And... How clean do you keep your house?

[Nirvana]

I have a dog with 10 puppies in a kiddie swimming pool, in the middle of my living room. . . nuff said

[Juniper]

This is a major sore spot for me.

OK, here's the thing. I grew up in a messy house, with two working parents, and at its worst it could have been on that TV show "hoarders." At its worst, you'd have to clear a spot to sit down and watch TV. So I didn't really learn to do things properly from my parents.

Upon moving in with my hubby, though, I was suddenly inspired to tidiness -- well, at least more than before. And with practice I got better. He helped. Of course it also helped that we didn't have much, we lived in fairly small places.

When I quit my job in 1998 to take care of the little ones, I thought a woman who was home all the time had to do it all -- how DARE I not keep the place spotless if I wasn't earning an income? Of course that meant I was always struggling and never living up to expectations -- my own expectations, that is.

I did pretty good till we moved here, and I've just never really managed to organize this place. Don't know why. There are boxes we haven't unpacked - nice things, useful things, we haven't decorated properly, things are in places they don't belong, we have all kinds of crap to get rid of.

And then my mom died and now I have her crap, too. I am buried under a fucking LANDSLIDE of crap. I try to haul it out and get rid of stuff - I am sentimental but not "hoarder" sentimental - I just find that it takes a huge effort to box or bag it up and take it elsewhere. Especially when nobody helps. Especially when my husband looks at the stuff and says "oh, you're not getting rid of this, are you? It's a perfectly good [ ].

And because they are used to me being home and doing the work, nobody ever cleans a damn thing. They leave cans and wrappers and never pick up cat vomit and never scoop the boxes and think nothing of letting the dogs run around with muddy paws and fur all over the place and nobody ever sweeps or dusts or

I am losing my mind, I swear.

I am on a mission, during winter break from school, to organize and get rid of stuff. I swear we could get rid of half of our total belongings and not be put out in the least.

Sorry y'all. I was gearing up to bitch about this anyway, this thread just provided a handy vehicle.

Actually my house isn't that bad. I might even let you in, if you give me a day to clean it up first.

[Juniper]

According to Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson you are supposed to air your bed for a while before making it. She says to drape the covers over a chair while you shower and brush your teeth in the morning. That way the humidity you exude while snoozing can dry out and your bed won't grow mold.

Yes, I read books to find out just how bad I am at this homemaking thing.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Oh great, now you want me to shower and brush my teeth, too.

[SamIam]

Its such a dry climate where I live that a mold would be completely desiccated in about 5 seconds.

And Bruce, ALL housework is like that. I wash dishes just to use them over again and get them dirty. I sweep up the dirt from a plant knocked over by my kitten only to have her tip over another plant before I even put the broom and dustpan away.

That's why I hate housework. Its like that guy who had to keep pushing a huge rock up the hill. What was his name? Something like Sissiepuss?

[Radar]

Originally Posted by SamIam

I live alone, so have only myself to please. I'll admit right up front that housework is not a priority for me. I'll let my dishes pile up for 2 or 3 days before I wash them. I do make my bed everyday and try to keep my living room free of clutter. Right now, I'm working myself up to do a thorough vacuming of my apartment. Is anyone else as laissez faire as me?

I would be, but my wife keeps our house so clean it's been referred to as "sterile", "hospital like", and "cold". She literally can't sleep if she knows there is a dirty dish in the sink. We recently had a HUGE fight because she walked in the door and saw 2 or 3 crumbs on the floor because I carried a pizza box from the living room to the kitchen and didn't see them drop.

[Queen of the Ryche]

Originally Posted by Radar

We recently had a HUGE fight because she walked in the door and saw 2 or 3 crumbs on the floor because I carried a pizza box from the living room to the kitchen and didn't see them drop.

She let you eat pizza in the living room?!? Is she crazy?!?

Yes, I am OCD when it comes to my home. Not to the point of being sterile or cold, but enough that I'm not tripping over shoes, or writing in the dust. Luckily PotR likes it clean too, so she does her share.

[Glinda]

Jeezly crow! How can all you people afford to have housekeepers?!?


*wishes she could afford a housekeeper*

[limey]

Originally Posted by Glinda

Jeezly crow! How can all you people afford to have housekeepers?!?


*wishes she could afford a housekeeper*

It's a matter of choosing your priorities. For us, our fairy is an essential. But if you want more detail ... our annual income for two people is around $24,000 (and that's not each!). I think what makes it workable is that the house is debt-free (). Beyond that we have the most basic TV package, we don't spend much on phone bills, we never buy new furniture, we spend perhaps $1,500/year on holidays, mostly buy clothes in thrift shops so spend perhaps $500/year on clothes ... I think those are probably the areas where we differ most from other people. On the other hand, a disproportionately large amount of the household income is spent on music, one way or another ...

[glatt]

Originally Posted by limey

It's a matter of choosing your priorities. For us, our fairy is an essential. But if you want more detail ... our annual income for two people is around $24,000 (and that's not each!). I think what makes it workable is that the house is debt-free (). Beyond that we have the most basic TV package, we don't spend much on phone bills, we never buy new furniture, we spend perhaps $1,500/year on holidays, mostly buy clothes in thrift shops so spend perhaps $500/year on clothes ... I think those are probably the areas where we differ most from other people. On the other hand, a disproportionately large amount of the household income is spent on music, one way or another ...

And you probably don't pay for health insurance.

[Radar]

Originally Posted by Queen of the Ryche

She let you eat pizza in the living room?!? Is she crazy?!?

Yes, I am OCD when it comes to my home. Not to the point of being sterile or cold, but enough that I'm not tripping over shoes, or writing in the dust. Luckily PotR likes it clean too, so she does her share.

She wasn't home when I ate it. It was leftover pizza from the night before.

[lookout123]

Dishes are done and put away after dinner, beds made in the morning, toys and the like should at least be picked up if not actually put away every night. The roomba is run daily. The cleaning ladies come every 3 weeks to really do it right.

[Pie]

1. Housekeeper makes less than my hourly wage.
2. I'd rather work at my day job than clean my house
3. Work a little extra, pay for her to clean my house.
4. Housekeeper sends herself to college, becomes a brain surgeon.
5. Profit!

[lumberjim]

i care about tidy. jinx cares about clean. the damn weiner kids dont care about anything. pigdogs is right.

[Juniper]

When I went back to college, I got a quote from a maid service. Granted, it was one of the famous "name brand" maid services, and a private contractor would have been cheaper. But there was no way in Hades I could have afforded that even once a week. And to be honest, in order to be effective in this place, we'd need it more than once a week.

In fact, I think when she toured my house she gave a super-high rate just to scare me off, because my house scared her off.

It scares me, too.