buried in the mess

Anyone else out there with kids feel like it's (darn near) an impossible feat to stay on top of the mess in your house?  Ken made a great analogy - he said we just need to think of our home, like a restaurant business... when you work in that industry, you just get used to constant messes, cleaning them up, and repeating the process - not really expecting it to be nice & tidy throughout the day until the end of the night when things close.  Somehow that seems like it'd be an easier environment to "work" in when you know it's the norm - and yet somehow, I'm (perhaps disillusioned?) to think there could be more order & minimal mess, and laundry that isn't forever behind.  If you've found a system that seems to work well with young kids at home, please, help a girl out!  I'm all ears... :)