It's been a few days since I've had anything interesting to say. So I'll tell you my thoughts today.
I actually enjoy cleaning and straightening my house. But I've been frustrated the last couple days not by the act of cleaning, but by the fact that I have to start over from scratch every morning and I need more time!! If I could pick up where I left off yesterday I might actually be able to get my WHOLE house cleaned for once. But NOOOO, I have to start over from chore one. I have my pecking order of cleanliness. The main living areas are at the top of the list-kitchen, living room, guest bath, floors... I move down the list from there to- laundry, study, kids bathroom etc... Well the rest doesn't matter because I never get to it! Ever! Yesterday I decided to scour my master bath. Everything is a trade off. If I clean my bath, I don't have time to clean A, B, and C. So as a result, by the end of the day my main living areas looked like a bomb went off! And today I started not only from scratch, but in the hole!
I thought of taking pictures of the mess to post and show off. It was everywhere I turned this morning. But if I would have stopped what I was doing, and used time to take pictures, I would be that much further behind on my CHORES. So no picture FO YOU.
As we speak, I am sitting in my study just typing away, with papers, scraps, art projects, and markers all over the place. I'm thinking to myself, why clean this up, it will just look the same tomorrow night. And I'd have to empty the overstuffed garbage can first anyway!
Do I have to do everything around here?
Question?- How often do you have your entire house clean, and how long does it last? What's the secret?
5 comments:
I was just about to sit down and type a similar post and I'll still do it but I've got to get the kids from preschool.
This is my biggest frustration in life. I think it's part of the price for having little kids. I'm trying harder to train my kids to pick up after themselves and it so depends on their personality. Emma and Lily are both totally organized so I depend on them a lot.
I'm like you. I focus on the main floor and then close the rest of the doors. I don't think the house is ever clean at one time. There's always something piling up somewhere. That's why I keep trying to get rid of stuff thinking the less we have the easier it is to keep clean and it's really helping.
You're right about paying the price. When I cleaned out all our clothes on Wednesday Lily, Jack and Anna were creating new messes everywhere else in the house. I had one clean storage area and the rest of the house was torn apart.
I'm glad you wrote about this. It's good to know someone else is having the same domestic challenges.
Answer:
NEVER! Well, maybe one time with a cleaning lady when she was still trying to impress me.
I was joking with a friend the other day about how we play as little girls, fake ironing, fake grocery shopping, fake cooking. But I can't remember fake cleaning. And it consumes our days!
I like clean bathrooms, so if I'm "cleaning" I always focus on that and the kitchen. Then I vacuum. It's the picking up and putting away (laundry, toys, paper, things I've never unpacked) that make my house look dirty.
When you get a better answer, let me know!
How alike our lives are!!!! I feel so frustrated too! I usually try to keep just the upstairs clean (where other people might see) but downstairs is always a crazy obstacle course. And of course my bedroom and bathroom always are the last to get attention.
I'd like to know the secret too!!!!!! I feel like the only way to get it all done is to work through the night, get no sleep and then be completely exhausted the next day - which makes it worse because then the kids know they can get away with more!!!!!
I just wish kids came with an off button and a clean-it-up-yourself- button!!!!!!
Instead of housework we all need to get together for brunch or something - get out of the house so we don't see it and think about it!!!!
Even with a small little "dollhouse" sized house like mine it is still impossible!! It makes me crazy! My first stop is the kitchen since the front door opens into the kitchen...what were we thinking buying a house like that!! Then I move onto the living room and then all floors...then the bathroom. The basement and our bedroom are the worst...I rarely get to them.
It does help that both Reilly and Kameron do chores. Reilly can be a big help when she wants too.
I love Lucy's comment that as kids we never played "pretend cleaning"...so so so true. I always had LOTS of chores as a kid and never wanted to do anymore pretend or otherwise.
When I'm not pregnant, I manage it okay. When I'm pregnant, like right now, not so much.
(I'm Angi's friend from KC, by the way.)
Anyway, I live in a smaller house with three active, young, homeschooled boys, but the most important thing for me is the kitchen. I learned when I was pregnant with my third that the kitchen HAD to be clean every night before I went to bed, or the next day would be impossible. Also, my mom gave me an interesting piece of advice that works great when I follow it. She recommended taking 15 minutes at night to put everything away because what takes you 15 minutes at night can, and often does, take 3 hours the next morning, or simply doesn't happen. So true. When I follow her advice, the house stays clean. When I don't, things often pile up until my temper reaches the breaking point. Moms give great advice. :)
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