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

[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?

[Cloud]

oh, more so. more so!

[Trilby]

I do the dishes every morning, make my bed, straighten up.


real cleaning? Only when I can't stand it anymore. When it plays on my nerves. THEN i get down with comet, scrubbies and bleach.

Life's too short and all that. However, if I had the money, I'd have a cleaner in once a DAY. I've three kitties and a doggie and an 18 year old who thinks putting the paper on the roll is "bourgeois"- which drives me insane.

[Cloud]

I'm a big slob. I'm better than I used to be, but a lot depends on my mental health at the time. I can step over a piece of trash on the floor for months.

[SteveDallas]

Originally Posted by Brianna

"bourgeois"

As opposed to . .. what?

[Pie]

I was a slob. Then I hired a cleaning service. Now my house is cleaned once a week by a nice young lady putting herself through school.

[Glinda]

I used to keep my apartment(s) very neat and clean. Always kept the floors washed and the furniture dusted. Bathroom cleaned and sheets changed every week. I was just one person and none of it ever took much time.

Then I moved to a three bedroom house. Out in the woods, in the mud and the crud and the sludge.

Oh, the place is still neat and orderly... I keep the bathrooms clean, the kitchen properly put away, and I vacuum regularly. But I hardly ever dust anymore, and the kitchen floor gets a really good washing only two or three times a year.

Mostly, if given a choice between housework and a nap, I'll take the nap every time.

[monster]

An entire family of slobs here. The house is just somewhere to keep stuff and sleep. but I'm working on getting better. On Thanksgiving I cleaned out "that corner" in the kitchen. I found receipts from 2001 among other things.....

Today, I toothbrushed some of the ledges on the cabinet doors in the kitchen. rest of the house is totally awful though. Can't see the floor in most places. or any other surfaces. basement is full, so is garage although that might change tonight because it's due to get seriously cold. In which case the front room will be full again. but that's fine as it's mostly one giant mud room with computer corners.....

Housework just isn't fun.

[limey]

We have a beloved "fairy" (aka "a woman that does") who comes once a week. I her! It's frightfully bourgeios (oh fnck how DO you spell that?) especially considering our household income is around GBP18,000/year (if that!) but we just do not love housework.

[Tulip]

I used to think I was neat and clean often til I read y'all calling it not so clean with the amount I clean mine. :p I have a 5 yr. old practically living here (we babysit our nephew, hihi), a sister who believes cleaning is my job because she cooks, and a mother who is cashing in her "piety" filial chips (if there are a few dishes in the sink, the kitchen is a mess). I believe my home is clean enough but not as clean as I want it to be (unless someone can give me some uppers -- I read that ADD meds work wonders -- so I can constantly move!).

[BrianR]

We have a maid in once a week and spot clean in the meantime.

I let dishes pile up and such but trash goes out as needed. Floors get mopped by the maid. Puppy pee gets mopped up my us right away.

[Cicero]

My room is a disaster! I try to keep my filth from invading the other areas of the house. I spot clean everything else unless I am having a major cleaning day. I have definitely slackened in this area. ((((shame)))) (((guilt)))

[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.

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by SteveDallas

As opposed to . .. what?

Good question. "cool"ness factor doesn't include TP on the roll? MUST it be on the windowsill or ledge of vanity?? I'll ask him.