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Parenting
fancynewbeesly
member
I hate cleaning....
fancynewbeesly
member
in Parenting
A couple years ago, my husband and I bought my childhood home. We love it here-it is a great place to raise our kids, but it is a fairly big sized house. Growing up, my mom was slightly OCD about cleaning and organizing, so even though our house is fairly clean--as clean as it can be with 4 cats and a toddler, I just feel like it isn't clean ENOUGH. Growing up, you would walk into the house and NOTHING was out of place--everything was hidden away. Fingerprints wouldn't last a second on the windows, mirror. My mom actually bought a non-magnetic fridge, to avoid having a cluttered looking refrigerator.
And for the most part, the way we keep the house is clean enough for me--but I start to panic whenever we have people (particularly non-immediate family) come over. Mostly because they came over when my parents lived here--and the house was a LOT cleaner/more organized them. My husband also has to remind me that growing up when I was younger, my mom was a stay at home mom for a few years. (I work except during the summer--I am a teacher). And that when she did work full time, they also had a cleaning lady come over 3-5 times a week.
My cousins are coming over in a bit--and I just spent the morning with my daughter straightening/cleaning up. So the whole downstairs is fairly spotless, and my daughter's room is. Our bedroom and the spare are pretty much where I threw everything into.
I wish I was like Mary Poppins and could clean up instantly.
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Re: I hate cleaning....
I'm jealous.
I need another fuzzy kitty.
Honestly some of it you just have to let go and some of it you can control.
Couple things that have helped me keep my sanity with a toddler and 3 cats:
- I get a cleaning lady to come in every 4-5 weeks to do a good through once over of everything. It forces me to pick up the clutter and reorganize before she gets there and afterwards it's easier to maintain because I'm not fighting just to get the big stuff done on top of everything else.
- Swiffer sweeper cloths are a god send if you have cats and hardwood or tile. I can sweep and sweep with a broom but 5 minutes later there are floating fur balls again. If I sweep and then do a quick Swiffer sweep of that area it picks up all the cat hair that evaded the broom. Bonus is Charlotte loves the Swiffer so she likes to push it around for me
. I also love the Swiffer wet mop cloths for a quick swipe over the kitchen floor if it's looking grungy and you have company coming over and don't have time for a full on mopping.
- Brush the cats as much as possible, I know that the cat hair's my biggest battle other than clutter in our house so if one of us is brushing them every night when we watch TV it definitly cuts down on the roaming fuzz.
- Rotate and store toys. Get a couple tupperware bins and stash about 1/2 your kiddo's toys away in the basement or a closet or whereever. It cuts down on the clutter battle and when you take them out again they are like new to your kiddo.
All that said cleaning house sucks and as much as some things make it easier at the end of the day you just have to do the best you can to survive.
I had a similar upbringing regarding cleaning. When I was 10, my stepmom became a stay at home mom when she married my dad. She is a super perfectionist, and had quite a bit of time every day to keep the house spotless while we were at school/doing homework. When we did chores, i.e. clean the bathrooms, vacuum, clean our rooms, etc. they were inspected and any mistakes needed to be corrected before the job was complete. Yeah...
Now that I have my own place and family, I put a lot of pressure on myself to keep everything spotless. I work FT, and continually have to remind myself that I just don't have as much time as she does to keep everything perfect.
However when she and my dad come to visit, I go into cleaning overdrive. Still can't shake the concern of possible judginess if she sees a smudge on the mirror.