This is precisely why my best friend cleans my house for me. I’m a terrible housekeeper.

I’ll see if she’ll drive over to Reno, real quick like.

I’m totally with you on this - our place is a mess. And instead of cleaning, I have decided to make cookies. Because that will make us feel better about the miss, right? No? Oh, crap.

Good luck cleaning your place up. I’m right behind you on that front.

Stash-and-dash seems easier.. but if you are like me, it looks ok, but you never get to the bags, and then when you need something, you can’t find it and crisis ensues. We did that for years and will never do it again. When things get really bad.. If you REALLY want to know.. First, designate a ‘messy room.’ Usually, we call that the master bedroom or the dining room. Start in the most important room. Put things away as much as possible, and anything that doesn’t have a place or needs special treatment goes in the ‘messy room.’ It doesn’t have to be perfect, just ok. Don’t worry about the kids rooms. Just do the living room, guest room, dining area, loft. Harry and Kile need to help you all they can. If it’s not watching/entertaining the little ones (for one of them), they need to help. Then vacuum and maybe dust. Harry can clean his bathroom. He’s old enough to do the sink and tub at least. Spray it down, let it sit a minute, then wipe up. Or use Comet, use a thick paste to break through scum. As for the dishes, Kile needs help. One of you rinse dishes off and the other loads the dishwasher. Take advantage of the washer and use it as much as possible so your time isn’t spent handwashing - just cleaning. Harry can wash the floors. Get him to sweep with a dustpan and brush. Then a bucket of soapy water and a rag. He can handwash a section at a time or, if it’s not bad, just get the noticeable spots. It’s do-able. But it will be a busy few days! That’s what we’d do. But we’ve tried really hard to stay caught up in the past year or two.. so thankfully it’s just general pick up these days. Good luck!

See… I would come over and help but the stinking military won’t send us to Reno!!! Here are my cleaning/clutter philosophies:
1. If it can go in the dishwasher, it does. If it can’t, then who ever’s job it is to do the dishes (in your case, Kile) is reminded often of it being their job. You could say “nag” but that’s an ugly word. You could try my dad’s old standard “I thought we had an agreement”, but that leads to rebellion later, so then again, maybe not.
2. He who it belongs to, must put it away. Granted, Liam can’t exactly clean up after himself very well yet, but Harry can. Limit play time, computer time… whatever his favorite after school & homework activity is — make him put his stuff away before he can do whatever it is.
3. Use it or loose it. This is my anti-clutter device. It is hasn’t been used in 6 months, a year, then get rid of it. Sell it, give it to Goodwill, pass it on to someone else who needs it, whatever. Paul hates this one, because he likes having stuff. I like having less stuff to keep clean & organzied. It’s a tug-of-war on a regular basis of here at casa Miller.
My favorite cleaning products: scrubbing bubbles, Mr. Clean magic erasers, and the Swiffer.
That’s all I can say. I don’t know if it will help or not. I hope it does. I wish I could come over and help you. But hell, we’d probably end up goofing off the whole time I was there.

I do the Stash n’ Dash all the time and sadly, my dining room reflects that. Something else that works is this: have the husband take the kids somewhere for 2 hours. Pump the volume up on the stereo, focus and enjoy the time to yourself. You would be amazed at what you can get done in that 2 hours knowing everyone is coming back. There is incentive to having your husband walk in and SEE how much you accomplished.

And a little secret? Make a MAD DASH to get as much done as possible and carve out at least 15 minutes for yourself to sit and read or relax.