How important is a Clean House to you?

[RCT]

I spent yesterday mopping and waxing the kitchen floor, then bathing the dog, and then I cleaned the dishes and counters....out to the yard where I proceeded to Mow my yard, took me three hours but I got it all done.....by dinner time, my floor was filthy, the dog had dug a new hole in the yard, and his muddy paws meet my kitchen floor, dd dumped her sandy shoes on the floor also, and I just started to cry....how important is this to everyone...I give up, not that I am not going to clean...wishful thinking on my part, but I am letting go of the clean house thing....its never going to stay clean.......guess I am part venting here.....just tired of spending so much energy and time on something only to have it messed up again in an hour or so....

[kacee]

Well let's say that I haven't mopped my floor in 2 weeks. I sweep up mostly everyday (and have gotten spray and towels out for little spills). My house is not perfect, but it is always neat. I am not embarrassed to have a surprise stop over from a friend. I just don't have a regular cleaning schedule. I know cleaning will be easier if I had a schedule though. I just do it when I can and don't really sweat it.


OK now please don't think I am a slob. My house is dusty, but not too bad. My beds are made everyday (Well, dd's usually gets done after school)!! Opps! I am getting into more trouble here.LOLOL

[AnnW]

The only thing I do daily is clean the kitchen, and make my bed. The kids make theirs. They are old enough that there junk stays in their rooms so the living areas look nice. I vacumn about every 2 days or so. If there is a major spill or something I clean it up. My housekeeper does all the dusting and mopping once a week.

[Amy2]

I need order, but I am not a fanatic. I can pretty much "Whie Tornado" (showing my age here with the reference) my whole house in a couple of hours. But I am of the firm belief that "living" is the most important thing, you know? The dishes can get done later if I'm doing something fun or important with the kids. I usually tidy up while DS is in school, and DD is down for her nap. Change the sheets far too rarely!

My big thing is laundry. Man, I feel like I am CONSTANTLY doing laundry. Drives me nuts. What with diapers, son's jeans, towels...it's endless. Literally. Like the clean floor; you do all this nice work, and it's dirty again in less than five minutes. Sigh....

Amy

[KathyT]

.....for cleanliness and order, but I no longer obsess over it. Unfortunately the previous owners put down a beautiful WHITE kitchen floor in our very large kitchen, so between that and a 90 lb dog and spring and mud and all that comes along with it, I wash it almost every night. I also make sure my bathrooms are always clean. I wipe the main one down every morning with a clorox wipe (used to use diaper wipes, lol) and the living room and dining room are always neat and tidy.

I know how frustrating it can be Renee, just wait til he starts to shed, lol!

Good luck!

[Amy]

I have given up on ever maintaining an immaculate house. Its IMPOSSIBLE to do with two small kids and two pets. My dh is the most resistant to this idea. He is like you and likes the house to stay very clean. Its just unrealistic right now and agree to just enjoy life instead. :) If you were to die tomorrow, what would your fondest memories be? A clean house or having fun. Just a little perspective that I plan on passing along to dh too. LOL

[KarlaB]

After *having* to keep my house clean for showings the last week and a half I am ready to just let it all go! LOL! Actually I feel really good when I look around and see it so clean but I really don't know how long I can keep this up! :lol: My big thing is at the end of the day I like all of the toys picked up, kitchen clean, laundry put away, etc so I can start the next day fresh - otherwise it just seems to get out of control. I do NOT like washing the kitchen floor and just recently bought that new spray - "Spray and Mop"? or something like that for quick washes. It is hard to keep up with two little ones, but I try to pick up a little bit here and there as we go through the day.

btw - LOVE your perspective Amy/CO

[Diane]

Having a pretty clean house has to be important to me because of what I do for a living. If the parents of the children I take care of were to walk into a messy/dirty house... I wouldn't HAVE any kids. They are all pretty picky/particular about certain things... and that is definitely one of them. What helps though is the fact that my own children are older and therefore usually are pretty good about helping/picking up after themselves. I might vacuume the living room once or twice a day and I scrub my kitchen floor at least twice a day (once after lunch and once before I go to bed) and also the linoleum in the toy room every night before I go to bed. I also wash all the walls going down my hall to the toyroom... handrails, and walls IN the toyroom. Dh has taken over laundry duty again... as I got sick and tired of trying to keep up with it. He does it just as good as I do... if not better. He also helps clear the table after supper and helps with the dishes. I get lazy every once in a while and will use paper plates... etc. Why do dishes if we don't have to??? My house is far from perfect but I would/am never embarrassed when somebody just stops in for a visit. LOL

Diane... :wave:

[MaryL]

Hi everyone....It's me posting during the DAY! My youngest ds is home with pink eye...yuck! Anyway, we tease that we have a two story home so that the upstairs is "private space", and can be a little messy. The downstairs is usually "tidy"....and "guest friendly". Our mornings are too crazy...and the beds don't get made (but they do in the Summer when we are home all day). I always tidy up the kitchen at night...and the toys are in the right places. We have toys in our living room....because I like to have the boys playing where I can see them. I know that as they get older they will have less and less toys (at least the kinds that they use sooooo much ....like legos, rescue heros, etc) so I don't mind having them in our living space. Anyone who walks into my home knows right away that kids live here, and that's the way we like it! I can have my "glamorous" home once they grow up!!! LOL My boys don't really "play" in their bedrooms....do yours????? I find the same thing with playing in the basement (set up like a playroom). They like to be near us. I take it as a compliment.

[RCT]

between the shedding dog and the childrens toys the house always has clutter...but I too am not embarrassed about surprise drop ins, I just get so frustrated at cleaning and then having it all destroyed before the end of the darn day....LOL

[KarlaB]

ITA Mary. Our dks don't have a lot of toys in their rooms and what they do have usually gets dragged out to where we are. We also have an L-shaped family room downstairs and one section of that is our toy room! :) I like that the dks are able to play and be around us.

[RCT]

LOL I hear you on the kids wanting to be around dh and I, we say our house is decorated by hotwheels and barbie, so matel gets the credit here....LOL

[KarlaB]

Originally posted by RCT
LOL I hear you on the kids wanting to be around dh and I, we say our house is decorated by hotwheels and barbie, so matel gets the credit here....LOL

LOL!! We have so many toys down here that I have often been asked if I do daycare! Some day will be my turn to decorate with something other than Little Tykes, Fisher Price, etc! :lol:

[darlene]

I probably shouldn't even be posting in such a negative mood but.....I have decided that I am quitting housecleaning! With 5 of us living here and me doing the only bit to keep it clean and now working a full time job.....I QUIT!!!!!!!

Don't care how it looks or how dirty it will become either!

Boooooo Hissssss on my family right now!

[RCT]

I said the same thing at dinner tonight, I cooked and made homemade taco's and no one was hungry dh won't eat meat, so he had special bean and rice taco's I ended up eating most of the meal then felt sick, and was ticked off that no one even cared if I made pb&j which I threatend that I would start doing asap....I am also considering not cleaning anymore too....lets see how long it takes for dh or one of the kids to ask about those dishes, and clean clothes...LOL.... :lol: can you imagine....

[Ryleigh]

I wouldn't say my house is immaculate but try to keep it reasonable neat and tidy. The kids are a big help too. They both have their daily/weekly chores that they do. (make their beds, clothes picked up, toys put away). dd has recently discovered the excitement of vaccuuming and want to do it, bless her heart. I hate vaccuuming. She also helps with the supper dishes without complaint as long as she gets to wash. Ds has become the official car washer, another job I hate. He needs a little help to reach some spots but does a great job on the lower ones. He wants to mow the lawn but we're not letting near that one.
dh is a big help too. He's always buse building or fixing something.

I expect my dds to do a big part of the housework (and cooking, of course!) I am the dish queen around here. Crumbs on the counter drive me crazy, but a pile of clean laundry in the living room doesn't affect me much at all. I was alot pickier when they were little, but my mother reminded me that housework will always wait. Let's just say I'm testing her theory...yeah-that's it. LOL

I forgot to add that if I ever had someone drop in for a visit, I'd have heart failure. At the visit not at the condition of my house. If I know someone is coming, we do make a serious effort to not gross them out.

[Leigh]

I try to keep my house as tidy as I can, but sometimes after working all day long, the last thing I want to do is come in and clean house. I try to use Saturday to do the major cleaning and then Sunday to relax, but if something comes on Sat. then I tidy and it last til next Sat. I try not to stress about it too much.