How much housework..

[Lems]

How much housework do you do around your mindees?? (apart from the general tidy as you go jobs)

Atm my daily lo's arrive 11.30am and a couple of days one arrives 9.30am. This gives me time to do the clean and set up. But come sept I will have a f/t lo arriving at 7.50am and another staying until 6pm. Having 4 messy lo's of my own and oh doing shifts some weeks I'll be doing clubs/homeworks/meals etc till 9ish.

So I'm trying to get myself organised in advance..

What works for most of you?

[cathtee]

Hi get the mindees to tidy up their toys before they go home, then get on with family stuff and if necessary vac in a morning before first one arrives. Worls for me

[Chimps Childminding]

I tidy up as I go along as much as possible. I get the mindees to help tidy the toys away before lunch, snacks etc. I wash up as they are finishing lunch - I have a kitchen diner so can watch at the same time. My 20 month old mindee LOVES the vacuum so he gets that job (hand held vacuum) after lunch.

I then have a good tidy up and hoover properly once they have all gone home!

Washing gets put on first thing in the morning and last thing at night, and in between if I get a chance while mindees are sleeping/occupied! same with hanging it out/fetching it in off the line! Other than that most of the housework gets done in the evening, or on my day off/weekend.

It also depends on which mindees I have, some days I struggle to wash the lunch things if I have the biter as I can't take my eyes off him!

[AliceK]

I make sure the children have tidied up the toys before they go home so at least no toys are laying around. I hoover the hallway, lounge and playroom after the last one leaves around 6pm. The kitchen floor I sweep up after each meal but I mop it every morning before the first mindee arrives at 8am. I also clean the downstairs toilet first thing in the morning. I will do loads of washing / drying during the day but the bulk of my main cleaning which is mainly the upstairs I have to save until the weekend. Very very occasionally I might run around with a duster but not often. As long as I clean the kitchen as I go I'm reasonably happy. Can't stand a mucky kitchen

xxx

[PixiePetal]

I have children tidy up before home time then we have a story or just 1 toy out if parents are late

I have a dishwasher now that helps a lot

I do washing morning/after work or in between if they sleep and hang out the same

hoover playroom in the evening and through downstairs if I have time. Set up anything for morning the evening before too.

Kitchen cleaned after we have dinner - my kids are teens so can be a great help to the proceedings if they want dinner on the table at a decent time

How old are your own LOs? can they help out, all part of a familys normal day

[~Grasshopper~]

i tidy and clean downstairs every night which often means 8pm after my own children are asleep.

i do quick toy gathering and kitchen cleaning during the day and then spend all day sunday cleaning im afraid.

i do have upto 2 hours a day during naps that i waste online though lol.

my own fault. x

[Bridey]

I always get the children to tidy up before dinner. If there is any time left between dinner and collection (which is rare) then that when the tv goes on.

[miffy]

I wash up as we go along. At 5pm (I finish at 5.30pm) I get the children to start tidying up the toys and then when they've gone I clean the cloakroom and set up for the next day.

If I've got babies or very young children then I also try and sort out the meals for the following day so they're prepped before the children arrive.

Miffy xx

[Mouse]

I hoover & mop the kitchen floor each morning before the first mindees arrive at 8am.

Throughout the day I wash up as we go along. I have a carpet sweeper which I use after eating or if a mess is made (glitter etc).

I put washing on regularly throughout the day. It all goes in the tumble drier & mindees love to help fold it when it's dry. When my own children get in from school one particular mindee always tells them to put their clothes away

Polishing is done at the weekend, with a quick flick of the duster during the week as & when needed. The kitchen has a good clean at the weekend, again with a quick clean through the week to keep on top of things.

Upstairs is DH's domain! He cleans the bathroom & hoovers the bedrooms. I don't care if he does it at the weekend or in the evening, as long as it gets done! Each morning he is usually the last one to use the bathroom before everyone leaves the house, so gives the sink & toilet a quick wipe over. If I have mindees who are old enough to use the bathroom I give it a clean each morning. At the moment none of them use it though.

[VeggieSausage]

I struggle with an untidy family and 6 mindees, working 7.30 - 6.30 every day. I feel like I am sinking and could spend all day cleaning athe weekend it seems just to appear semi presentable. I have 3 children of my own and a dh who does zilch (but thinks if he cooks the odd meal then he has done his share!) ...humph...

[nipper]

Is he related to mine...minus one kid?

[Bluebell]

I blitz the place in the morning to get it just about acceptable and mainly by dumping stuff up stairs. My upstairs is a tip and I am mortified if a parent ever needs the bathroom.

I will stack the dishwasher and tidy up after the little ones but I try not to do any chores. No hoovering, no laundry - unless the washing hasn't finished in time but I can then get it out in the morning. I usually use tumble dryer at the moment anyway with bad weather. No ironing (I don't do that anyway) definitely no cleaning or sorting upstairs of any kind when mindees are with me (my son fell down the stairs at his minders because he went to find where she was when she was upstairs doing laundry and she sent him back down stairs and he missed one and fell the whole lot - these things happen but I'd prefer it not to happen here!)
I blitz toys and re-tidy kitchen while children are eating and will sweep through however many times necessary during day - laminate floors plus crumbs and sand and dirt and dust traipsed in from outside = the need to sweep!
I wish I had a better system because it is not as organised and tidy as I would like and the upstairs definitely needs a good sort!

[PixiePetal]

Having said what I did about my downstairs, my upstairs is a bit of a tip!

no one needs to go up in the day - so it gets done last in my list of priorities. Would love to be really house proud but my house is more lived in! Glad I have a downstairs loo so I just close the stair gate when I come down in the morning

Come on Bluelion, I will sort mine if you do yours

[Demonjill]

I try and get as much done the night before for the next day

I will put wash loads on, hang out or tumble dry as needed, put dishwasher on, dust and clean out guinea pigs -depending what mindees I have as they like to help.
I also sweep kitchen floor after very meal/snack as crumbs appear as soon as they sit down, wipe down work tops while they are eating etc and when they finished will disinfect high chairs and table and get ready for next meal/snack or arts n crafts.

I won't iron or Hoover while mindees here but will potter about with other things and a bit more if mindees asleep.
I don't want to spend very evening/weekend cleaning and tidying -life us far too short!!

[hectors house]

I have a kitchen diner so wash up while children are finishing eating and have started getting them to dry up their own plastic bowls, bibs, cutlery etc.

I also sweep up the laminate floor in dining area after children have eaten or played with playdough.

I do dust the dining room and lounge once a week while children are playing nicely as I feel that they need to know how houses are cleaned - some parents who work full time employ cleaners so how can children engage in role play if they think the "house work fairy" does it?

Children also help me sweep up the patio and deck in the garden and sometimes help wash the car (although it generally looks worse when they have finished)!

I do most of the cleaning before the children come at 8 am, hoovering, tidying, cleaning downstairs loo and setting out toys and leave upstairs until my day off or weekend.

[jumping j]

I sweep the laminate and tiles after meals and after we've done any crafts.
I load/unload the dishwasher and do the washing up after the school run, the after schoolies help the lo's play nicely
I occasionally peg the washing out, if it's every sunny, I have a small washing line set up for the lo's to peg out dolls clothes

[Chimps Childminding]

I struggle with an untidy family and 6 mindees, working 7.30 - 6.30 every day. I feel like I am sinking and could spend all day cleaning athe weekend it seems just to appear semi presentable. I have 3 children of my own and a dh who does zilch (but thinks if he cooks the odd meal then he has done his share!) ...humph...

I have that problem (except I only work 4 days - thank goodness for a day off to catch up)!! I have adult sons 19 & 21 plus DH who do ABSOLUTELY nothing I blame my MIL! she once said about DH's sisters hubby, "Well he is a good help but then xxx is out at work all day" She has 2 grown up daughters one of whom is married and has her own house, she works term time only 9 - 4!!!

I give up

[Bluebell]

Having said what I did about my downstairs, my upstairs is a bit of a tip!

no one needs to go up in the day - so it gets done last in my list of priorities. Would love to be really house proud but my house is more lived in! Glad I have a downstairs loo so I just close the stair gate when I come down in the morning

Come on Bluelion, I will sort mine if you do yours

hee hee - I was thinking I had no mindees on Friday and would have house to myself so I will blitz it then - for some reason I find it really hard to have a really good sort out when trying to work round hubby and children - especially my children suddenly find all sorts of intersting thingsthat I have just put away! However was my sons last day of pre-school today so I will havehim home on Friday and am thinking I may have a bit of ago but am not going to go too mad with it. maybe I should make him tidy their bedroom - can't even see the floor in there at the moment - I had to clear a path so they could get into bed
I'll let you know how I get on shall I Pixie and then you can play catch up on the weekend??!!

[PixiePetal]

hee hee - I was thinking I had no mindees on Friday and would have house to myself so I will blitz it then - for some reason I find it really hard to have a really good sort out when trying to work round hubby and children - especially my children suddenly find all sorts of intersting thingsthat I have just put away! However was my sons last day of pre-school today so I will havehim home on Friday and am thinking I may have a bit of ago but am not going to go too mad with it. maybe I should make him tidy their bedroom - can't even see the floor in there at the moment - I had to clear a path so they could get into bed
I'll let you know how I get on shall I Pixie and then you can play catch up on the weekend??!!

can't do this weekend - got the London forum meet on Saturday and family get together Sunday.

DD goes away for a week at her boyfriends from 25th so will attack it the following weekend

[Sweetpea]

I Hoover daily at 7.30am after my children and I have breakfast.

My dh has only 2 jobs to do before he goes to work. Dress my eldest son and empty dishwasher. I realised these 2 tasks not done early ruin the day and it means I expect nothing more of my dh in the morning so don't get frustrated.

My friend comes in for 1 hr a week and cleans. In return, I look after her children occasionally during the school holidays when she's stuck. This arrangement works well as she's a clutter free nutter and my house is the opposite : )

I think they should've warned us at our introduction course how much housework was involved.

Sweetpea