Yep, that's a good description. And unless you're paying someone to come clean and straighten up (cleaning, organizing, and ongoing maintenance are all different concerns!), there is a large amount of time that you need to trade off in order to do that yourself. Your kids will only be kids for so long, so fuck the constant organizing routine and spend your time with them. Be reactive and just clean up when you need to, and shove things into a closet when people come over or whatever. My kid is almost 11 now, and the worst realization is that I'm way past the half way mark in the time that I have with them at home as my kid. I'll have plenty of time to put my shit away when I'm missing them while they're away at college and then building their own life.

My spouse is a professional organizer. It's a cool field, with a mix of helping people maintain a high end appearance, and also helping others who are literally trying to dig their lives out from the living room. Our home doesn't look like a completed job, though. There will (hopefully) be time for that later.