1. How big is your house? How many peoples do you have living in it?
2. How many hours a day do you spend cleaning?
3. Do you work for money in or out of the home? Do you clean more/less if (now that) you have a paying job?
4. Are you successful at getting hubs (or wife, my two, dear male readers) or kids (what age?) to help? HOW?
5. Do you clean frantically before guests (your mother-in-law) come?
6. Does housecleaning/house-messiness/housecleaning-inequity affect your daily contentment?
7. Have you discovered how effective blogging is at procrastinating/blocking out messes?
Jane
Freudian Slip of the Day from Laura: “I work for a meager penance watching my niece from home. I probably clean more now that I am home more, but less than I thought I would when I quit my job.” (I think she meant pittance but I am often sure that my kids are a penance, too!)
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1. 2400 sq ft/ 4 peoples
2. On average 30-45 minutes…
3. Work at home for money. I probably clean less than if I didn’t have a job.
4. Kids both have chores. Ages 11 and 13. We just have a rule… No priviledges until work is done. Hubby does some housework and irons his own clothes.
5. Heck yes I clean frantically when guests are coming over. Doesn’t everyone? LOL
6. I try to ignore the mess and it keeps me happy.
7. I know I sometimes spend time on Twitter or reading blogs vs. chores. Like right now.
1. 3BR/2BA (about 1900 sq. feet). 2 adults, 2 kids and a baby that will be here in less than 4 weeks (which I’m totally counting since just growing him keeps me exhausted!)
2. Normal days? An hour or two. Days when people are coming over? 4+
3. I don’t work for money (unless you count my tiny BlogHer checks) and I think I probably clean more now that I’m home. Though I didn’t have kids when I was working so that skews it a bit.
4. My husband helps some (mostly when I cry and become hysterically desperate because I am just crazy and pregnant and can only deal with so much cleaning at one time. Don’t know how long I can keep using that excuse.) The kids help some but they’re only 2 & 4 so it tends to make more of a mess when they do.
5. Yes!!
6. I think so. I wish that I could be so caught up on things that I have free time to sit and read a book during daylight hours. I would be happier knowing that everything was in its place and that someone could walk into any room without causing me to cringe. Someday maybe…
7. Probably the #1 reason my house doesn’t look better. On days when I have to clean I get virtually no blogging done. And, you can’t very well become an amazing, famous, brilliant blogger by cleaning toilets all day right? At least that is how I justify to myself! : D
Not that you asked, but we have Bible study once a week that rotates houses so every single week we are guaranteed to either have 14 adults or a babysitter in our house which is just about the only way our house stays clean. Without the constant threat of public humiliation I shudder to think about how bad it would get…
1. 1400 sq ft, 6 people
2. I’d guess 2-4 hours a day, but that’s with small children trailing after me or in my arms, so it is not terribly effective.
3. I haven’t had a job since I had kids, so I can’t really compare my housework now to then.
4. My husband helps a lot, esp. with laundry. My oldest is only 5, so getting the kids to help at all requires constant supervision and direction. It is not easy.
5. Sorta, but I try to stay sane enough to enjoy my guests. They all know it will be messy.
6. Yes.
7. I wouldn’t say it blocks it out, and that is one of the reasons I blog less than I used to.
1. 1440 Sq Ft, With 2 parents and a 15 month old (plus a 12 month old I watch for 9 hours 5x a week)
2. About an hour. I probably need to double that though to keep up with the laundry, because I am currently buried and the pile is only getting bigger. Maybe more when I add in the cleanup I do while cooking.
3. I work for a meager penance watching my niece from home. I probably clean more now that I am home more, but less than I thought I would when I quit my job.
4. The hubs can be a big help. He will occasionally do a load of laundry, and will help get things picked up. Not so much on deep cleaning though.
5. We have people over so that we are forced to clean our house. It is my little secret weapon to get my husband to help out more.
6. House messiness does contribute to my lack of contentment.
7. Oh yes. Sometimes after I am caught up in my reader and I don’t have a post I want to work on, I go to facebook or search for new blogs to read, just to avoid housework.
OMG do you really want to know this? Seriously, my husband has OCD, so my answers are skewed.
1. Size of house/#people: 4500sf, 4 ppl, 1 dog
2. Hrs per day cleaning? I am forced, against my will, to make the bed each day and “clean as I go”
3. Work out of house? clean less if work out of house? I’ve always worked outside the house. My level of cleaning has increased only because I’ve realized the calming effect orderliness has on my husband. He seriously will not leave the house/go to bed/come to the dinner table… unless all things are in order.
4. Hubs/kids help? Hubs is the boss of it all – if dad ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. Kids have acquiesced, as have I, only upon realizing that DB’s less of a bear when “order prevails.” Still a daily daily daily fight to get 16 yo son to make bed. No bed made = no use of car. I say pick your battles, DB says this is a battle he picks.
5. Do you clean frantically before guests (your mother-in-law) come? Ummm, YA! Where do you think her son gets it from!?!? I go deep before a visit – closets, drawers and more. I have a great fear that she’s a snooper.
6. Does housecleaning/house-messiness/housecleaning-inequity affect your daily contentment? COMPLETELY – refer to #3. And #4.
7. Have you discovered how effective blogging is at procrastinating/blocking out messes? I’m frantically trying to complete this reply as I hear his tires crunch on the driveway… a few dishes in the sink need to be quickly shoved into the dishwasher.
I am really really lucky to have DB do MORE THAN – WAY MORE than his fair share of household duties. He’s really awesome in so many ways. So it’s idiotic to complain about him… I complain that he’s TOO clean? i guess we all have our crosses to bear.
When he was in high school, he’d have a wild party while parents out of town, and he’s known for running the vaccuum cleaner while his friends partied hearty.
When I went to visit him in college for spring break, he did my laundry.
Hey, I do all the cooking around here! Doesn’t that count for SOMEthing?
Hey – who’s Julia, and why is she commenting more than me? (yes, this is a gratuitous post!)
More on cleaning… we also have two nice Polish ladies who come every other Friday for the scrubbing-stuff. They drive a BMW.
I also do all the laundry! Not a total sloth here!
My house is somewhere between 1600-1700 square feet plus a finished basement that’s half that size because we live in a two-story. I can’t remember. I have six people living in it. How many hours a day?? Um, one? Some days maybe 3 or 4 hours. Some days I don’t really clean at all. Depends how stressed out I am. I make no money. My husband cleans a lot because he was single until he was 34 and he developed those habits before I came along and because he knows I did not aspire to being a janitor, just a mom. He knows I’m overwhelmed.
As for the kids, they empty and load the dishwasher. It used to be on a schedule but I lost track of that so now it’s just when I think to ask. They clean the basement of their toys and clean their rooms. Sometimes they clean the bathroom sinks and wash walls and floors.
When the kids were younger there was more frantic cleaning. There still is sometimes but mostly, I don’t worry too much about what visiting teachers and friends think. They are moms too and they know I’m tired.
Blogging is an escape, that’s for sure.
1. I don’t understand square feet. Mine are more knobbly than that.
But seriously, 3 bed, 3 bath, 2 car garage, laundry is bigger than any of the bedrooms, TV/kitchen room, small formal dining and formal lounge area, two big rooms downstairs now known as “the flood zone”. 2 adults, 1 two year old.
2. As few as possible. I’m a grot, and tend to work in sudden bursts of cleaning, rather than regular scheduled activities. Unfortunately, the desire to do/clean something normally hits me at about 10pm on a Friday night, so that’s when you’ll find me doing weird cleaning things (e.g. the stove-top exhaust fan, and then after taking apart and cleaning it, finding out some bits that should be replaced can’t be).
3. I work outside the home full-time. I think I cleaned about the same amount while I was at home with M. Those days were so sleep-deprived, I can barely remember now. I did outsource the ironing for a long time, until my pelvic floor was up to standing for hours again (sharing the TMI around today!).
4. No. He does the cooking, and washing up at the moment since the dishwaher died and neither of us have called a repair man. Occasionally when people are coming over, he’ll help tidy up (= shove everything into the study and go through the piles a few months later). Given what he does with the cooking, and that he copes with the laundry if I’m away on a scrapbooking weekend or on a business trip, I don’t think I can complain that much.
5. Only if it’s a party, not so much for the MIL, as she’s over every fortnight anyway. And frankly, she wouldn’t be happy with my cleaning because I’d use chemicals, and she’s an Enjo lady and all anti-chemical … so I’d disappoint anyway … so why bother?
6. Probably, but it’s more that we both need to develop some effective systems, such as not leaving the just-opened mail on the kitchen bench, where it then joins the perilous pile of doom, and disappears from sights for months. I think we both want to be neater, but we aren’t.
7. Yes!
I do have cleaners come once a fortnight to do floors, bathrooms, etc. I figure if we’re both working outside the home full-time, it’s fair enough to put some of that money into employing others, so that our family/couple time isn’t consumed by cleaning. Sure, Sundays normally end up with hours of laundry, folding, and ironing for me, but I can work with that. And there’s only three of us, so the laundry isn’t that much.
This hits real close to home me since I literally injured myself this weekend cleaning the house. Here I go…
1.) 2,200 square feet and I have 4 people – but 2 are kids
2.) I am a bit of a neat freak so I spend at least 1 hour a day cleaning (and I’m including just general pick-up, clean the kitchen counters after breakfast sort of stuff here too)
3.)I work part-time at a job that pays me squat (I teach). I do clean less while working (since I have done the full-time SAHM before). When I’m home I have more time to do it but resent it more. So, it’s a balance.
4.)NO. That is my simple answer. If I make a to-do list and put David’s name next to tasks he will do them. Otherwise forget it. The kid’s have chore charts with stickers and if I nag them, they do the chores on the chart, otherwise it is a lot of griping.
5.)yes and no. I don’t clean before family comes because they all know me and don’t care. I do try to keep the house relatively presentable at all times so I’m usually not frantic – but I have been known to throw the mail into the oven and shove dirty clothes under the bed as the doorbell is ringing.
6.)Sometimes. For instance, this weekend when I reminded David three times that I needed his help cleaning the house and then he didn’t help at all. I was Not content. Most of the time I’m mildly annoyed but try to realize how unimportant it is. Oh, and I try to always have a housekeeper who comes twice a month. Seriously, if you can afford it, do it!
7.)Yes, especially the kitchen which is WAAAAYY at the other end of the house.
I just want to say that the best marital advice I got was from my mother-in-law who told me to always have somebody else clean the house. She said it would resolve so many marital disputes and indeed I think she is right. She even went so far as to cover the cost of one while David and I were both laid off from work – she is that passionate about the importance of one in a marriage.
1. How big is your house? How many peoples do you have living in it?
2100 sf. 3 people including one 13 year daughter.
2. How many hours a day do you spend cleaning?
1 1/2 approx.
3. Do you work for money in or out of the home? Do you clean more/less if (now that) you have a paying job?
Yes I work both in and out of the home. Most of the time I am home now, and I spend more time cleaning now than when I worked full time out of the home.
4. Are you successful at getting hubs (or wife, my two, dear male readers) or kids (what age?) to help? HOW?
I am a wife and mother (13 yr old girl) to two pack rats, so it is hard to keep things under control. But I am a freak about having a clean house, so I work at it constantly. One thing that has worked is to ask everyone to give me 10 minutes to pick up. Everyone can do 10 mins, and it is amazing how much can get picked up in that amount of time.
5. Do you clean frantically before guests (your mother-in-law) come?
No. I would say I am always within 10 minutes of being able to have company at any time.
6. Does housecleaning/house-messiness/housecleaning-inequity affect your daily contentment?
If my home is not clean, I am grumpy and cannot think of anything else. It is so much easier to keep on top of things than to wait until it’s overwhelming.
7. Have you discovered how effective blogging is at procrastinating/blocking out messes?
Yes, and I hate it.
PS. I have housekeepers that come every other week, and that is what keeps me sane. I loath cleaning the bathrooms, dusting, etc. therefore I have more time for picking up, organizing, etc.
1. We have a 700 sq ft studio. 3 people: 2 adults and a baby
2. I spend somewhere between 0 and 2 hours cleaning depending on the day.
3. I do knitting by commission on the side. Doesn’t affect my cleaning, though.
4. DH will do dishes after dinner. We had a discussion about the best time for family scripture study at FHE a few weeks ago and decided that once the dishes are done from dinner, we’ll read scriptures. That’s motivation for him. Other times we split it: one person does dishes while the other tidies the living space.
5. Of course I clean frantically before guests come!
6. Having a messy house bothers me in the back of my mind, but when the house IS totally clean, it bothers me, too. I just don’t know how to live in a clean place. It’s much easier for it to be a mess with my subconscious bugging me- I guess it’s just more familiar.
7. Oh yes. Originally blogging was my homework distraction, but upon graduating, it’s a housework distraction.
Hey I’m Julia, but I know there’s more than one of us out there and I don’t actually think you’re talking about me. I’m going to answer the questions in a minute, but I just wanted to ask Jane what her answers were and say that I think this post is a great idea. I stole it and put it on my blog ( http://armywifemomof3.blogspot.com/) too. I can’t wait to see what people write. Answers to come from me (Julia) later.
1. 1100 sq ft. 4 people. (Anyone want to buy a condo?)
2. 1-2 hrs/day. More on weekends.
3. I work for money out of the home. I don’t clean as much because I have a job.
4. Husband? Mostly. If I ask he usually does it. Although I hate asking because CAN’T YOU JUST SEE THERE IS CRAP EVERYWHERE? He will clean up living room spontaneously. Kids are almost 2 and 5. They don’t really help.
5. I clean frantically when my MIL and guests come over.
6. Yes. My house is almost always messier than I want it to be and I always feel guilty.
7. Yes. Hence me commenting instead of cleaning.
1. 2200 sq feet, 6 people
2. 0-30 minutes, i’m pregnant on partial bed rest
3. i never worked outside the home, never have plans to
4. husband comes home after 14 hour work day and does whatever needs to be done: cook, clean, laundry, and anything specific that i ask him.
kids do their assigned work on saturday, oldest son, 10, does whatever i ask him anytime, 8 yr old son entertains younger siblings
5. the whole family cleans when someone comes over, it’s a good excuse to get the house cleaned. i’m not scared of my mother in law, when she comes she helps with whatever.
6. i feel much better in a clean house, plus i feel better about
myself if i do the cleaning. work does really makes us happy…
7. i blog to journal, i look at blogs to keep from sitting on the couch, it’s really depressing to be pregnant and not to be able to do anything…
6000 Sq. feet. Too darn big, if you ask me. We’re thinking of downsizing.
5 people.
I work at home. Meaning, I have 3 kids, a dog, and a too big house that needs constant attention. I don’t get paid for any of this, and I don’t even get a vacation day!
Blogging definitely helps keep me sane. I blog, pick up some, blog some more, pick up some more. It’s a decent cycle.
Hubs is kinda OCD and likes to help out around the house. He’ll wash and dry 3 loads of laundry, but then he’ll leave it all in a basket waiting for me to fold it. Really, this doesn’t help. But he thinks it does, and that’s what matters.
The kids are pretty good about keeping their toy room clean and their bed rooms clean. They are in charge of bringing their laundry down to the laundry room when they need clean clothes. They also clean their own bathrooms. Not well, but hey, they do it themselves and that’s what matters.
1. 1500 sq feet, 5 people
2. About 1, unless company’s coming over.
3. I do not work for money (unless you count blog ad revenue), but I clean A LOT less now in this old, tiny house than I did in our previous huge, brand new house.
4. I can get hubs and kids to help, but I haven’t figured out how to get them to do it MY way.
5. Yes.
6. Yes, but less so lately. A messy house makes it hard for me to relax and enjoy things, but I’m learning to close my eyes to the mess.
7. Absolutely! Yesterday I said to my husband, “sorry I didn’t get your uniform washed. I was blogging.”
1. How big is your house? How many peoples do you have living in it? It’s a good sized 2 bedroom townhouse. Two adults, two kids, one baby.
2. How many hours a day do you spend cleaning? Probably 2-3 altogether.
3. Do you work for money in or out of the home? Do you clean more/less if (now that) you have a paying job? No, but when I did I did the same amount of cleaning. I gave Brad a talking-to yesterday because he is out of work this week with Man Cold and is basically a giant carnivorous plant. He does NOTHING but move from the bed to the toilet to the computer. He used to at least make the bed every once in awhile. When he’s working, no big deal. But if he’s going to be here, he’s darn well going to pull his own weight. Which is substantial, let me tell you. Man Cold is no excuse. I still cooked dinner and did laundry while I was suffering pneumonia and pre-eclampsia, he can surely make the friggin’ bed or at least refill the Brita pitcher after he’s drained it and dried out the filter.
4. Are you successful at getting hubs (or wife, my two, dear male readers) or kids (what age?) to help? HOW? Err… see above. We actually have a whiteboard for his to-do list. I write things on it and he erases them without doing them and I write them again, in pig latin for emphasis.
5. Do you clean frantically before guests (your mother-in-law) come? Heck yeah. I know they don’t care, but I care.
6. Does housecleaning/house-messiness/housecleaning-inequity affect your daily contentment? Yes. I cannot STAND to have a messy house. I can’t relax if the house is a mess.
7. Have you discovered how effective blogging is at procrastinating/blocking out messes? Yes. Which is part of why I quit.
1. How big is your house? How many peoples do you have living in it?
1600 sq ft. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths–6 people total (2 adults, 4 kids)
2. How many hours a day do you spend cleaning? I used to spend 2-3 hours and it was all clean. Now, I spend 2-3 hours on task. I’m just not feeling very well.
3. Do you work for money in or out of the home? Do you clean more/less if (now that) you have a paying job? I work on Saturdays. I clean less because I’m totally wiped after the day. Dh and the kids really do manage to mess it up on Saturday.
4. Are you successful at getting hubs (or wife, my two, dear male readers) or kids (what age?) to help? HOW? No. I’ve tried bribes, charts, threats, tears. . .
5. Do you clean frantically before guests (your mother-in-law) come?
Yes
6. Does housecleaning/house-messiness/housecleaning-inequity affect your daily contentment? Absolutely. It would probably explain my lethargy and fear of actually dealing with the checkbook.
7. Have you discovered how effective blogging is at procrastinating/blocking out messes? Yes, otherwise, I would not be reading your blog or writing on my own!
Yes, that was a bit of a Freudian slip, especially seeing as how the child was screaming and pulling on me as I typed that. Thanks for catching it
Oooh! Fun! Do we get to hear your answers?
1. How big is your house? Too big and not big enough. 3 bed, 2 bath, about 1900 sq. ft. How many peoples do you have living in it? 6 peoples, 2 of which are expert mess makers.
2. How many hours a day do you spend cleaning? Less than one with a crazy cleaning day on Saturday.
3. Do you work for money in or out of the home? I work for money in the home teaching preschool, piano and voice lessons, babysitting and now working for The Giveaway. Do you clean more/less if (now that) you have a paying job? I clean more now. Last year when I didn’t work I cleaned less. Having people come here is a pretty good motivation to at least keep part of the house semi-clean.
4. Are you successful at getting hubs (or wife, my two, dear male readers) or kids (what age?) to help? If I ask hubs straight out (no hints) he will get around to it eventually, usually. He does occasionally help without any prompting but it’s not to often. My twins don’t do anything but make messes, but my two older boys have to help. HOW? We usually have to bribe the kids like with a trip to the park or 15 minutes on the Wii, we even sometimes pay them a penny for every item they pick up. Sometimes certain things work and then sometimes they don’t.
5. Do you clean frantically before guests (your mother-in-law) come? Heck ya!!
6. Does housecleaning/house-messiness/housecleaning-inequity affect your daily contentment? Quite often, yes. I know I feel better when it’s clean and if it’s dirty I sit on this here computer and ignore the guilt. Although I must say one thing, I am good at ignoring the mess and not caring when I’m playing with my kids. The mess will always be there, but they won’t.
7. Have you discovered how effective blogging is at procrastinating/blocking out messes? LOL, OH YEAH BABY!!!! YOU KNOW IT!!!
Oh! I forgot to say…..my two older boys are ages 4 and 8 who do help and my twins who only make royal messes are almost 2.
Sorry. I got pulled away and never answered the questions last night, like I meant to. My bed was calling.
1. How big is your house? 1400 sq. ft.(use to be 1100, but my husband added a 300 sq. ft. bonus room upstairs)–3 bedroom, 2 bath, with a 2 car garage. How many peoples do you have living in it? 5 (me, the hub, and 3 kids).
2. How many hours a day do you spend cleaning? Does picking up toys count? If so, ALL DAY LONG! No, not really. Actual cleaning, cleaning, it’s hard to say, but probably 1-2 hours a day, with family projects on the weekends.
3. Do you work for money in or out of the home? Do you clean more/less if (now that) you have a paying job? I don’t work for money, but I wish that I got paid for what I do. I’d make a fortune! I’m a stay at home mom of three girls and wife to my Military man!
4. Are you successful at getting hubs or kids (what age?) to help? HOW? Yes and no. My husband’s a great worker, he just never does house work (you know the traditional kind–dishes, laundry, bathrooms, etc). He does work on the house though–building bonus rooms, re-tiling floors, building decks, etc. I have mixed feelings about his handymanship. Part of me just wishes that we could leave the darn house how it is. I’m so tired of saw dust in my kitchen and strewn tools throughout the house, within reach of little hands with mischievious ideas. It is great that he’s so handy, I just wish that he were a little tider, and would do the dishes or scrub a toilet every once in a while. Kiddos are 4, 3, and 16-mos. You tell me how helpful they really are at that age? You’ve been there. They are eager to help mommy, but need so much hands-on instruction that it isn’t really all that helpful quite yet. I know that they will be someday, so I work with them to do daily chores, that hopefuly they can do all on their own very soon.
5. Do you clean frantically before guests (your mother-in-law) come? Absolutely, every time! Sometimes I spend days, even an entire week, willingly lose sleep getting ready for the arrival of guests. I don’t want people to think I’m a slob.
6. Does housecleaning/house-messiness/housecleaning-inequity affect your daily contentment? YES, way more than I wish it would. It really affects my husband too. It kind of makes or breaks whether or not he’s happy with me. Sometimes, that alone is enough to motivate me to work harder, even when I really don’t feel like it. It’s crazy–I use to be such a clean-freak, but since I had kids things are a little different. I guess that I’m just too tired!
7. Have you discovered how effective blogging is at procrastinating/blocking out messes? Oh my gosh, YES, YES, YES!!! I can completely immerse myself into it and create nearly perfect tunnel vision, where all I see is the keyboard and my computer screen. Unfortunately, the undone chores eat at me in the back of my mind. I wish I could turn those voices off sometimes, but I guess that they’re good for me. They pull me back to reality, and keep me from ignoring my kids!
You are on to something here, Jane!
1) We live in a 2000 sf home with 5 people (3 children ages 8, 6 & 4) along with a 90 lb dog and a 4 lb cat. BTW, said cat makes most of the messes in our home. She can ferret Legos into all rooms of the house and strategically place them where you will step on them.
2) Zero hours cleaning, more like 5 minutes here and there. Hate to clean, that is me.
3)I work p/t outside of the house, and I actually clean less now that I am working. Hubby does more.
4)Hubby and the kids set the timer for 15 minutes (usually set to coincide my return) and see how much they can clean up – he makes it a “race” and for some reason it works for him/them. If I try it, it doesn’t work.
5)Yes, dear Lord in Heaven, yes. I freak out my family – and believe it or not I do this more when my own Mom is coming to visit. Total, breakdown, freakout. Probably good that she lives 2400 miles away and only visits once a year.
6)I love how I feel when the house is clean (meaning vacuumed, kitchen floor swept and mopped). Love to walk over my carpet in bare feet without pieces of cereal, playdoh, Legos and the like getting stuck between my toes. But every time I vacuum it only stays that “clean” for an hour. I only vacuum once or twice a week, and I do feel guilty that I don’t clean more.
7)I find myself now eyeing the clock, saying hubby will be home at x time, which gives me x time to mess around on the computer….insane.
I would love to know how much time y’all spend on laundry. I have to do 2 full loads per day, otherwise I am behind. This seems crazy to me. I do more laundry than dishes, and we never eat out. Is this normal???
1. How big is your house? How many peoples do you have living in it?
2100 sf. 5 people including three kids ages 11 and under
2. How many hours a day do you spend cleaning?
1 1/2 approx.
3. Do you work for money in or out of the home? Do you clean more/less if (now that) you have a paying job?
I work from home, but it has been less work with the poor economy. When I am busy I definitely clean less
4. Are you successful at getting hubs (or wife, my two, dear male readers) or kids (what age?) to help? HOW?
My husband does a lot of cleaning. Sometimes his methods drive me up the wall, but I have learned to keep my mouth shut. On Saturdays we have “family cleaning hour” and the whole family goes from room to room. We all clean in the same room at the same time so no one can sluff off. And each person is assigned a task (i.e., trash, dusting, vacuum, etc). During the week the kids get asked to do various tasks, but only in the summer do they have assigned jobs. That will likely change soon, though.
5. Do you clean frantically before guests (your mother-in-law) come?
Yep. It comes by genetics.
6. Does housecleaning/house-messiness/housecleaning-inequity affect your daily contentment?
To some degree.
7. Have you discovered how effective blogging is at procrastinating/blocking out messes?
Yes, isn’t it great!
1. How big is your house? How many peoples do you have living in it?
Our house is 5,500 sqft and there are 3 of us…sometimes 5 of us if the older two Munchkins are here. Too much space for just three peeps… Our house has been on the market for over a year now. We can’t wait to get something smaller!!!
2. How many hours a day do you spend cleaning? Not enough. Probably a total of 1? Laundry, dishes, & picking up. We hire a maid every other week to do the “real” cleaning.
3. Do you work for money in or out of the home? Do you clean more/less if (now that) you have a paying job? I don’t work for money. I’m a SAHM who homeschools.
4. Are you successful at getting hubs (or wife, my two, dear male readers) or kids (what age?) to help? HOW? Hubby is a GREAT helper. He feels that it’s not all my job to keep the house clean. The kids are responsible for their “space”, meaning bedroom and things like toys that may be someplace in the house. If they want to do other people’s jobs (like helping me with laundry or helping Daddy wash the car) then they can make their own $$.
5. Do you clean frantically before guests (your mother-in-law) come? YES! Well, I pick up more than clean. We always seem to just spread out crap everywhere in this house!
6. Does housecleaning/house-messiness/housecleaning-inequity affect your daily contentment? YES YES YES! The clutter in my kitchen drives me batty. When I walk in the kitchen after the maids have come, and it’s clean and totally clear of clutter, I feel a sense of order & rightness. I should focus more on keeping the house this way, but I don’t…
7. Have you discovered how effective blogging is at procrastinating/blocking out messes? Uh, YEA! I neglect my home so I can blog…I don’t neglect my kids or Hubbs, but housework is WAY last on the list
C’mon Jane… give it up… what are your answers? Inquiring minds want to know!
1. How big is your house? How many peoples do you have living in it?
4500 sq. feet; 5 bodies and a dog
2. How many hours a day do you spend cleaning?
I have a 20 year old and two teens so the messes are at a minimum. I do a quick clean up each morning and evening with a once a week deep clean.
3. Do you work for money in or out of the home? Do you clean more/less if (now that) you have a paying job?
I work a couple of hours three days a week outside of the home; making sure I am home when the kids are. I clean less, but more effectively since working.
4. Are you successful at getting hubs (or wife, my two, dear male readers) or kids (what age?) to help? HOW?
When they were younger we had chore lists…they are home less than I am, so no, they don’t help much. They each have a bathroom to clean and their rooms, including putting laundry away.
5. Do you clean frantically before guests (your mother-in-law) come?
We usually vacuum and dust. Not much more.
6. Does housecleaning/house-messiness/housecleaning-inequity affect your daily contentment?
Not usually, we are pretty neat. (When my son was younger he went to play at a neighbors home and seeing how messy it was, commented on how his mom would never let his house get that way)
7. Have you discovered how effective blogging is at procrastinating/blocking out messes?
YES, YES and YES!!
1. How big is your house? How many peoples do you have living in it?
Four people; 2967 sq ft = 3 times bigger than our last house
2. How many hours a day do you spend cleaning?
An hour, and surprisingly, because I do that and we have more space now, we have way less mess.
3. Do you work for money in or out of the home? Do you clean more/less if (now that) you have a paying job?
I haven’t had a paying job since I was in college. I took 21 units for seven semesters and worked two jobs (thirty hours a week, or fifteen hours per job); Hubby was pulling similar work loads and needless to say the house was a disaster! If I went to work and had the kids (who are about as much work as school was) the house would become a beacon for all things messy.
4. Are you successful at getting hubs (or wife, my two, dear male readers) or kids (what age?) to help? HOW?
Nope. Threats happen with the three year old; Hubby whines about his job. I have high hopes for the baby…
5. Do you clean frantically before guests (your mother-in-law) come?
My mother-in-law knows that the only way our house is getting a deep cleaning is if she does it. She mops; my dad does our dishes; and my mom will do our laundry. I’m not so much an adult as I’m a kid living in a big house.
6. Does housecleaning/house-messiness/housecleaning-inequity affect your daily contentment?
Not when I can get on the computer and block it all out…
7. Have you discovered how effective blogging is at procrastinating/blocking out messes?
See #6
1. How big is your house? How many peoples do you have living in it?
We (my two children, myself, and my best friend/roommate, Helen) live in a 2 bed/1 bath townhouse. It’s not very big, be we make it work. The children share my room, and spend some nights at their dad’s house, also.
2. How many hours a day do you spend cleaning?
Inclding laundry, dishes, EVERYTHING? It varies, but I’m guessing 12 hours per week, so essentially an hour and a half a day and then more on laundry day (no washer/dryer here, we go to a laundry mat).
3. Do you work for money in or out of the home? Do you clean more/less if (now that) you have a paying job?
Yes, I go to school and also work at the college. I clean less now than I did when I was a SAHM.
4. Are you successful at getting hubs or kids to help? HOW?
No… Not very. Well, I haven’t got a hubs here (which means I haven’t got a hubs to clean up after either), but the kids generally run a bit rampant. I will be reading your comments eagerly for ideas on this.
(oh, wait- Cora, age 6, does help to take little trash bags out)
5. Do you clean frantically before guests (your mother-in-law) come?
Yes, I can be found vacuuming even after the first guests arrive if I’m having a get-together, but lately I’ve been keeping things somewhat ok, and then the last minute dashes are less extreme. Also, lowering the bar for some types of company helps.
6. Does housecleaning/house-messiness/housecleaning-inequity affect your daily contentment?
YES! I hate coming home to a mess. It makes me feel inadequate as a woman, resentful of those in my household who don’t seem to try to pull their weight, and jealous of those who seem to have more time than I do to keep things tidy.
7. Have you discovered how effective blogging is at procrastinating/blocking out messes?
Oh yes!
Oh, as far as no. 1, there are 4 of us in 600 square feet.
1. How big is your house? How many peoples do you have living in it?
2100 sq ft, 2 adults and a toddler
2. How many hours a day do you spend cleaning?
usually less than one
3. Do you work for money in or out of the home? Do you clean more/less if (now that) you have a paying job?
I work full time outside of the home. I always have except for 4 months on maternity leave, during which I cleaned very little.
4. Are you successful at getting hubs (or wife, my two, dear male readers) or kids (what age?) to help? HOW?
Birch yes, the child not yet (she’s 1) We talk frequently about the workload and what all chores need to be done and who’s best to do them (usually who dislikes them least) And we swap bathrooms for dishes etc.
5. Do you clean frantically before guests (your mother-in-law) come?
oh yes
6. Does housecleaning/house-messiness/housecleaning-inequity affect your daily contentment?
yes, espcially during transistion times. For example when we switched from both employed to one employed and one at school, or one employed and one at home and the chore load had not yet changed to match
7. Have you discovered how effective blogging is at procrastinating/blocking out messes?
very
Ahh…a post that strikes a chord with me.
Again.
Ok, here’s mine. I’m shooting for brevity.
1. About 2000 sq ft 2 story w/unfinished basement (doubles as toyroom). 5 peeps, 2 big dogs.
2. One. I’m not counting meal prep + cleanup, just the hate to do it housework stuff.
3. Nope, although I have hopes of working at home.
4. Yes; hubs and I are both tidy by nature. Kids – yes. No chore charts or anything, just try to make it a team effort. They do get a small allowance each month, too.
5. Absolutely, though my family is pretty laid back.
6. Yeah, it does which is why I tidy as I go. I try not to let it pile up because tomorrow will bring it’s own messes, you know?
7. Blogging is the perfect antidote to a messy house! Why clean when you can be social!!
You need to compile all of these in some sort of follow up post.
My house is a pig-sty. And I’m not working outside the home. If I cleaned as much as I blog and read blogs, my house would look just lovely.
1. How big is your house? 1400 How many peoples do you have living in it? 4
2. How many hours a day do you spend cleaning? on purpose 1, too look busy 2 to 3, I tell people 8
3. Do you work for money in or out of the home? Do you clean more/less if (now that) you have a paying job? no, more now
4. Are you successful at getting hubs (or wife, my two, dear male readers) or kids (what age?) to help? HOW? No, in fact if my husband is home, I don’t get anything clean
5. Do you clean frantically before guests (your mother-in-law) come? ohh ya, If I know a friend is coming over for a cup of sugar, it’s non stop picking up and cleaning until they knock on the door.
6. Does housecleaning/house-messiness/housecleaning-inequity affect your daily contentment? YES.. I feel as if this is the one absoulute that I have some control over, it it is messy, it follows me around all day
7. Have you discovered how effective blogging is at procrastinating/blocking out messes? no, they are still there staring at me from over the laptop
[...] « Be honest [...]
1- 4000 sq.st. 8 people
2- aim for 3 hours, usually 2-3, but take an entire day off from time to time (and always skip Sundays). My house is always a mess, though.
3- I don’t work outside the home, have no idea if I would clean more/less.
4- from time to time. I usually make my kids do a half hour chore after school (with bigger chore on weekends), bedrooms, and laundry. Husband helps from time to time (ha!). I do it by refusing to feed them until they have finished (the record was from breakfast time till 6:00 at night for my boys to finish thier room one Saturday). When I am consistent at chores for the kids, my cleaning time is cut by at least an hour a day.
5- Of course.
6- Yep.
7- Yes. There are days where I accidentally use up all my cleaning time blogging. My sisters and I started a blog to track our housecleaning “adventures” comnplete with before/after pictures. Has helped keep me on track.
house size/# 2100 sf 4 bed 2 bath 2 living hmmm technically there are 5 of us but most of the time its me, the three kids 6, 5, and 3 mos. there are 4 dogs, and hubby joins us now and then.
hours cleaning–around 1….need to spend cleaning….around 3
house seemed cleaner when i was working but laundry was worse and i do think i spent more reg time scheduled cleaning back then tho
hubs/kids help….only when i have total melt down and wind up sitting in the floor bawling over picking up 49500000 legos for the 600th time in one week….
clean frantically before visitors– oh yeah…always and my mom is the worst….MIL thankfully doesnt care
the mess is totally result/dependent on my depression…worse my depression worse mess but terrible cycle worse mess worse depression.
blogging/facebook/magazines/you name it…anything i can use to ignore the house i will…
steff
Hey kikibibi, it looks like you were talking about me afterall. I just noticed Jane’s little “Comments of the Month” section. I didn’t even know that I was on there. I feel so special now. Thanks Jane for “encouraging” my “talking back”-ness.
1. How big is your house? How many peoples do you have living in it?
2800 sq feet. 2 daughters are at college so it’s the husband and the darling doggie at home now.
2. How many hours a day do you spend cleaning?
Essentially none! I finally have a cleaning lady and life is sooo wonderful. I’m thrilled, husband is thrilled
and I wish I had done this before. I like to cook though….
3. Do you work for money in or out of the home? Do you clean more/less if (now that) you have a paying job?
I work PT. I hate to clean :}
4. Are you successful at getting hubs (or wife, my two, dear male readers) or kids (what age?) to help? HOW?
Husband has always been perfectly wonderful about helping to clean or scrub or iron. HIs father is proud of the fact that he doesn’t even know how to make the bed, but all 3 of their sons are wonderful helpers around the
home. So is my brother. My father was always taught is was important to help his wife so I really remember him scrubbing the kitchen floors and vacuuming etc. I do remember that the girls did best if I just left them a list on the kitchen table listing their chores. They said that that was easier for them than having me tell them.
5. Do you clean frantically before guests (your mother-in-law) come?
Now that I’m in my 50s I’ve learned that it’s only dirt. The important thing is to make guests feel welcome and to have fun. See–all mothers should agree to do that and then that would take so much pressure off of us. My only big thing is to have the kitchen all nice. And my MIL would have never cared about the state of the house. I probably used to feel more stressed when my parents came because mom was kind of judgmental about that sort of thing–but then mom move our city and I wasn’t able to control things so much. And guess what? It didn’t matter! The important thing is to enjoy being together.
6. Does housecleaning/house-messiness/housecleaning-inequity affect your daily contentment?
I’ve been pretty fortunate that way. My husband has always been an equal partner as far as housework. If the house is messy it’s because both of us were slacking. We are rather blissful now that our fabulous house cleaner comes on Tuesdays
7. Have you discovered how effective blogging is at procrastinating/blocking out messes?
HAHAHA….The internet is such a huge time-suck isn’t it!!
Just for fun!
1. How big is your house? How many peoples do you have living in it?
1040sq ft, 5 people (3 bdrm 1 bath, and my bathroom has no electrical outlet!)
2. How many hours a day do you spend cleaning?
Several, even with a house the size of a shoe box.
3. Do you work for money in or out of the home? Do you clean more/less if (now that) you have a paying job? I work at/stay home, and I spend a million more hours a week cleaning now that I don’t have a 9-5 job. I definitely did less housework while working outside the home.
4. Are you successful at getting hubs (or wife, my two, dear male readers) or kids (what age?) to help? HOW? Yes, and all I do is ask (plead, beg, cry, throw things, or just stop washing hubs underwear for awhile.)
5. Do you clean frantically before guests (your mother-in-law) come?
Every time. My step-mother cleans houses for a living, and I always think she thinks I’m messy (even though I’m not). I don’t worry about the ol’ MIL so much as her house is worse than mine, and I have 3 small (very messy) children.
6. Does housecleaning/house-messiness/housecleaning-inequity affect your daily contentment? 100%. We argue more about why I have to cook AND do the dishes after dinner way more than why we are so strapped for cash.
7. Have you discovered how effective blogging is at procrastinating/blocking out messes? Not yet, I blog after 9pm, and housecleaning takes place beginning at 7am ending at 8pm. Wait, what am I doing now at noon? Okay, guess I have discovered it then.