I need help with organizing household chores!?

I have a 13 month baby as well & I hate to say this but your hubby needs to help. You shouldnt be up and down all day & night with the baby. My husband worked full time & I stayed home with a tri-level house & he worked 50+ weeks & still managed to do overnights so I can sleep. On his days off he can also help with mopping or whatever takes the most time. Until you get the baby on a schedule you cant make one for yourself. I had a colic baby as well so for the 1st six months I did very little house work & the house went downhill, but unless you have people in and out of your home all the time you shouldnt be putting your focus on chores, but you and the baby.

Since we have a tri-level home I have to split up my chores based on when my baby naps. When she is a sleep I do stuff downstairs such as dishes, floors, cooking, and when she is awake I stay upstairs with her and vacuum, laundry, kitty box, bath rooms, and the bedrooms. I've set my schedule up so the day B4 trash day I focus on vacuuming, trash, and kitty box. The next day is laundry only as I have 4 people to wash for. The next day is dishes and downstairs floors. When it comes to running errands do it when your husband comes home and can take the baby as it will save you time hauling the baby around, give you a break, and expose less germs and viruses to your baby, plus your husband can bond with the baby.

I leave my Saturday's open for bedding, and bathrooms as I clean them every two weeks and alternate weeks so 1st week is bedding, and 2nd week is bathrooms, and that is the entire bathroom. Sunday is my day off and I do NOTHING as you need a day to rest. Learn to use the Internet to buy most things and only go out for groceries. You dont need a schedule you need to manage your time efficently so you get the most out of it. No one is going to look down at you if your house is a little messy, or there's a few dishes on the sink. For the meantime use paper plates, cups, and silverware to cut down on the dishes. Get yourself a white board and make out a bi-weekly calander and write in the chores based on your babies schedule, or you can use Outlook or MAC mail and use the calendar to setup reminders. I use my Iphone to schedule reminders and I keep a small notepad to write down reminders and later go back and check off.

I am so serious about your husband. In fact this is my big issue with men that have families that think all they have to do is earn a living and come home and reap the rewards when they should be involved in everything: diapers, feeding, dressing, bathing, and so on. I'm not saying he should be doing a lot of chores, but he can help do a few things on his day off. On the weekends my hubby let's me sleep in on Saturday and I let him sleep in on Sunday so we both get time to rest. My hubby still does overnights as our baby doesnt sleep through the night, and she is off the bottle, but she still wakes up and wants juice or to be comforted and so he is interrupted 2 - 3 times a night. If your husband loves and respects you he shouldnt object to helping you with anything you need and again learn to use the Internet and stop going out all the time. The baby comes first in all regards so do what is best for the baby and worry about the other stuff later. Good luck.

Organizing Household Chores

Wow you shared your entire routine, if I weren't so busy creating my own schedule I'd do your's! LOL

First of all pray for wisdom and direction. Then create a daily activity schedule so you know how u spend your time each day then you can start a chore schedule. There are lots of websites that offer suggestions on cleaning like http://housekeeping.about.com/od/timesavingideas/p...

The method Im using to create my chore schedule is writing down everything I do and everything that needs to be done (which you've already started listing in your question}. Then I'l categorize the tasks based on whether they need to be done daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. When u create your daily chore list consider your family's schedule for the day. Limit household chores for that day if you know you're not going to be home much, try to complete tasks outside of the home like picking up dry cleaning or groceries if it fixs into your driving route.

Create a worksheet in the form of checklist based on the different categorizes and place them in a binder for daily review. The binder will be a helpful resource for your husband if you're ever unable to do these tasks he'll have a guide. You should also try using cellphone calendar or reminders. You can type a few short words to remind you to put the laundry in or feed the baby.

This may seem a bit much but i've found that it's easier to stay on top of housework or anything for that matter if you have a detailed plan. Especially when you have a husband and kids! Remember that a detailed schedule {hour by hour or even 1/2 hour) doesn't mean your have to stick to that like

glue but use it as a guide for your day. DON'T give yourself "easy days" instead schedule breaks and time to relaxation. If you skip a task to relax, so what, you didn't skip a whole day's work ("easy day") only to have twice the work for tomorrow. When cooking during week days keep it simple, create monthly or weekly menus based on what ur family enjoys, save the tough/new stuff for weekend. This will help when creating shopping list and letting hubby know what's for dinner. When preparing meals, gather all you need, measure out required amount into small bowls then put away the boxes and/or containers to keep work area clear. This way as you cook you'll have all you need at hand and your work area will be clutter free. Less to clean later! Although creating lists and schedules can be a job in itself it's well worth the time spent. Hope this is helpful! By the way give yourself some credit, your don't seem like a terrible Housewife.

Asked the same question (somewhat anyway). Some great answers here they all sound so organized. I would love to have some of these routines, my house never seems to be clean, even after I clean it. It gets trashed again. I would just love to know how to do all of those things and work 30 hr weeks with 2 kids and 3 pets and a 2000 sq ft house. I'm tired and like sometime with the kids and the DH and to myself. so where do you fit in the house?

i like everything to be planned so i know exactly what i'm going to be doing any minute of the day. thats just the way i function best. so from past experiences i know if you try to do too much in too little of time you end up gettig frusterated or tired and quit which messes everything up. i'm not saying to have everything planned but get general times for things like cleanign and cooking.

it seems like you're the least busy during the mornings/early afternoons--although sometimes your real tired. i would do the bulk of the cleaning in the mornings. after you wake, have your coffee or whatever you do in your wakeup, then find something that makes you happy-that REALLY makes you purely satisfied. for me it's jogging and yoga. i feel so energized and happy i had "me time" and i'm staying fit. although as you said you have some back problems, and you have a different personality, you would find something else. maybe playing solitare on the computer, one-on-one time with your daughter, or watchign a favorite tv show. anyway after you do something that makes you happy start the cleaning(cleaning recomendations later.) you said your daughter is a handful, most kids are so it's going to be hard anyway.

after your cleaning you might feel icky and you need to start your day so take a shower-do all that stuff. get changed for the day.

live the rest of your afternoon how you please, or if you need to do some runnign around.

i don't know when you normally eat but a lot of husbands love comming home from a hard day at work with a wnderful meal waiting for him. so i would start cooking at 4:00-4:30 eat, cleanup and enjoy time with your husband.

once he gets more busy again-or you can be with him- have your down time. try not to worry about things and do fun suff.

before bed i would do a quick cleaning sweep through so you don't have a complete mess when you wake up.

that's my reccomendeed schedule but of course everyday is different, with different obsticles so some adjustments will be made daily.

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now some cleaning suggestions :)

-you've said laundry takes so long so start with that. walk around the house picking up clothes-start laundry

-walking through rooms put things in the correct place and organize. do it in all the rooms but bathroom and kitchen (this may take a good bit of time) put away clean clothes, make beds, organize makeup counter, reorganize the pile of important papers-everything thats needed

-might be time to swithch loads of laundry

-sweep(or vaccume) the rooms

-do a quick bathroom clean-wipe off counters, take care of laundry, sweep floor fix shower curtain, and if really needed clean mirror

-clean the kitchen. putting things away, setting up dinner if it needs all day to cook, dishes, ect. sweep floor.

-whenever you hear (or check every once in a while) the laundry is done switch it.

SUNDAYS or another day with a lot of extra time

-dust everything. just walk through rooms with a duster and get everything

-clean windows and mirrors

-heavy duty mop(moping may be needed more frequent b.c of your cat)

-clean toilet

-wipe off living room tables ect..

everyone is different so this schedule and suggestions may mean nothing to you, but i hope it works.

the main point of all my babbling is::

get a schedule together that fits your life

don't over-plan your time, if anything give yourself an extra ten min.

enjoy your life. you're fortunate to have a beautiful daughter, husband, and a nice house. don't take that for granide

i really wish you good luck and i hope everything turns out for you!

<3 Nicholle

and sorry it's really long.. lol

oh! and for your cooking skills here's some real simple recepies that i love!

CHICKEN ALFRADO: needed: noodles, broccli(or peas), jar of chicken alfrado sauce, chicken

-boil and drain noodles

-add cooked broccli, chicken, and sauce

-might need a little heated up and TADA!! a great meal!

CHICKEN BUERITOS: needed: chicken, soft taco shells, cheese, other toppings you like(peppers, lettice, ect)

-brown one sade of shell, flip

add cooked chicken, cheese, and other toppings

-turn off heat, fold in half for a few sec and your done! :D

my family loves chicken so i usually make a lot of chicken about once a week. freeze whatever i don't use for dinner that night. that way it's even easier to make the meals since you only have to heat up the chicken.

you can just make quick mashed potatoes or stuffing in the microwave, gravy, a veggie, and chicken or other meat and thats a great meal too! :)

stay at home more,

sounds like all you do is run to other places,