I didn't know how to do laundry either. I thought it was okay to soaks whites in clorox for a day. Hey the longer you soak them, the whiter they become, right? When I got back to the washer at the end of the day I was expecting to turn it on and I would have bright whites. Instead all the white clothes had turned to mush! Oh, you have to add water! Don't soak in pure Clorox and don't soak for an entire day............
My worst was the cooking when we first got married. You could have hung wallpaper with that gravy if you strained out the chunks first.....:shock: No one taught me anything to do with house work or cooking. My grandma was one of those who do everything themself and dont really show you how to do anything. I didnt know how to do anything, my poor husband, I dont think he knew what he was getting into. I am just now getting to where I can follow one of her recipes. You know, a pinch of this and a dash of that, nothing written down, all handed down by word of mouth and you have to make sense of it. I will say that I have now gotten to where I actually improved on one of her recipes (just dont tell her I said so lol).
I was ticked off, and I will appoligize for my harshness as well, and my attitude. This house cleaning stuff really gets on my nerves. Not all people are neat freaks who are good at cleaning, or who have the neat bug that urges them to clean. My bug urges me to play with the kids and let the dishes go, or to do anything but clean. I think the OP was looking for support that she isn't abnormal, but instead that there are others like her ( which I am) A few post, made me feel like I didn't love my husband or do my job if I didn't keep the house clean, almost to the point that I was lazy. Which isn't true. But I still hate cleaning the house. My husband works his tail off for us, right now he is at a job that he hates, so he is actively looking for another job ( he will change in Jan) until we can rely on the business. i do not get that chance or oportunity. I am a mom, my job includes housework. I do not get a choice about that. So it really isn't like another job, I would never never in my life get a job as a maid, I would be terrible at it. I also am not an organized person, and I work on that everyday, I have improved greatly since I was married. But still it doesn't just come naturally I have to work on it everyday. I have to make a decision to be organized in the few places where I am. So to those who hate housework, I am with you. For those who don't hate it, I admire you, but really don't wish to be like you ( I mean something has to be wrong with anybody who likes to clean right? ) LOL Peace?
You know as a side note, I love cooking, and am a pretty good cook. I keep my kitchen pantry and fridge organized. My dh will go stand in there and just stare at the pantry, then ask " how can one person be like a tornado in the rest of the house yet the food in the pantry is neatly organized and rotated? " It confuses him to no end. but that is one point where I really really try to make it work, mainly because it helps me stay in my budget grocery shopping.
I wouldn't rate myself as a neat freak! I just enjoy my house clean and tidy which I was able to accomplish that and take care of my kids. It doesn't mean that I chose cleaning my house over caring for my children. I have been with my kids 24/7 for the past 19 years and managed to homeschool them the entire time, care for them and keep a tidy house. That is just what I wanted to do, doesn't mean that others have to do the same, that is none of my business how others care for their house. I don't think any of the posters who keep a tidy house were saying anything derogatory about anyone, they were just talking about their own experience in a non-confrontational manner. I never used to be organized but through life I have found that by being organized I have less chaos and it is easier for me to deal with.
I don't think Aggie was implying that women who keep their house very clean aren't taking care of their kids. I think she was just making the point that she hates to clean (I'm with you girl) and would rather do anything else! We all have that thing that we hate to do that we have to absolutely drag ourselves into doing. Whether it is cooking, cleaning, writing thank you notes, carpooling, grocery shopping, or laundry, ect. One of my favorite quotes is "The joy of motherhood comes in moments." My joy comes in moments where my house is clean, but not the moments when I'm cleaning it. Maybe we should move back to OP and try to give some suggestions on ways to improve our houses. Posting can be such a bad venue for conversations like this.
Wow. I don't know what to say now! This thread has taken on a life of it's own LOL I'm sorry it took so long for me to get back to it, some days I find I don't have time to sit at the computer at all. I just want to say that I haven't taken offense to anything said, and I really appreciate everyone being so candid in their responses. Thanks so much for all the great advice and insight from those who find it easy to keep up with housework, and from those (like me) who struggle with it. I've gotten some really great tips and ideas. And it gives me hope that maybe I'll be able to get to a point where I can keep on top of things... maybe LOL
I learned that cleaning as you go along is less work and less overwhelming. It's funny because you can look at a cleaning project, feel overwhelmed because you haven't a clue where to begin and then when you finish you think, wow that didn't take as long as I had thought. I needed to organize my card making desk. It seemed a bit much to do but actually it only took five minutes to straighten things up. The dishes always go in the dishwasher as soon as they are used. I don't allow anyone to drop their stuff where ever they want it so the entire house is a dumping ground. I would do the major stuff when my boys were napping and pick up here and there as I went through the day. kwim? I LOVE doing laundry but I'd rather eat a bug than to match socks. I do it anyway, but I do not enjoy it at all. I feel everyone has given you some great tips and experiences that can make you feel as though you are not alone.
I am sorry I didn't mean to imply that you didnt' take care of your kids, I ment like somebody else said that I will just not clean and play with the kids instead. I will find any reason not to clean, and the kids are a great reason. And they always want more attention. I laughed at this so much, because I hate laundry with a passion, I really really hate it. It is never done, i am ok with a job that can be finished but Laundry never is. I feel like is is a monster that is going to eat me somedays. i do try to keep up with it, like two or 3 loads in a day a couple days a week. But the socks Oh the socks. They are the only thing I use the dryer for and they live in there. If they get out of the dryer before somebody wears them, it is because dh put them up!!! Which is never. I also hardly ever wear them, I don't wear shoes at home, and when I go to town I usally don't need socks. So my dh tells me when I need to run the sock drawer,..aka wash and dry some socks the dryer is empty. LOL. While he was on his trip I was nice and matched a whole load of socks and put them up. I thought he was going to pass out the next morning when he went to look for his socks and the dryer was empty. He was going to say something about all the socks being dirty, when I told him to check out his drawer. The look on his face was priceless. It was so funny. One time we had a "discussion' about the socks being left in the drier. Dh told me " it only takes a few minutes I think you should have time to do that one thing" I told him the same thing, and that he could take a "few mintues" and do it himself. He did exactly 1 load since then they have stayed in the dryer, without much complaint. For me it isn't that I am overwhelmed by the amount of work it takes to clean, i mean work doesn't bother me. But it is mearly that I hate doing it so much. I would rather change a million dirty diapers then sweep and mop. I am sure I have some kind of repressed hatered due to my mothers child rearing ablilities or lack there of. She is a mini tornado leaving a trail where ever she goes and always expected me and my sister to keep the house spotless, without her help. I love yard work, and HS those task I have no problem with and they are much more difficult. Now the bookkeeping, is about middle line. I hate to deal with other people like the IRS but the numbers and forms etc I rather like.
oh laundry. My arch nemesis LOL I don't mind the putting in the washer and transferring to the dryer or hanging stuff on the line. It's the putting away that gets me. Right now I only have one small hamper of dirty clothes in the entire house... but mountains of (some folded/some not) clean laundry covering every available surface in my bedroom. I've been seriously purging out seldom-worn clothes the last week or so, trying to keep the amount of clothes we have to a minimum. Seriously, who needs 14 pairs of jeans (dh, apparently) or a gazillion tshirts? Ugh.
No problem, I wasn't upset at all, just wanted to clarify that I didn't neglect my kids to have a clean house. :love: After we got rid of all the carpet in the house is when the house seemed not as overwhelming to keep clean. The carpet adds a lot of unnecessary dust in the house. My dh always tries to do things without being asked just to be helpful. When he puts the dishes away on occasion from the dish washer it is a scavenger hunt trying to find where he put them. :lol: Dh and boys will do stuff that I am not able to do like clean the showers, the chemicals are quite hard on my asthma. It's never been easy keeping the house looking spiffy and it was difficult when the boys were little but I always seemed to manage. My mom didn't teach me how to cook or clean, I figured it out on my own. Like, you don't use dish soap in the shampooer to shampoo carpets. My thing, I just like to keep up with stuff so it doesn't build up. When my kids got older I felt they could pick up after themselves. If they left a dish in the sink, on the counter or just laying around, they would find it in their bed. The dishwasher is inches away from the sink and there is no reason why they could not put it in the dishwasher. Try falling asleep laying on a dinner plate. :lol: Problem solved! Also, if they leave junk in the vehicles they will find it in their bed (my oldest) or my youngest will find it in one of his vehicles, that problem solved!
LOL I prefer to put the laundry away because if I don't, the clothes that I just washed, dried, folded and put away will mysteriously make their way BACK to the dirty clothes hamper. I prefer to do the folding too, my dh and oldest have a strange way of folding clothes and oldest does not care about wrinkles. Youngest is like me, everything has to be hung on hangers.
My son does this! ARGH! I've often discovered items I knew I had just washed, but didn't see him wear, back in the laundry the next time!
I hate bookkeeping or anything having to do with handling money. Hate it! So I don't do it. My husband does that all thank the Lord. Thinking numbers makes my head hurt and then shut down. So today is my big cleaning day. We leave Saturday for vacation and I want the house spotless before we leave so that when I get home I don't have to do anything but laundry from the trip. So far today this is what we have done. I have cleaned both bathrooms tops to bottom including the mirrors, shower, garden tub, regular shower in the kids bath, three sinks and two toilets. I also swept the floors in both bathrooms, laundry room and front entry. I dusted all the living room and office furniture. Samantha has dusted her room, Grace's room and my room, including dressers, desks, tvs and windowsills. She cleaned the mirrors in all the bedrooms and the windows in the office, kitchen and sliding glass door. We have stipped the beds and are washing all the sheets and comforters now. We are taking a lunch break now and when we are done I will sweep the kitchen floor, mop the kitchen, both baths, laundry and entry, & vaccuum the living area and all bedrooms. Then Sam and I will put all the bedding back on, start a load of towels and a load of dishes. That should do it. Our whole house should be totally clean. Tomorrow I will do all our laundry which is about 4 loads so everything will be clean and we can pack. I hate coming home to a dirty house so I always deep clean before a trip. Makes coming home so much nicer.
Sure Kris fire up that jet and pick me up! After I clean your house you can come to the Smokies with me!
We put down all tile floors, and we still have a wrecK! Where we live, on a pretty busy dirt road, there will always be dust. Especially since we leave the windows open alot of the year. I would have to dust 3 times a day to make a dent in dusting. My kids love their sand box, and the gravel pile, so there will always be sand and gravel in the house as well at least until they grow up. They always get it in their pockets, or shoes or hair etc. The dogs are terrible about bringing in sand and dirt from rolling in it outside. I try to sweep the main rooms once a day but wow it is still a mess with all that stuff. I hear Ya Girl!!! My dh has like 14 pairs of jeans and a million tshirts as well. I have a ton of clothes as well because I keep changing clothes sizes from prego to post preggo to normal then back again. I keep saying I can give away a bunch of this stuff when I am not pregnant any more, then I get pregnant again. I mean I have gone from a size 6 to a size extra pregoo then back again twice now, working on 3. LOL. One time I took 5 trash sacks of clothes out of my room to the shelter to donate them, and I could do it again and still have extra clothes left over. You know what is even crazier, I have only bought underware and socks for dh and me since we were married, 7 years. Other people have been so kind and given us clothes that I haven't had too. Well I did go buy dh like 4 tshirts when he started to run out of shirts to wear to work. The kids clothes I have pretty much pared down. I love my ds's clothes. He has very little in his drawers, but it is easy to find stuff, put them away and organize. The problem with them too is that people give us so much, and I can't give them away since I am handing them down, and back to my sisters 3 kids, who give them back to us as well. It is just crazyness in our shed with totes of kids clothes they range from newborn to size 6. boys and girls I would love to give it all away, but that would not be a wise thing to do right now. Not to mention not very nice to my sister. I for sure think less is better with the whole clothing, laundry thing. I am finally getting it into my dh's head that he doesn't have to come home and change into a new set of clothes each day. He can change into the ones he wore for 2 hours yesterday. That has helped a ton, he was wearing two pairs of jeans, tshirts, and socks a day. OUCH! Oh well life goes on, and so does the laundry right. i think at some point it will at least slow down. I use cloth diapers so in a few months those will start again as well. I am off to battle the laundry monster, well most likely I will put that off, and instead empty the dishwasher and start on dinner.
I have two days a week that I do laundry. Saturday and Wednesday. That schedule works well for us because it ensures that my husband has clean clothes for work at all times. During the summer he sometimes wears two - four shirts a day because he works outside and sweats through them. My schedule is off this week because of our vacation. With the schedule I do it never piles up.
Don't throw tomatoes, I find folding laundry relaxing. All but of course the socks, I'd rather eat a bug than match up socks.
