I'm a big believer in the 4 minute "commercial break" cleaning. I tend to watch a lot of TV at night, and I do my most needed clean-up tasks during the commercials. Works really well for dishes: com break 1 - fill dishwasher and sink for hand wash, soak first batch, com break 2 - wash/rinse dishes in sink, load next round - repeat until done.
I don't watch a lot of TV, but when I do I am definitly a fan of this method as well.
Hey, just because I said he doesn't help doesn't mean I mind, I was just stating a fact.
I'M PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT AS I AM RESPONDING TO THIS POST, MY HOUSE IS COMPLETELY PICKED UP, A FEW DISHES IN THE SINK, AND I EVEN TOOK DOWN MY CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS TODAY AS WELL AS A COUPLE OF OTHER TASKS THAT HAVE BEEN ON MY LIST FOR QUITE SOME TIME! It feels good to relax...the last couple of days I made myself keep on cleaning even if I wanted to do something else.
Definitely get the kids involved as much as they can and don't allow them to leave a mess and toys all over the place. It's too bad that your fiance doesn't care. Pick up and clean up as you go. Make it a habit to get this under control on a daily basis.
Yeah, I want to make it a habit to keep it up, it seems like it wouldn't be as much of a burden. I feel like when we get surprise visitors, I want my house to be nice and not be distracted by the mess. I think I would be happier in a clean house, not that I'm not already happy that is. I work long hours Sat and Sun and it always throws me off, seems like every Monday I'm back to square one!
I have a problem of keeping up with housework too, but for different reasons. I retired in 2010 so I could relax after a very stressful job. But, as luck would have it, there was no relaxing for me; our youngest daughter announced she was pregnant right before I retired but I had already turned in my paperwork to retire so I did go on and retire. But, when her baby was born she asked if I would keep the baby till she was old enough for daycare. I agreed and that baby is now 13 mos. old and I'm still keeping her cause my daughter can't bear the thought of leaving her with anyone else. Then, our middle daughter got divorced and moved back to our town with her 2 kids and couldn't afford daycare. So guess who keeps them? I'm glad to be able to help my girls but some days its almost more than this old lady can bear. Anyway, my housework sure suffers all week and weekends I am just too give out to do much; I only do what is necessary to keep my house from being referred to as a pig stye! I know there are lots of other grandparents doing the same as I am, but every once in a while I just have to have a pity party.
If they are anything like me, trust me, they appreciate it greatly...and they probably feel back asking you all the time (I know I did) but it saved me so much money a month, you have no idea what a blessing you are being...don't worry, they will be in school before you know it and you will form such a wonderful bond with your grandchildren...you are probably much wiser than their mothers and I've read articles about the importance of grandparents bonding with their grandchildren.