I would love hear everyone tips/routines/secret tricks to keeping up with all the household stuff.

Keeping everything done around the house seems to be my constant struggle. Between our busy schedule, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping and cooking I always seems behind at something. The only way i can really get it all done is to create myself a weekly to-do list/ schedule and stick to it. I'll schedule 2 days to stay at home for cleaning/laundry, 1 day for playdates or taking Olivia somewhere, 1 day for shopping, and 1 day to spend with my mom.

I used to think the house had to be spotless all the time. Not any more. LOL. I'm doing good to get dinner on the table before 8. Chasing a hot-rod of a toddler consumes my days. For the housework I just do a little here-a little there. I'll do all the wash up usually every other day, try to pick up every night before bed, dishes after every meal, do what I can during lo's naps, things like that. It hard for me to stick to a schedule because every day is different. But my biggest help is that I am blessed to have a wonderful husband who helps me out around the house. He jumps right in with the laundry when needed, he is the main tub-scrubber, anything I need I just have to ask. Without him my house would be a total disaster lol.

I feel like I never have time to do anything especially on those days that my LO refuses to take a nap... like today. I don't know. I just get overwhelemed with all of the things that I have to do and on top of that I start feeling guilty because I'd rather be spending time with my LO. My husband is a huge help too (especially when it comes to cooking) thank goodness. I just don't know how some people do it.

CLEANING:
ok this is like my area of expertise!!! lol I'm not kidding. Ok back in the day when I only had kiddo or even just 2 kiddos, Monday was clean-clean day. Every Monday I would get up and go to work. Clean the house top to bottom, back to front, whatever. Also did alllll the laundry on this day. Sometimes I wouldn't get completly done until 8, having to get back and forth between cleaning and kids. This would be their day of the week that they could watch movies or whatever to keep them occupied so I could do what I needed to do.
THE reason why I did it this way was because I could work my butt off to get it done on Mondays and the rest of the week all I had to do was keep everything picked up!! And spend time with my babies.

Now, I have a different plan in action. AFter the 3rd baby doing everything in one day was impossible, most of the time. So I had to develop a new plan of action. And here it is.
I do one specific group of laundry a day and one specific cleaning thing a day. I just broke down all that cleaning I did in one day. I am the kind of person that has to have a rhyme to my reason, kwim. I can't just do this here and that there, half of it wouldn't get done.
My schedule now is as follows:
Mondays---dust and wash darks
Tuesdays--sweep and mop and wash colors
Wednesday-clean bathrooms and wash Alyssa's
Thursday--Vacumn and wash whites
Friday----mop and sweep again, and wash towels
Saturday--wash jeans

I have to mop twice because we have only have carpet in the bedrooms and playrooms, they boys are in and out all day long, so my floors get dirty really fast!
And I do usually run through the kids bathroom with some clorox wipes a couple more times a week. boys are soooo messy!!!!!!!

Groceries: I go for one HUGE grocery trip every two weeks. It also helps if you plan out your menu according to your schedule for the week or two.

Also there is a GREAT website to help when you feel overwhelmed with everything that you feel like needs to be done!!
flylady.com

The answer is, I don't.
So this is a great thread.
Wow. Lots of good advice. I do not have a schedule for cleaning and maybe I should. I tend to just do whatever seems important at the time. Laundry piling up? Do it. Dishes piling up? Do those. Etc. Not the best system. But between Jack and work, my housework takes a back burner some days. And that's OK. As long as I can catch up. Because I do like a clean house. It starts driving me nuts when things get really chaotic around here.

Right now I am aware that I need to clean all the windows in my entire house. Actually, except 3. I managed to do the dining room the other weekend. It took forever. This task is hanging over my head as I try to keep up with the daily cleaning. Ugh. Sound familiar?

Maybe I'll set a schedule and see if that works better. We also do the grocery shopping every 2 weeks and stock up. I try to have an idea of some of the meals I want to make.

Niki N - I'm washing whites today too! Yep, they've piled up. LOL

I don't think there is a way that you and get is ALL done without a nanny to come watch kids! When you feel like you are done you turn around to see that someone has made a mess again. When I just had 1 kid my house stayed spotless ALL of the time and I still worked 40 hrs a week as I do now. But when #2 came along the housework went out of the window! I manage to keep the house organized and I keep laundry and dishes done all of the time and I keep dinner cooked most every night but the actual cleaning doesnt get done as much as it needs to be. But it is okay I guess, at least my kids are happy and healthy, even though they walk around with "Foodworld Feet" LOL. Since I am going to start working from 7:30 - 2:30 that will help out alot with my house cleaning and I hope that it will be spotless again!

Lots of great advice!!!

Niki- Scheduling is the best for me too. As Olivia is getting older and our schedule is getting busier I am trying really hard to do it all in one day so I loved hearing how well it worked for you. It will be a rough day but I figure if I can get my major cleaning done on one day I'll have more time to devote to spending time with Olivia and working on my class work and hobbies.

Another thing I forgot about also. I get my lo to help out with whatever he can. He puts the clothes in the washer for me, shoves them into the dryer when I hand them to him, he actually picks up his toys and puts them away (for now lol), he will take a cleaning cloth and wash off the table, things like that. Whatever he can do, he really enjoys helping out and every little thing helps. For major cleaning though I wait until DH is home on the weekends and he will take lo outside while I clean clean clean.
You kinda have to let things fall into place sometimes. I sometimes would love if my lo would watch a cartoon for 20 mins even. He will not watch tv and has to be right behind me constantly which makes cleaning extra difficult to do, so I had to incorporate him into the plans.

I work full-time so there are things that have to be put off around the house. I try my best to make sure all toys are picked up and in their place each night before going to bed. Somehow just knowing the clutter has been organized makes me feel better. The dishwasher is on nightly and normally so is the washer/dryer. Basically we "get by" during the week and I play catch up on the weekends.

NikiN- I am trying to do all my cleaning today like you suggested. so far it is going good, half of my list is already finished. I am doing the clean for an hour then rest/play for an hour routine.

Our schedule this fall is crazy, we have kindermusik on Wednesdays, my night class is on Thursday, my mom is off either on Tuesday or Friday so we spend time with her on that day, and then additional playdates. So i really have no choice, I HAVE to clean on Mondays unless I want to do it over the weekend.

I flounder and just do tiny things each day when they come up as necessary. I love my swiffer duster and run that over stuff while dancing to music with my girls - that's a spiratic "when due" fun thing. Wash is pretty much a small load each day. Cleaning bathrooms (we have 2) are an every other bathroom per weekend morning. Things like sheets - well, sorry Oprah but mine go a week before they are washed (she mentioned she does hers every 2 days). Other things hit me when the spirit moves me, like . . .having company so I wash the kitchen floor, or do a polish the furniture thing. Usually the "spirit" moves me around 11:30pm one odd ball night of the week.

I have no schedule with cleaning - I work full time and sometimes I just want to grab my girls, meet my in-laws at a restaurant and have some wine and dinner, then I scurry home and bathe the girls and walk past all my dusty, fingerprinted windows!

Do you ever wonder how the "Little House on the Prarie" mom's did it?

Just wanted to update- I was able to clean the entire house on Monday. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I just had to try and include Olivia in some of the cleaning. I was finished by the end of Olivia's nap at 3:00 Hopefully I can keep it up next week.

Good for you, LM!
I actually cleaned all my windows in the dining room, kitchen and living room. Now I just need to work my way around the rest of the house.

Oh, and I actually cleaned my oven this week. That was a major accomplishment.

LM, you said Olivia helps you. What does she help you do? Jack helps me with laundry. He'll stand at the dryer and pull out each item and hand it to me. He sees me shake them out before folding so now he shakes them out before handing them to me. So cute! And I always say thank you so now he says thank you when he hands them to me. LOL.

Which reminds me...aww man. I have whites in my dryer that need to be folded...it never ends....

HaHa cute little Jack.

I have no method to my madness. Like right now it is almost 2 a.m. and I am cleaning Ashtyn's room going through and organizing clothes, shoes, toys, and books. I clean what I see need to be cleaned. I don't worry with a schedule for me thats too strict. I am not a schedule kinda person, they have never worked for me and then I always feel bad because I spent time making it and didn't follow it. Its kind of like new years resolutions. They are made with good intentions but rarely ever are carried out. Anyway, that wasn't helpful at all but its what I do.

I think I fall in between the schedule and the do-it-as-I-see-it method: I make lists and get GREAT satisfaction out of crossing things off my lists ... but what goes on the list is based on what I see needs to be done!

I tend to get really busy and motivated at night, usually one night a week, where if I didn't know I had a busy little one the next day who needed an awake Mommy, I swear I could pull an all-nighter cleaning and organizing! So once a week, maybe once every other week, I will have a crazily ambitious evening into the night, usually when my sister or my husband can watch the baby.

But there are certain things that get done every day. I am a full-time student right now, and when I come home between my morning class and my afternoon full of classes, I typically empty and load the dishwasher. We run it every night after dinner. I try to do one load of laundry a night -- or at least, if I am not doing my laundry or my daughter's, my husband takes the time to do his. Yes, we keep separate hampers. Weird, isn't it? But it works.

We have a room that we have managed to kid-proof, and we let the baby tear it up all day long, and every evening I pack it back up. It's five minutes' worth of work, and I can bang it out during a commerical if I am watching tv. It also helps me to keep track of pieces. I am Type-A to the extreme, and I can't bear to have things go missing. People told me that would change when I had kids, but my daugher is 16 months old and I am just as bad as ever!

My husband won't typically think to vacuum or dust, but if I ask him to, he will do so gladly. (As long as football isn't on.) So, I am not hesitant to ask for help. Likewise in the kitchen. I tend to take charge, and ask for help when I need it, and it works for us.

Wow -- this was fun to think about! I never tried to dissect it all before!