age of your kids have them help you keep it clean!! give them a reason to want to like a reward of some sort! maybe not money but if they really like video games then tell them they can have 15 extra mins playing!

Answer 3

Tell you kids that every afternoon at 3 pm, you will be doing a walk- through of the house and putting anything left out in a garbage bag. They can then earn back toys/clothes/stuff by doing chores for each item. If they don't earn them back within a month, donate them or sell them.

Either way you win! Keep a small bowl filled with chores written down on 3x5 cards. Make them choose a chore. Make the chore small and manageable so they don't get frustrated. Check up on them when they are done. I think you will see a huge change at your house!

Best of Luck!

Jana

http://www.summerhouseliving.com/

Answer 4

call a long-term babysitter over and spend a couple nights at a motel and get to know some of the maids and kind of sort of spy on them a bit and watch what their doing.  

Answer 5

OMG I have a similar situation. My husband and I have just gotten married several months ago. We bought a home and moved in the necessities from our previous residences which consisted of dishes some few clothes and the bed and television. We both work full time and I babysit in the evenings after I get off work, and he works second shift. Well, as the months have gone by we have bought new furniture, moved in boxes of stuff that had to be gone through and sorted, etc etc. All the things that go along with moving in. Anyhow, over the course of time somehow, my clean house became a home filled with junk. To top it off, I am behind on my laundry because we are in the process of packing sorting and storing the winter and summer clothes tha twe have just moved in. Then to make matters worse, my plumbing in my kitchen busted over the weekend, and my husband being hard headed as he is refuses to call a plumber and says he will fix it himself ... so here it is nearly friday and it's still not fixed, so I can't wash dishes, and we are eating off of disposable plates. Also there are still a little remodeling that is being done to the house. so as you can immagine ... my house is disasterous... it's so bad that I just put in for a couple days off work to clean house. But when it gets this bad I usually start at the front of the house, I start with a trashbag, and get up all of the trash in that room, then find a place for everthing, general tidying up, then I dust, mop, vacuum, whatever needs to be done in that room. Finish it completely then go to the next and repeat. Also while you are between rooms, put on a load of clothes to wash, and put a load of dishes in the dishwasher to be washing while you are cleaning the next room, when you finish with the room ... go back to the clothes, and dishes. It's alot easier this way than jumping from room to room. Good luck to you.

Also a tip for helping to keep it clean ... make games out of cleaning for your kids. Also reward them for picking up after themselves. Also when you have any kids organization is key, if you let it go on ... you will never really get it clean clean without some sort of organization in place.

Hope you have a clean house soon.

Answer 6

Take one room at a time. It helps to split it into sections. Keeping it clean is a mystery to me too.

Answer 7

Visit    www.flylady.net

I have a similar situation and no help at home.

It might help you and give you some tips.

I think the advice to give kids chores is the right one.  I do try to do that although it does not always work.

Good luck to all of us!!!

Answer 8

for starters how old are your children, are they old enough to start doing chores?  I am a mother of three kids and it's rough, but you need to set them up with chore chart, an allowance. a SCHEDULE of some sort. if you have a husband, have him help you out. if your a stay at home mom, you have the time to put together a chart and schedule for your kids to follow, there is no reason that with four children who are old enough to drag everything out, aren't old enough to put things away,  

Answer 9

What is wrong with the kids picking up after themselves?  If they don't fess up to it, then let them come with you to each room 3 times a day and you can tell them what to pick up and where to put it until they get used to it themselves.  Training works on the dumbest of animals why not children.  My daughter who is now 17 has been washing her own clothes for 10 years because when she was very young she decided that she would not listen to mom and pick up her clothes from her bedroom floor when she changed 3 times a day and put them in the proper places.  As she got older she started wearing dirty clothes because she couldn't tell between them and the clean.  Just before she moved out this past month I had her buying her own laundry soap because she would rewash everything whether it was dirty or not, just because she didn't want to put things away and she liked throwing everything on the floor.  

I warned my 6 year old just today that if she wanted to change her clothes 3 times a day that I was going to let her do her own laundry too.  I hate doing the kid's clothes.  They are so small and tedious.  

They make the mess. Let them pick it up.  

Answer 10

The way I clean when it gets overwhelming is with a large garbage bag!  xox  

Answer 11

Am also mother of 4.  Kids are all grown now.  Regarding dirty clothes, to catch up I went to a laundromat just once or twice.  The toys need baskets or containers to stay organized and at end of day have kids clean up their own toys and put in proper containers.  Dishes:  kids did dishes for awhile when they got older -- each had one night a week (and we didn't have dishwasher for 16 yrs).  Two are still living at home and both in 20's -- they are never home as they both work and have significant others.  They've been doing their own laundry for years as does my husband!  If there are any clean clothes laying around that aren't folded I fold them and take them to their rooms so the lower level of the house isn't messy.  (Just got laid off my job after 14 years so I have a little bit of time on my hands.)  Be patient, take a deep breath and get your priorities straight.  Decide what needs to be done first and most importantly, have the kids help out regardless of their ages.  You can't do it all by yourself and you shouldn't have to.  Having a family means teamwork!

Answer 12

Any kid big enough to drag toys out and make a mess is big enough to pick those toys up and put them back where they belong.  If your kids don't want to do that, pick up their toys, put them away for a while until they end up with not much to play with.  Sometimes you have to get their attention before you can get them to help.  You can't reason with children, they need to learn by experience.  

Small children can also wash dishes, set the table, dust, dustmop, and generally help to keep the place neat.  Okay, they won't do a perfect job of it at first, but they'll get better with practice.  Don't let them treat you as though you're their servant.  My daughter was washing dishes when she was 6 years old.  They can also pick their clothes up and at least put them into a hamper or wash basket.  Even really little kids can fold towels and washcloths.  If you have boys, don't let them weasel their way out of helping with the housework because "it's girl work."  

Answer 13

Get a large garbage bag for each of your kids. Assign your kids a room to clean. ( i suggest the younger one will get the smallest room)

You can give them allowance maybe 2 dollars each or more?).

Then you can assign them a chore. Like Laundry, Dishes, Vaccum.

But the adult has to do the hardest as told!

When the whole house is clean, giv your kids a treat! Like for ice cream!

Be sure to clean your house once or twice a week!

Hope i help!

Answer 14

Give them all chores to do, even the youngest (assuming they're not babies), but even toddlers can do it.  They may not do it just the way you want them to, but sooner or later they'll get the hang of it.  If they don't want to help or squabble with you, take away the toys or whatever it is they're leaving around the house.  Make sure you reward them somehow if they do help.  Let them know that you're a family and that family help each other.