How do I clean the house with a toddler? I struggle with multitasking

I have fibromyalgia on top of ADHD. For me and my family, we clean together. My son loves helping so he cleans with me in his room and my husband and I clean the rest of the house together. Making kids clean for you isn’t ok, but teaching them to clean with you is valuable for teamwork. Cooking together is another chore you can do with your kids and your husband. And having a set time each day to spend 15-30 minutes cleaning together will help it seem less overwhelming. Whatever you can do in that 15-30 minute block each day is plenty. Set a timer and when it’s done you’re done. *Also, designating a time each day turns it into a routine. And setting a type of task for yourself like sweeping, scrubbing, organizing, etc for each day can be helpful. Like some people set a room to work on each day; Monday is bathroom, Tuesday is kitchen, etc but I find it easier to say Monday I’m going to sweep for 15-30 minutes and sweep the whole house if I can in that time block. Tuesday I’m going to scrub so that might mean scrubbing walls and counters or scrubbing the tub. And so on. So it’s one task and I don’t have to get overwhelmed by trying to do everything in one room at once. Plus I can ask my husband to mop after I sweep, or ask him to wipe down the kitchen counters and stove, but usually he just cleans whatever he thinks is needed during that block. My son mostly works on putting his toys away, sweeping with a tiny broom, vacuuming his runner with a hand vacuum, scrubbing his desk, etc depending on the task type of the day.

Multitasking is a myth anyway. Don’t feel bad, there’s more than enough to do with small (or large) kids around. If anyone complains, give them a duster and ask them to help 😂

25, 21, 16. Pet peeve. Apparently kids imitate behaviour, so I guess I’ll never have a tidy home 😂 I’m frustratingly coming to terms with this fact. So, yeah, if you can make it a game and get them involved early, regardless of results - I’d do so. For me… it’s too late 🤭

What's worked for my family (with 2 under 2) is making sure the kids have already been taken care of before it's time to try and tackle cleaning, maybe even popping a snack in their room and setting up the gate and a show for them to watch. We then tackle it room by room, handling the kids as needed between rooms as well. Don't be afraid to let your toddler help either! Get them their own little cleaning set and make it a fun game for them too :) I've heard that works wonders

You shouldn't use the kids as cleaning tools (sorry, couldn't resist). But, yeah, it's hard. Would also like to know.

Oh yeah that’s a mood…my 2yr old tries to steal my vacuum or broom when I try to clean. And of course she pulls out items as I put them away. Embracing a new definition of clean is the first thing you do. Then make a list, keep it simple, be patient with your gremlin and be proud of yourself for completing small tasks 💕

Also, as they get older you can do a Greenlight account. Assign chores in the app. They mark them complete and on Saturday night they get an allowance on their debit card.

My kids are 21, 15 and 14 and my house is still a hot mess. Oh well! We are always on adventures or spending time together. I might clean it, when they all move out, who knows. I have recently started using the Tody app that really helps with little cleaning tasks each day (depending on the complexity of the task). This is definitely helping me keep the chaos at bay. Like today, I might tidy the living room (just taking dishes to the kitchen or picking up things left laying around), wipe the kitchen counters and vacuum the office. That’s it!

I have a seven and six year old. And they are my Tasmanian Devil’s! I finally decided to take them up on their idea of “mom bucks.” They need to clean up their messes. They get to help me with tasks around the house. Especially because with the teachers on strike this month, they’ve been home all day everyday. So they’ve been helping me with the dishwasher, washing and drying dishes. I have them clean up their shoes and put them in their cubby. Easy tasks typically to set them in the right place for learning the harder stuff like dishes. But I just got burnt out of cleaning and turning around and there was a mess again. Having them take accountability like that is helping them to not be AS BAD. But they ARE still kids. So the bar is VERY low. My house is VERY messy by what you see on TV. I have stacks of things on the table. Clumps of clutter on the corner that get pushed that way by everyone. My dining room table doesn’t always get cleaned. But I had a therapist once that told me. I can have a clean house and never spend time with my kids. And my kids can remember the clean house. Or, I can spend time with my kids, and they won’t remember just how messy or dirty the house was on any given day. They’ll just remember the time they got to spend with mom. She said it was about prioritizing the time. So I try to do that and not get so focused on my house. My mother-in-law feels we are slobs for this. But you know what? I love having fun with the boys. And when they’re neurodiverse like dad and I. It’s NOT going to be a clean house. It’s just not. So sometimes you have to accept what is outside of your control. But just do the best that you can. You have a toddler. Just keep it safe. That’s the most important thing. Everything else isn’t going to matter to anyone but yourself. And, I mean, I will often clean when they’re asleep. If that helps. Or now that they’re in school, when they’re at school. You can make games out of cleaning with the little one. Shoot the toys into the homes. With LOTS of praises for the good job they did. And a treasure hunt finding the pieces needed for the toys needed to be put away. And then with adult tasks, asks them to put things away with you. Carry something with you. Or after you’ve wiped down with counter with the surface spray, have them give it a touch up because it wouldn’t have anything on it that could harm them. Or if you use the natural, then it’s not so much an issue. But include where you can. And always, it’s a learning curve. So you’ll change it a million times. So have grace for yourself and your toddler. It’s not easy.

Change your definition of “clean”. There’s kid messy and there’s DIRTY. Teach your toddler to help clean up before lunch. And again before dinner. Make it a routine. Less of a mess at the end of the night!!

Just do your best and don't let it get you down. Even neurotypical people struggle with this

You don't lol. My son is 8 and my house is just now where I want it to be

I don’t have any advice but I have a 10 month old and I feel pretty useless. I can’t juggle anything else when I’m with her.