Housework

IBackBevo

How are you coping with it? I find that after only 20-30 minutes my back starts hurting and I have to rest. Especially if I am doing a lot of bending or have to get up and down off the floor. I have a housekeeper occasionally, but I still have a lot of work in between.

Clearly, if you are doing an hour of cross fit everyday, this post probably doesn't apply to you. But for the rest of us mortals...

getitdone

I am right there with you! Cleaning has definitely become a serious chore and I love to clean. Pretty much I tackle what I can until I get tired and then I stop. My house is not as clean as it normally is but I am having a hard time caring when my couch is calling me to come lay down

Bootsie327

I definitely can't do as much as I used to, and I have to take breaks. DH also doesn't like me using harsh cleaning products (he does that stuff like the bathrooms), so I usually am doing things like organizing, loading the dishwasher, and laundry. I have to wear sneakers when I work around the house, too...if I'm barefoot or in my slippers my ankles will swell up and my back will hate me forever.

RachelCA29

I've been kind of lucky in that I only have to keep about half of my house clean right now because we are under going some bathroom renos so I've given up on the areas adjacent to the bathroom.

My husband and I usually split the chores on the weekend (kitchen, vacuuming carpets and couches, bathrooms, laundry etc.) but since he is working so hard on the bathroom stuff I've kind of taken over most things. Now, I don't always have the energy to do all those things, so I have been letting a lot of stuff slide.

I use the reno as an excuse a lot, but because it's just to two of us things don't really get too messy day-to-day except for the damn construction dust.

Now, every couple of weekends I get this bazaar burst of energy and my house gets really clean. So I'm hoping that will happen this weekend since my mom is hosting my Baby Shower at my house on Sunday and my house is a mess. We will actually have to clean up a lot of the reno-related mess (tool and wood pieces are everywhere in the front rooms) but my husband will be helping me with that stuff. I took Friday off so I have an extra day to clean up in case my energy is low. Then I will really just have to do a couple of hours of cleaning over 2 full days, which I think I can manage.

I got really ambitious and added "clean windows" and "steam drapes" to the list of things to do pre-shower, but we'll see how that pans out ...

andoll8

These days, I'm lucky if i get in a good 60 minutes of work before I have to rest. I wear my support belt more often, but it can only get me so far.

DH has gotten much more supportive and understanding. I'm banned from doing anything in the nursery until the room is set up, cleaned, the stencil placed, and furniture moved in. He even brought up a little cart from the basement for me to move the laundry baskets around, so I don't have to left anything. 

The ILs have been a god-send. They come over on the weekends to help moving things around as far as nursey prep goes. We wouldn't get this done in time without them. 

I'm really appreciating the value of kind and loving volunteers!

Jennyinheaven

Im not getting the birst of energy I've been hoping for, Dh does the bathroom for me cause he's the same with the harsh chemicals, but I really wanted to deep clean the kitchen including moving around cabinet contents to make room for the baby stuff, still haven't gotten close to starting it though

sammy.k

I'm on my own with the house work since DH is out of town so often for work. I'm seriously thinking about hiring someone to come once every other week to help me keep up with the heavy cleaning.

megmegs

I end up doing most of the housework because my commute to/from work is 15 minutes each way and DH's is an hour and 15 minutes each way. I'm in the house a lot more and usually my impatience overrides my wish to wait and have him do it. I'm seriously slowing down compared to pre-pregnancy though.

BeesKnees181

We split chores, but lately hubby gets a lot more done than I can in the same amount of time.  I move slower now, bending over is a sure fire way to end up with a heating pad on my back and terrible pain.  I make all my own cleaning solutions, so I am not worried about toxicity when cleaning the bathroom.  I have kept up with the bathroom duty.  It is one of the rooms (along with the kitchen) that I am the most anal about.  DH does all the floors.  I do laundry still, but our laundry room is basically a closet and I will soon be unable to manuever myself in there to get the clothes from the dryer.  The short of it - I do less every week.

softservecity

I was told in 2nd tri no housework by doctor! Yay! Now the problem arises that my 14 yo son and DH do not have the same standard of clean as I do...

Junebug060609

It is just me here with DS these days. I do a little at a time. Load the dishwasher, take a break. Switch over laundry, take a break. If I am on my feet too long, i pay for it dearly.

LoveIsAll25

What housework? I just ignore it. The only thing I clean is the bathroom. During the weekends my DH does the laundry and cleans the rest of the house.

Helmink0804

I do a room a day so it's not too much. My hubby does all the laundry- he doesn't want me carrying laundry baskets up and down our basement steps. He also helps with dish duty. We're really bad at letting them stack up, he's good with loading the dishwasher and washing the ones we don't put in the dishwasher but never unloads.

Xath

For the little stuff (dishes, laundry, routine straightening) DH and I split it. For the intensive stuff, cleaners.

I caved and hired them when DH was deployed and DS1 was tiny. I felt terribly guilty at first like somehow I was failing as a person, but I think it was one of the best things I ever did. I love them now so much that I would give up almost all of my other luxuries (like food) to keep them if I had to make the choice. No more stressing about whether to scrub the bathroom or snuggle with DS1 and read stories. No more guilt and stress about being unable to keep up with the housework AND have family time. Love. Love love love.

SweetTea420

DH and I usually clean for a few hours together on weekend. I'll admit we let the house get messy during the week. DH does the laundry, it's easy for him and carrying the laundry basket into our tiny laundry room is getting awkward for me. He also cleans the shower since the fumes get to me from the cleaning products.

yvanehtnioj

I used to save most of the housework for the weekends and have little cleaning marathons with loud music & tons of coffee, and sometimes a bit of pot Since I can't do that anymore I've tried the "15 minutes a night" approach, and I keep it light. Now cleaning the guest bathroom means disinfecting & wiping large surfaces, not going over the crevices in the faucet with a Q-Tip! I still end up doing about an hour on Saturdays & it definitely tires me out.

ETA: I've also succumbed to gadgets like Swiffers & disinfecting wipes to make things easier & faster. I used to only clean my kitchen floor with a bucket & mop, now I use one of those wet jet type mops (with a washable cover so my eco-guilt isn't too bad).

cbrust

I can only do a little at a time. Load the dishwasher in the morning, fold laundry in the afternoon, etc. I definitely can't clean the whole house in one day like I could before, now I try and do a room a day or so. DH does all the sweeping/mopping/vacuuming though nowadays. I also used to never get dizzy from household cleaners but I'm really sensitive to them now and can't clean the bathroom anymore. 

kshampeny

I'm a spoiled princess and DH got me house cleaning for my anniversary gift this last summer.  And boy am I ever glad he did now that I'm on modified bed rest and basically everything starts hurting after about 15 minutes of standing/cleaning/moving around.  We do Merry Maids every two weeks, and they deep clean the house when they come.  I'm super OCD when it comes to my house being clean and they do a really good job.  Makes the in between time way easier and more just maintenance stuff.  DH has stepped up a lot in helping with the house cleaning, too.  Which makes me feel guilty, since he works all day long, and I'm not.  But he just keeps telling me that he wants babies to stay in there as long possible, and that I'm doing more work sitting on the couch than he is cleaning the house or doing laundry.  I love that man.

sammy.k

yvanehtnioj said:

I used to save most of the housework for the weekends and have little cleaning marathons with loud music & tons of coffee, and sometimes a bit of pot

You're my kind of woman!

chillypenguin

Luckily DH does most of it. I mainly just do laundry and pick up after DD since he doesn't know all of her toys and he pretty much takes care of the rest. Of course, our house is nowhere near perfectly clean and organized, but I am too tired to care!

mrt

I do like 10 minutes at a time throughout the day of anything that requires me to stand up. I make my husband pick up the toys because the up and down makes me dizzy.

kshampeny

@kitchencolors and @sammy.k  Just do it!  You won't regret it.  I'm with @gertiebarden on this one, that I would give up so many of my other luxuries to keep the house cleaning.  So worth it.

cnbean

Wait, we're supposed to clean? Pretty much the only things that get done on a regular basis are laundry and dishes. And if we didn't run out of laundry that would probably pile up too.  I try and spend a little time each day cleaning, but I usually run out of energy or my toddler demands my undivided attention and it ends up sliding.

 My DH is good about helping out if I ask him to, but the house is definitely less clean than it used to be. But since DS was born I've had much less time to spend cleaning anyway, I doubt its going to change much.

babyaotw

I do most of my cleaning on Sundays, but I'm definitely needing breaks. Fortunately DH has been doing a lot to help as he sees me slow down. My routine isn't as strict right now, and I figure I'm going to have to get used to it once LO arrives anyways.

tjkdlhb

I'd have to clean my house in order for it to be ready to have someone come in to clean.


We usually do a cleaning once a week, laundry is done throughout the week, but still piles up.  The house still feels so messy all the time and I don't have energy to do it on top of being in my third trimester, having a toddler, teaching full time and a 3 hour round trip commute to work each day.

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ns1

Mostly lowered expectations has helped.

I try to pick up what I can immediately after use. Everything else is either up to DH or a weekend burst of energy. And I am happy my toddler now enjoys picking up toys and other odds and ends.

ETA: Bless all of you hand washing dishes. Even leaning over the sink to rinse dishes before they go in the dishwasher makes me want to cry!

usernewname

DH will do a lot … he vacuums, shovels snow and does the repairs in the house. He's usually right there when I ask him to carry something and now he's trying to do things so I don't have to bend down (all on his own) … I usually do the rest, and I don't mind those. I hate vacuuming out of all of it so he does it.

Today we decided to reorganize our basement storage room … it exhausted me by the end. I try to break things up (cleaning one day, groceries the next) to keep pace.

oscarwao

I put a chair in the kitchen so I can sit while I wash dishes/cook. I find that for floor level items I have an easier time crawling around on my hands and knees, as opposed to constantly squatting.

Whatever chore I find most inaccessible I ask DH to handle - for me it's unloading the lower rack of the dishwasher. If he's home Ill ask him to start the difficult part of a chore for me, like he might unload the washer dryer for an I will do the folding, etc.

Mimaloo

Our cleaning lady, who is absolutely amazing and worth every penny comes every other Saturday. In the meantime, I do vacuum and load the dishwasher. My house would be gross if it wasn't for her. 

mileswithmyles

I have to do things in little chunks. More often than not, laundry sits in the dryer for a while. I've also gone back to having a cleaning lady come once a month to do a deep clean. That's helped a lot!

spinsoffresonance

What cleaning? I try to pick up after DD throughout the day and DH and I spend 10-15min every night doing the dishes, tidying the living room and kitchen and doing laundry. My laundry rarely gets put away, most of it sits in the cosleeper and DH's usually stays in the dryer. Any real cleaning (mopping, bathrooms, etc ) only gets done a few times a year whether I'm pregnant or not. If we didn't have family come stay with us every so often it may never get done!

Kageer

We have a cleaning lady who comes very two weeks. Zero housework happens except for laundry, dish washing and toy pick up. We also have a roomba which is pretty awesome.

momthatlifts

I'm always straightening up, but I used to have one day a week where I did thorough cleaning. Chemicals, scrubbing, vacuuming, the works. Now I've spread that out throughout the whole week. Like today I finally got to the bathroom. Yesterday I vacuumed and dusted and picked up the dining area and living room and bedroom. The day before that was the kitchen. I still try my best to keep it tidy, but I found myself panting like a dog while cleaning the bathroom. And as soon as I lay down I can feel the pain in my upper back. I think the worst is really how exhausted I feel while doing it. It feels like I'm just extremely put of shape and "heavy".

Jillzy86

I've been avoiding washing my floors for this reason. I've had my dogs foot prints threw out my first floor for a week now and I just don't care. I get way to winded when I bend over these days because this little guys feet are pushing on my lungs. I wish I had a cleaning lady twice a month. Both my mom and MIL have had one my whole life and they have been angels sent from heaven. If anyone wants to get me one for a shower gift I would welcome her or him with open arms if that means I don't have to scrub the tub, dust, or wash my floors for a long time!

glowworm0166

I'm handling it by pretty much not doing it.  My husband does the dishes after dinner and we take out the garbage and I occasionally clean the powder room bathroom that guests might see but other than that I am doing pretty much nothing.  There is a layer of dust on everything and I noticed a few cobwebs on a few different fans the other day but apparently it isn't enough to motivate me. 

MissLadyTay

I used to do a big clean on Saturday mornings but now I don't have the energy. So I do a little bit at a time. I try to pick up/dust/vacuum one room a night so it only takes a few minutes. MH does bathrooms and takes out the trash. We tag-team the laundry on Friday nights. And generally the house is just messier. Oh well. I'd like to hire a housekeeper but I'm paranoid about theft and don't have the energy to find a trustworthy one.

honey740

DH is doing the majority lately, I can't stand for more than 10 minutes. Part of that is because I am carrying really low and I have a ton of pressure, I just can't do it.

mrstengallonhat1

I definitely do the lion's share of the housework at home, as I sometimes think it doesn't even occur to DH to pick things up.  I was putting clean sheets on our bed last night, he walked into the room to ask a question and left without offering to help me!  He is literally THAT dense.  

Anyways, my back hurts the most at the end of the day - even picking up laundry off the floor is uncomfortable.  I try to save the heavy cleaning for weekend mornings when I haven't been sitting in a chair at work all day.  I posed the idea of hiring a housekeeper to come once a month once this LO arrives, and DH seemed receptive.  FX that happens!

ksyknelvr73

We have a cleaning service come in bi-weekly and they do most of the "big" stuff that takes a while - there is no way I could do it right now. I can still manage to keep up with the little stuff that doesn't take too long. But anything that requires bending over a lot or taking a while to do, I ask DH to do it. Sometimes he does it, sometimes he doesn't....but oh well.

jjtyler

This is where marrying an OCD Felix to my "Oscar" pays off (I say this in quotes because I am not messy by a NORMAL person's standards, but to DH I am a "slob")

My only real responsibility right now is putting away the clean laundry for me and my daughter (he doesn't let me fold his laundry, lol)...and even that he is helping me with because I leave in the basket too long.

It took 14 years together to master this situation.