So you know how we (and by “we” I mean most parents) say to forget about the housework and cooking and play with the children instead? Nevermind if the house is a mess as long as the children are happy!
Well it actually doesn’t work that way sometimes.
Yes, we should be prioritising and most of the time the cleaning can wait but if we always do this then we end up living in squalor (at least that how it gets at my house.) Here’s the thing with my children – when they are hungry they whinge, whine and cry often. They are not satisfied with the two minute noodles no matter how much I try with them; yes they will eat them but it’s never enough to satisfy the hunger. My children like to wear clean clothes (I know! It’s madness isn’t it?) and one of my boys hates to wear the same thing two days in a row unless it’s a tattered and threadbare tracksuit that should have been tossed out long ago but that’s a story for another time. My children run around outside then run in my house, lie on the carpet and sometimes eat while they’re walking.
My husband only sees me for a few hours in the evening and then again it’s only a couple of hours that is child-free time.
And then there is me, who craves a few minutes of alone time to blog, spoil myself or just have a pee in peace.
I don’t want my children to have to settle for two minute noodles everytime they are hungry which means I have to cook proper meals. I don’t want my children to wear dirty clothes which means the laundry, ironing and folding needs to be done. I don’t want my children to live in house filled with mud, dirt and cat hair all over the place so sometimes I will have to mop, sweep and vacuum, dust and wipe. I don’t want my children to want for time with me. I don’t want my husband to miss out on our time together and I would really love for me to have some time to myself once in a while.
I don’t know how to manage my time and it seems no matter what I decide, someone is not happy.
Any time-saving ideas on all this is greatly appreciated 
I have the same problems. I hope someone has some answers for you.
get a cleaner! seriously, hear me out.
we are NOT RICH by any streth of the imagination- my husband and i are both poor academics, and when i return to work from maternity leave next year, my wage will be less than the cost of having both our kids in care (daughter three days, son one day, as my husband will look after him from home one day, too). thus we will be paying for the priviledge of me working. awesome!
and yet we get a cleaner. back in the day, when my husband was a better-off lawyer, we could afford her to come once a week. Now, she comes once a fortnight, for just 3.5 hours at a time. We pay her $57.50 per visit. yes, i obviously have to clean (quite a bit) between her visits (washing dishes, vacuuming, washing clothes, etc). And yet, i know that i never have to scrub a shower (we have 2) or mop the bathroom floors (that’s right- they only get done once a fortnight. don’t judge me). i don’t bother to vacuum upstairs between her visits (downstairs gets done every day or two), or windex the upstairs mirrors, etc. We have three toilets, and i don’t bother cleaning one between her visits (the other two on an as-need basis, and by that i mean, who from outside our family will see them!) And for me, $57.50 a fortnight is money bloody well spent, just psychologically, knowing that cleaning the showers, for example, is not hanging over me, and that, at the very least, every fortnight, our house is totally, dusted, mopped and sparkling clean. I’d love her to come weekly, but that’s not an option for us at the moment. I’d love to pay her to stay longer, and have her do things like my ironing or clean the oven (detestable task!), but that’s not an option, either. But what we pay her for is bloody unreal. My husband agrees because he gets a happier wife, and i ask him to do less
i gladly go without other things (when did i last see a movie? waaaah!) because she is so so awesome, and makes me feel happy just thinking about it.
dream solution? live-in housekeeper (drool). liveable solution? cleaner once a fortnight. worth the money, and i happily miss other stuff to have her.
das ende
I came here to make the same suggestion that susan already did in the previous comment.
I hired a lady part-time (a couple of hours, 2 – 3 times a week) for a few months after the baby was born, and it made a world of a difference. Having to do the cleaning, over and over again in a house with young children, can get *oppressive*. It was a relief to have someone else do that for me, even on some days.
Another suggestion is to cook double on any day of the week and freeze half of it. Serve that meal on another day and you have yourself an extra couple of hours.
Btw, when you made the muffins on Sunday by 7am, what time did you have to get up to accomplish that feat?
“have a pee in peace.”
i don;t think it’s possible! hahaha
i don’t have a cleaner, but i do think it’s an excellent idea, I’ll have to look into that one. thanks.
I think a cleaner is the only solution too…how do you find one?