a buncher's work is never done

Checking household chores off the list is never an easy feat for a Baby Buncher, but have you noticed that there are some chores that just seem IMPOSSIBLE thanks to your Bunch?  For me, it was vacuuming and putting away laundry.  

The nap trap made it almost impossible for me to vacuum - ever.  Either the kids were awake and underfoot so I couldn't vacuum or they were asleep and I couldn't vacuum for fear of waking one of them and losing precious "me" time (which I almost always used to do the chores I couldn't complete while they were awake). 

Ditto with getting clothes put away.  I could wash, dry and fold periodically throughout the day, but the only time I could ever seem to get things put away was during nap time.  Only I couldn't - because kids were sleeping in all rooms containing dressers.  For this reason, I managed to accumulate 3 laundry baskets perpetually filled with clean, folded clothes that just got shifted from the laundry room to the master bedroom to the living room to the dining room and straight to the kids' bodies, but never to their actual dressers or closets. I used to feel pretty bad about this until I talked to a Baby Bunching friend who told me that the youngest of her Bunch (at a little over a year) had never actually slept in her crib because they used it as the family laundry basket for clean, unfolded baby clothes.

As with many things Baby Bunching, time heals all wounds.  Now that I just have a baby and not a bunch of them, the clothes problem is solved because I put everyone's clothes except the baby's away during nap time and then put his away when I change his diaper after nap.  In fact, I'm getting ready to toss two of the laundry baskets just so I'm not ever tempted to get into a vicious failure-to-put-away cycle again.

Vacuuming still sucks because I can't do it during nap time, but when I do squeeze it in while the Bigs are at school, there's only one toddler to prevent from getting Hooverized instead of a toddler and a crawler and that helps.  That and the fact that we got hardwoods on the downstairs level so there's one less floor to vacuum.

Baby Bunching wants to know - what's your perpetually unfinished household business thanks to your Bunch? And more importantly, got any suggestions for other Bunchers on how to resolve theirs?

Comments

[Jerseygirl89]

Um. . .even though my older two are 4 and 5 and my youngest 18 months, I have no tips on chores. My house is a perpetual mess that I clean like a madwoman before social engagements. So I guess I would suggest hosting less and having a power day once a week where you clean everything. And lowering your standards.

[ALD]

I second the lowering your standards part.

[Amanda Too]

Organzing and storing baby clothes and toys. My downstairs den has become a third storage room filled with random boxes and bags of things we are not currently using, but will need for the next baby. Oh, and bleaching and stain treating...that pile just grows and grows! I can keep up with groceries, meal prep, dishes, laundry and clutter, but I never iron and I have help with deep cleaning twice a month. I need two extra hours a day...and not just any hours, they need to be ENERGETIC, FOCUSED hours! I always feel behind. Always.

[kelly]

I always do my vaccuuming when the kids are awake. Gives me something to do when they are whiny. Turn on the vaccuum, can't hear the whining! :)

I have a hard time keeping the bathrooms clean b/c I don't want the kids in there while I do it and I don't want to sacrifice a single second of my me time doing something I truly hate. I try to save it for the weekends and let hubs play with the kids while I clean.

[Jill W-Harrisburg PA]

Thank you for this post! Just when I feel like I'm the only person w/ these problems- you all make me feel part of the group!! Thanks for helping me smile and laugh out loud at the insanity of it all. I know it won't be this way forever... thank goodness we have the internet to VENT about it :)

[CAmommy]

hahaah wow i lold @ 'I always do my vaccuuming when the kids are awake. Gives me something to do when they are whiny. Turn on the vaccuum, can't hear the whining! '
i love you fellow bunchers for keeping me sane!
my carpet is always vacuumed but covered with stains so it never even looks clean ughh. i make washing sheets top priority since i dont enjoy sleeping on bright baby poop however i admit my towells smell moldy more often than not. hahah so gross oh well!

[Alisha]

Laundry & vacuuming are mine, but I've recently gotten better about it.

For laundry, I keep 3 separate hampers for whites, lights & darks (and a basket for jeans) and that helps a LOT so I can just dump a load in without sorting. I just do one load a day, fold while they're playing or sleeping and put clothes away as quickly as I can while we play in their room.

As for vacuuming, the hard part isn't the chore itself because my kids are weird and LOVE the vacuum cleaner, but in order to get to vacuuming I have to first pick up all the toys AND keep the kids from immediately dumping them back out. What I try to do is pick up while they're contained (in high chairs or napping) and vacuum right after nap, lunch or dinner. Also, I give my toddler his popper toy and he "vacuums" with me. My boys are 2 and 9 months.

[shayla]

I now have a laundry system that is working well. On Tuesdays I do the girls (we have 3), on Wednesdays it's the hubs and I, and Thursdays we always change sheets so I wash those and towels. At the most, I do 4 loads a day but it's only 3 days a week and I even have time to put them away! Oh and I grocery shop on Mondays after making my list and clipping coupons on Sundays. Fridays are left to clean but I really hate to do that. . .

[AZ]

I really hate cleaning the bathrooms and washing floors. I can tolerate vacuuming. I have all wood floors in my house and built in vacuum, which I highly recommend. We need a good vacuum about once per week.
We try and keep the kitchen clean and decluttered every night. Other than that, its clean when you can.. I am also blessed with a husband that does the laundry. If it was up to me, it would prob lie unsorted for weeks. And much of it does... Hate putting away laundry, and it often sits in my bedroom for a week or 2 before I get to it.

We have had a cleaning lady about come every 3 or 4 weeks for the last year or so for deep cleaning. But we lost our jobs a few months ago so have been doing more of the deep cleaning ourselves (i.e., what is this again? oh yeah... a mop...) So last night I was mopping at 2am cuz its the only time there is no one around and I can move furniture and rugs away, etc.

[Alisha Swanson]

Oh, laundry. It is so evil. I have no problem cleaning the clothes, but can never get them put away. We have a love seat that hasn't been used for the last 2.5 years because it is covered in clothes. At least they are clean. I am very good at putting away my kids' outfits (because they are so cute an tiny!)

[Marci]

Laundry never seems to be done at my house, I have a 4month old with reflux so I do at least a load everyday. My two year old however has enough outfits and clothes to last 2 full weeks so needless to say hers stacks up til there is nothing left. I end up cramming in laundry, kids, mine and household on the weekend. My husband does his own if there isn't a load left in the washer that is! As for the vacuuming my 2 year old does it. I clean up all her toys and give her the little shark carpet sweeper and send her on her way. It occupies her for at least a half hour. I seem never to get the upstairs bathroom or my bedroom so its a disaster area though....very unromantic!

[EricaHOPPER]

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