How Do You Cook and Clean??

[sarahjean]

It may seem like a silly question, but I find with teaching an 8 month old as well as trying to spend quality time with my husband, I'm left with very little time for house work. What's your secret?

[nhockaday]

When he's asleep, or playing, or taking forever to finish his food. I think it's a good idea to let them see what you're doing so they get the idea. Then, when they get old enough, you can let them help with simple chores.

[sarahjean]

I totally agree - watching me do housework is really important! My very demanding baby, however, will rarely let me put her down for more than 15-20 minutes and the sling is getting a bit much while pregnant...

Right now I get a few minutes during finger foods, but she eats SO fast!

AND how would you manage the "few minutes here and there" system with multiple children?

[sarahjean]

P.S. - right now she's nursing, which is how I have time to be on here...

[nhockaday]

My son used to be very demanding too. There was a point when he got over it, I think about when he started crawling. He liked being able to get around by himself. It gave me more time to do things that I needed to do, but I had to watch him closely!

[PY]

When my toddler was a baby and I was cooking I used to put her in her high chair with books, wood or platic cooking spoons, or some snacks for she to be entertain , play music to her and talk to her a lot, explain her what I am doing,the names of things I am using.,,etc.
While she takes her naps I used to hurry up and clean.
Now she is 19 months old and it seems harder for me to get something work done!! She wants me all the time, sometimes I let her play with pans in the floor, she like to make music with them.

[THen]

My secret (not that my house is perfect) is www.flylady.net.  I signed up for her emails.  She sends me on "missions" every day and it helps to keep my house clean.  The missions usually take less than 15 minutes. I like the fact that I don't have to spend a lot of time thinking (she does that for me) and the fact that she helps establish habits that help me keep my house clean. 

[trinity papa]

I hire help but i don't trust fully

sometimes have to, as fast food and instant food are packed with addictives that will be damaging to your childs body and central nervous system ...overtime .... leading to ADHD and such ....

Food wise i personally in charge, buy, inspect and cook, as they say rubbish in rubbish out ..... the rest i teach the helper and she is expected to do her job ... then like i say again not all are that lucky

[LDSMom]

I had never heard of flylady, I Just signed up! sounds like just what I need!

Kudos to you!

[sarahjean]

I've signed up for FlyLady - yippee! Karma for you!

[khatty]

I tried flylady, but I just couldn't keep up.  So, I would say that right now I am barely cooking and not cleaning.  I dislike it, but I keep telling myself that teaching is more important than cleaning.

[THen]

Ah, yes, I understand.  That's why I like her saying,"Jump in where you are."  Even if you don't do everything, anything you do makes things better.  Don't try to do things perfectly.  I liked her, "Just do it for 15 minutes," saying, too.  Well ... okay, for moms it might be 5 minutes.  But the 5 minutes makes something cleaner and makes you feel better too.  But I understand going into a slump.  (Been there, too.)  Maybe when baby is older, you can teach her to clean with you.  My baby boy loves wiping windows and mirror.  I just give him a dry rag and he "buffs" the windows for me.  He likes it when I vacuum, too.  He either rides on my canister vacuum, or he helps hold the tube.  The one thing I haven't figured out his how he can help when I fold laundry.  I put things on hangers and he just can't do it yet.  But he tries.  I guess that's good enough for now.    

[Isabeau]

How does anyone get it done with small kids!?!?

For my family, we decided before we had kids that the person who was home with the kids was responsible for just the kids -- not the cooking or the cleaning as well (and with my first one, I was breastfeeding him at LEAST ten hours of the day and night, especially at first, so I really WAS working longer hours than my husband, when all was said and done!).  The person who was home with the kids could relax about the housework and instead spend their time 100% focussed on the kids, and the housework was still divided evenly between us just as it had been before we had kids (and letting the kids do whatever they're capable of at their age).  We've been operating this way since our first was born.  That isn't to say that we always have a tidy house (far from), but at least I don't feel guilty throughout the day for NOT having a tidy house.  I can relax about it and focus my attention on my kids without having to try to scramble to clean the house on top of playing with, teaching and spending quality time with the kids.  If I did try I feel like i'd spend a great portion of the day ignoring my kids just trying to keep up with the mess.

I do feel like this probably isn't possible for everyone.  It works for us because my husband also spent two years at home with our eldest, so he also lived by these rules when he was home.  He knows what being a stay at home parent is like. He wasn't expected to have our house cleaned before I got home from the office.  And believe me, he didn't (but I never complained!).  We would just tackle it together on weekends.

That's just our agreement. 

[jtsbaby]

I hire a maid for 1 day a week. She deep cleans the whole house...and I keep up with small stuff throughout the week. With and baby and dog, there is always something to be wiped up and picked up. I do my own dishes everyday and that takes up enough time. I started just dumping the bottles into the dishwasher. It sanitizes, dries, and they smell so much better. I put my baby in his jeep walker while I do all of this and he happily "runs" around. Or I just do all this when he is asleep at night. I use my baby's nap times (which are far and few in between and short!) to take a bath and get ready for the day. I usually don't have time to do my hair so I just put it up in a french bun most days.

The laundry on the other hand is a different matter. I keep up with doing the laundry but no time to fold. My nanny comes 1-2 times a week when I am at work and usually I leave 5-6 basketful of clothes/towels to fold and put away in the closet. If she doesn't come, the clothes just pile up until she comes again. Meanwhile, my husband and I just pick the clean clothes from the pile and wear. BTW, we hide all the laundry in one of the bedrooms and close the door.

[Isabeau]

ugh!  Laundry, I know!  I have a HUGE pile (higher than the actual washing machine) right now in my laundry room.  It's terrible.  But it's just not a priority when I have two wonderful little guys to spend time with!

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