How tidy?

[allinatiz]

I feel a bit silly asking this but how tidy is your house?

My living room, where the babies play, is fine. All their toys get put into the toy boxes at the end of the day and it's done.

My conservatory, on the other hand, regularly looks like a whirlwind has hit it. This is where all the big toys, play kitchen, easel, drawing stuff etc, is kept and where my own 7 year olds make the majority of their mess! In fact, looking at it now I really should be moving a few things they've left out! I have a pine toy box thing that has 6 plastic boxes in it and on top of that there's more plastic boxes. Oh, I also have my paperwork out on a shelf as I haven't got the dividers for my filing cabinet yet!

There's boxes with things stuck over them (1 is a homemade guitar!) proudly displayed all along my window ledges, more crayons and crafty type things stuck where there's space. All of it's well out of reach of the small children and everything's mopped and cleaned so it's not really that big a deal but it just looks so messy. Please tell me I'm not the only one :D

[Tiisku]

Tidy? What is that? :D

[bubbly]

You should come see my conservatory, it's like a war zone! :D

[jaz]

Tidy? Think I remember that concept a while ago ;)

[miffy]

Tidy? Think I remember that concept a while ago ;)

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: your memory is better than mine!!!!!

Miffy xx

[sarah707]

I will be tidy when the children leave home... I have promised myself! :p

[LittleMissSparkles]

I'm sorry to say but I hate been untidy so my house is always as tidy as it can be, bit freaky I know, as soon as the kids go I clean up and put everything away for the next day. xxx

[berkschick]

I am the same as Susan!

Luckily I have mainly babies so we stay in the lounge. Their toys are easy to put away. The conservatory/playroom is shut off to them at the mo because M has a thing about emptying cupboards and I cant cope with all the mess! :panic: So they are only allowed out there when I am with them or I just nip in and get a few differant toys for them for that day. My 6 year old is really messy, his bedroom is a right state!

[angeldelight]

I love a tidy house - but no chance

Whatever I do to keep it tidy even at weekends when I am not working - I find things lying around

Even when I empty the washing maching a babys bib will fall out

No getting away from it

Kids are messy ha

Angel xx

[crazybones]

Put it this way because I didnt do a top to bottom proper clean on Sunday because was doing paperwork all day, if Ofsted turned up unnanounced today I would be inadequate before she got passed the hall. The hoovering is done though because that is my 8 yrs old lentern promise to his teacher in school, to do it every night:D He has asked for a fee though - not sure that is the idea. Have a free weekend so the lot is getting done, nets, steam the carpet, the works.

Annie x

[ajs]

the sitting room is always tidy!!! (if the little ones haven't been in )
my kitchen diner is only tidy if i have done it so last night i came into the office to do some paperwork(come on here) straight after dinner so god knows what state that's in right now.
the playroom is tidy now as my cleaner came yesterday so i tidied before she came and we didn't use it yesterday afternoon

upstairs would be condemned if anyone official came my middle daughter's bedroom is a bio hazard

[Polly2]

My house is like an explosion in a toy factory :)

[Pipsqueak]

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: tidy???? in my dreams.


My house is well lived in as I prefer to call it.:laughing:

[Lou]

Im afraid im like susan, my house is always clean and tidy at the end of the day, i have a bit of an obsession i cant sit down and relax unless it is.

i dont care how messy it gets during the day, but its my home first and foremost xx

[buildingblocks]

I feel a bit silly asking this but how tidy is your house?

looks like abomb site while children are hear but I am lucky as I can set clocks by parents so the children tidy it all away just before going home. They make the mess and they clean it up lol. i am in the position though of having no children of my own to tidy up after. now my study is another matter all together and permenantly looks like a bomb has hit it

[Twinkles]

My house is completely tidy from about three feet upwards:rolleyes: anything below that looks like a bomb site!!

[sutherland]

Luckily I have a husband who seems to love cleaning.....bit of ocd there me thinks. As soon as he gets in from work he is off washing up, putting clothes away, tidying up toys, (even when kids still half playing with them, much to their disgust! :laughing: ) hoovering (even when I have already done it) etc etc so I generally do have quite a tidy house.

On the other hand, when he is away, the house does look lived in....i'm no where near as bothered about it as he is. As long as its clean, I can put up with the untidyness...........plus I know where everything is, once he's got his hands on stuff I can never find it!

I just tell him when he comes back that I saved it for him, as he must be getting withdrawl symptoms from not being able to clean and tidy so much :D

[Blaze]

Can i swap hubbies please?
Tasha:laughing:

[Rubybubbles]

Upstairs is mainly tidy just not in my bedroom, I tend to put everything in there and shut the door:D

Downstairs is always liek a bombs hit it, but by 5pm every is put away, I hate having stuff everywhere, but there's always something to do eh:rolleyes:

Somedays, like last week when visiting a friend whos baby is 16 weeks I was so jealous at her lovely clean, sparkling house whilst mine looks more like a nursery with posters everywhere, toys, pictures, painting the list goes one! But a guess this is a hazard of the job:idea: (thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it)

[allinatiz]

:laughing: Thank you for your replies! I think I'm just worried as I am expecting my first inspection some time in the next few months and I don't live in a nursery I live in a (much lived in) home!

[buildingblocks]

Somedays, like last week when visiting a friend whos baby is 16 weeks I was so jealous at her lovely clean, sparkling house

but just wait until her baby starts moving at least then you are able to blame yours on the business lol

[Rubybubbles]

but just wait until her baby starts moving at least then you are able to blame yours on the business lol

I'm having the baby full time:panic: so her house will still be spotless:laughing: cow

[Pipsqueak]

What I want to know is how do people have immaculate homes when they have kids in there? What am I doing wrong???:rolleyes:

[deeb66]

What I want to know is how do people have immaculate homes when they have kids in there? What am I doing wrong???:rolleyes:

I don't think it is you that is doing anything wrong Vik!!

If they have got time to clean like that and have an immaculate house....then when to they play and have time for the kids!!!!

[Banana]

As much as I love the house when it is all tidy and organised I am sometimes just too tired to kmeep on top of it all. The house is always tidier on a monday and tuesday as its not long passed the weekend and they are my quieter days so I get more chance to catch up on tidying in the afternoon.

Wednesday thursday and fridays are a nightmare - come friday night the house looks nothing more than a dumping ground. Im always so stressed as all i seem to spend my free tine at the weekends tidying and cleaning!

So no... you are not alone

xx

[ajs]

i have a childminder friend who has an immaculate house even though she works full time
yes there are toys everywhere during the week but underneath it is immaculate
i think it is because she has no clutter at all where as i do no matter how much throwing away /donating to freecycle i do the house is never clutter free i am begininng to get tougher though so hopefully in 2050 the house should be ok

[Spangles]

I have to tidy all the time as mess does my head in! Makes me really stressed. The children have to put things away if they want to play with something different and I have full tidy at the end of the day. Every morning I hoover and polish and clean the bathroom! I get so stressed if not!

Saying that, our bedroom does look like a bomb's hit it and always has done - I don't care about in there as no-one sees it and I don't spend much awake time in there to worry about it!

Mind you, I do work only very part-time hours, if I worked full-time I couldnt' keep up with it, I'd be a nervous wreck and totally exhausted so would have to give in!

[Lou]

i have a childminder friend who has an immaculate house even though she works full time
yes there are toys everywhere during the week but underneath it is immaculate
i think it is because she has no clutter at all where as i do no matter how much throwing away /donating to freecycle i do the house is never clutter free i am begininng to get tougher though so hopefully in 2050 the house should be ok

I am a bit like this, although i wouldnt go as far as say my house is immaculate!! I just dont do clutter at all, so whatever mess the children make is fine, i just clear up at the end of the day so its tidy again.

[Lou]

Oh also i used to hate it when we had carpet, so last year we ripped it all up downstairs and have wood everywhere and stone in kitchen, so i am very laid back during the day now, dont care how messy it gets as at the end of the day i can sweep round and tidy and its done.

(hubby says i love the swiffer more than him lol, i remind him no its the dishwasher i love the most)

[Mollymop]

My house is always tidy:littleangel: ,,,

When my kids are at school or just before huddy walks in from work or I get in trouble =

"what have you been doing all day woman!!!!":rolleyes:

[Mollymop]

Well I'm off now to tidy me house because you have all put me in the mood.... and cos darren will home any time soon;)

[ruby]

don't know what a tidy house is
the children do tidy up after them but unfortunately it is the big ones i have problems with i.e my hubby and 3 grown up children

i use to spend all weekend cleaning up but decided this year that i would have Saturdays to chill out
i am loving it so far not sure how long it will last as i seem to work twice as hard on Sunday to clean up

but can't have it always

cathy

[fionamal]

Must admit that I like a clean, tidy house. The kids all know that if theyve finishe playing with something then its to get put away before anything else is taken out.

I hoover every lunchtime and then after dinner . (its become a habit)

Kitchen has to be spotless all the time, I hate dishes lying about and everything has to be anti-bac'd


Hubby says I take it from my mother as seens a clean a holic. if you sit still for too long she has your clothes off an in the washer . Shes forever washing the kids hands and faces.

[Sandie]

I must say I hate clutter, all my mindies and my own children have always been taught to put there toys away when finished.

I have four very large toy boxes which stay in the living room all day and the children can play to there hearts content with them but I must admit to picking up toys at least four or five times a day

At the end of the day all the toys are put away in the boxes and the boxes are hidden away under the stairs before I will sit down for the evening, there is no way I could sit in a mess.

~Sandie~

[Tiisku]

What do you all fellow childminders with explotion homes -like I have- do when there is an inspection coming? scrub like mad still 5 minutes before inspector arrives? As that is kind of my plan for my first inspection.:D Please tell me it works.. :littleangel:

[Cheeky Chops]

hehe, this thread made me:laughing:

I had a dream the other night about ofsted coming and I made them sit in the car while i obssessivly cleaned the house, and I only got a satisfactory grade!!!!!I must be panicking all ready !!! argh!!

My house is tidy after hours, but is like a bombs it during the day!! Our bedroom is sooo messy! Everything that wont go anywhere else goes in there so its a bit bad, its the only room tho! I have a tidy play room and a tidy lounge and kitchen after hours I always make sure thats done cos I promised hubby when I started childminding that our house wouldnt be like a nursery!! (altho with all my lovely ofsted posters its getting there!)

I have a solution to LOADS of toys out, I have these recreation mats (from elc) and they slot together, I have about 12 of them (3 packs of 4, they are £15 for a pack of 4) and I store them at the side of my couch.

My 2 yr old mindee gets 4 out and slots them together and then sits there looking at me waiting for me to get her some toys out! she will only play with the toys on the mats and it keeps the mess localised so I am not bothered! Its a great way for her to have her own space and she even gets one for her baby sis to sit on as she plays with toys too! she loves slotting them together too!! I would def recommend! If she wants to play with something else she will put what she is playing either in a pile and say "more peese" or will try and tidy them as best she can into whatever box they came out of! she is really good, she learned this in about 3 weeks!! I always say, on the mat and she understands! its great!! hehe x