I love a clean house. - Page 3

[es1967]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

Oh, I desperately need to scrub my kitchen floors today I am going to try the magic eraser as well! I like to hand mop as well, but don't always do it. When I just had a kitchen and bathrooms to do it was no biggie, but now it is close to 2000 sq ft and it is just too much at one time.

Its amazing. I do the magic eraser after I have cleaned the floor. The magic eraser picks up so much more dirt. I dont even let anyone wear shoes in the house so I can never understand where the dirt comes from. : I'm getting inspired to clean my floors too now. Going to the movies w DS this morning but hopefully I can do this in the afternoon.

[artparent]

i definitely need a new system, just using a cloth on the floor seems to spread lint around

the tiles are definitely not sealed. the ones on the walls look great, but on the floor in places the grout is very rough, as if someone tried to regrout and did it very badly! is it difficult to put in new grout? i get frustrated with floors that don't look good even when they are clean.

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[Purple Sage]

Originally Posted by artparent

ahh, i am a double virgo. clean + tidy gives me tremendous peace and energy

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I'm a capricorn sun with virgo rising, and I feel the same way.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

I cleaned my house from top to bottom this morning and it feels....ahhhh...great!

I'm re-reading Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelsohn...that is one of my favorite Love of Cleaning type books.

She always inspires me to get it done.

[michelleklu]

I like the Home Comforts book as well! I admit I am not the best at keeping a clean house but I try! Recently, I've been seeing the quotation, "A clean house is a wasted life," or something similar as if it is gaining popularity. I can't help but roll my eyes. I NEED order. I don't want to be embarrassed the next time friends or a maintenance person comes by. I remember being in the middle of a cleaning session when one of my husband's co-workers came to drop something off unexpectedly. I whispered, "DON'T LET HIM IN!" as my husband opened the door, lol. Its not a pig sty in here but I was definitely not proud about the state our house at the time.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

A clean house is a wasted life

Like having a clean house takes up your whole life! It just takes a little effort.

I haven't seen that quote yet, but you hear that sentiment frequently.

Which is just baffling to me.

What about Feng Shui? One of the biggest no-nos in Feng Shui is having dirt and clutter in your home -- stagnating the air and all that. Clearly people who follow the thinking of Feng Shui are doing some serious cleaning.

I read a quote in the introduction of Home Comforts where Cheryl says something along the lines of there not being a modern equivalent of "a housewife's work is never finished"...because the modern homekeeper's work never gets started.

[Purple Sage]

One of my 12 year old's friend's mother has a sign on her front door that says "Boring women keep clean houses."

[Brisen]

Originally Posted by michelleklu

Recently, I've been seeing the quotation, "A clean house is a wasted life," or something similar as if it is gaining popularity.

IME, a clean house means I can get on with & enjoy life. When I had a messier home, it wasn't like I never cleaned and had so much more time to live life; I spent a lot of time trying to catch up and clean around the mess. For me, having a routine and order makes things so much easier and freer.

Originally Posted by Purple Sage

One of my 12 year old's friend's mother has a sign on her front door that says "Boring women keep clean houses."

The mom of a friend of mine had a similar sign at her door. My (now) dh's mom is a good friend of hers, and she keeps a clean and tidy home, and she also has lots of time for what would probably be considered hobbies (she gardens and sews) and volunteer work. I wondered if the woman with the sign ever thought about MIL and her clean home and busy life when she saw the sign. I mean, I can get maybe putting up a sign that says something to indicate that you're happy with your home and lifestyle the way it is, because people might jump to the conclusion that you're overwhelmed or struggling or just plain clueless if your home is always messy, when you don't have a problem with it. I can see how that would be annoying. But putting up a sign that puts others down to get your point across I really don't get.

[artparent]

i do find that a decluttered home is easier to keep, but i definitely struggle if the mess drops below a certain maintenance level. it is a certain amount of work that doesn't look overwhelming to me, still clean or tidy enough that i want to keep it that way...rather than feeling like it is just going to take ages...and sometimes does! i've been feeling a strong desire to do whatever needs doing right away (do it now), and when i can maintain that, keeping house is easy. otherwise it is more like what people say about litter...if there's a bunch of it there already, people will throw more of it, but if it is tidy, they're more likely not to start littering. i can see myself mentally throw my hands in the air. as my children get older and i get more rest or more support, i find it easier. however when something throws my routine i can spend weeks playing that catch up someone mentioned. that's an exhausting way to live. i hope never to return to it, but i'm afraid life sometimes gets away from me!

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[Miss Information]

I think everyone loves/enjoys a clean house. I don't know any that actually like to live in clutter or filth.

For me, it's not a matter of I'm going to play with my kids so I'm not going to clean.

It's a matter of:

Reading/researching/feeding an intellectual drive
Writing
Having passions that take up valuable real estate (craft supplies, sewing supplies, toy making supplies)

Coupled with a home with little closet space (built in the 70s), no spare room to put my craft supplies, and lots of discouragement because we outgrew this house one child ago.

Discouragement plays a HUGE role in whether or not one has the stamina to deal with one's storage limitations.

Cleaning is of course easier when things are decluttered. At the same time I'm not about to declutter things that are my passions. I am going to be work on how to make it better organized (or get a slightly bigger house with a real basement and a real linen closet and slightly larger bedrooms or a spare room/office/craft room - my room is a snug 10x12 - a few extra square feet would make a huge impact.).

That's just my .02.

[kittywitty]

Originally Posted by Purple Sage

I'm a capricorn sun with virgo rising, and I feel the same way.

I am a Virgo with a Capricorn rising and Aries moon. And my oldest is a Capricorn with a Virgo rising. Perfect for each other or our own worst nightmares?

She is the hugest help, though. She is my "second mom" around here!

[kay4]

Another clean house lover here. Unfortunately it hasn't been that way lately but am slowly working on getting it back in shape. I get stressed out and anxious when it is messy and too messy and I fall into the 'i don't even know where to start' which leads to getting overwhelmed and doing nothing, which of course makes it worse. I try to remind myself how wondering it is to wake up to a clean kitchen, to not cringe when someone comes to the door etc and that helps to give me the kick I need :

[artparent]

some wise mamas here suggested i invite someone over, when i was really struggling with motivation and feeling overwhelmed. it really got me back on track. i also use my timer when i'm overwhelmed, and just tell myself i'll take 5 minutes in each room. then i get so much energy from seeing how much better it looks after 5 minutes, i eventually forget to use the timer and really do a solid clean-up.

however when i've been really fatigued or really busy, or just plain sleep-deprived, patience is really the best thing. my house isn't really consistently clean when i'm nursing all night.

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[RoundAbout]

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom

Clearly those statements bother me (I've gotten that one too) or I wouldn't be mentioning them here...but my thing is -- where do you draw the line? Is it more important to play with them, or cook food for them? Play with them or clean their dishes so they don't get sick? Do their laundry?

Yes! I used to buy into this argument. Then I went to visit a friend with twins who had a very clean and tidy at home. At first it looked like she was ignoring her kids a lot, but I started paying attention and I noticed that when she sat down to play them she was 100% focused on them. Unlike me, who was always trying to do everything at once and never felt like I had quality time with my son.

She also didn't mind getting out messy activities because they had a good routine for putting stuff away. I think her kids really benefited from having a chaos-free environment and they often had visitors and play dates because she wasn't embarrassed to show her home, etc.

Additionally I think its important for kids to learn to play by themselves a bit, not to be the center of the universe, and to realize that mom has other work to do.

I really learned from that experience even though I'm still working on achieving it myself.

[crunchy_mama]

On the inviting people over- I have company coming Monday! One lady I know who keeps an immaculate home(as I just visited her house a couple weeks ago). However, it really got me remotivated around here and I could suddenly see the little clutter that had piled up here and there. I HATE clutter. Now there are still some things I want to do,but if I had company I would be ok.

Yesterday I mopped half of the house on my hands and knees. It looks so much better! I also took out Luke's rugs and cleaned them off they are drying outside. I even cleaned our 2 catchall drawers. I have been making sure to try to pick up all clutter before going to bed and take care of supper dishes. Yesterday I put up my dish drainer as it is always a catchall for the dishes and then I end up just letting them sit there and not put them away until I wash more. I hope this will motivate me to wash as I need to and put away right then. Usually I don't ever have more than a few dishes at a time as I have a dishwasher.

I have also heard and baffled at the clean but cluttered home comments. This may be possible to some extent, but to do a deep clean no you cannot . You cannot wipe off all the counters when they are full or clean the floor when it is covered in things. I had a friend say this to me the other day and I was floored. Her house is usually beyond dirty. I think some people have no concept of clean or how to clean. I think for some of us organization and cleanliness is more born in- my mom never taught me either but I think if your floor is covered in dirt and debris(not just toys) than it should be obvious that it is dirty.

If living in a clean house makes me boring so be it. If that makes someone feel better. REally I am no less boring,but much irritated if the house falls apart and the state of the house is usually a commentary of my mental status. It is also an indicator of how the kids and I are relating- it means I am not keeping up on my duties with them- playing- teaching and disciplining.

[Purple Sage]

Originally Posted by kittywitty

I am a Virgo with a Capricorn rising and Aries moon. And my oldest is a Capricorn with a Virgo rising. Perfect for each other or our own worst nightmares?

She is the hugest help, though. She is my "second mom" around here!

You're lucky you have a helper....my kids have no Virgo in their charts whatsoever - and it shows!

[MonkeyPrincess]

I like a nice clean house, too! Unfortunately, for me, its barely ever clean enough for my own standards. I have five kids, home with me all the time, my husband works 12 hours a day and I work on call.

Its gotten better, but I'm not where I want to be. I will be one day, but I know it won't be until my kids are much bigger, so I am willing to wait and just do the best I can in the meantime. I just don't like when people come over, even if they don't mind if I haven't had a chance to sweep the floors yet - I do!

I like cleaning, though, when it makes a difference. At my house, its undone shortly after I do it...

[KayleeZoo]

: I love this thread!

I used to buy into the "our space is too small, I can't declutter/organize", and the "my kids are too little, it's impossible to keep things clean" and the "it takes too much time away from my kids to clean" Mostly, I was just justifying why I didn't DO anything to make my house clean!

With an anxiety disorder, I find that my whole family suffers when I'm overwhelmed and the house gets dirty/cluttered. My attitude gets really bad, and that translates to a bad enviornment for my kids and DH.

I don't want my kids to grow up and remember a dirty or cluttered home. It's NEVER been magazine perfect, but they can have memories of it being relatively clean and neat. Guess I feel that they deserve better than clutter and dirt, kwim?

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

I think her kids really benefited from having a chaos-free environment

One thing I have noticed is that if our playroom floor is full of toys -- the kids will move somewhere else in the house to play. Or they won't play at all...they follow me around talking about how bored they are.

Even they don't like to play in chaos.

But if the floor is clear, they will take out games or plastic animals or whatever and play for hours.

So I try to stay on top of it (with them helping me) and I remind them to pick up their toys if I haven't seen them in there playing with them for an hour or so.

A clear space gives them room to be creative in there...to build forts or elaborate villages or to spread out their puzzles or board games.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Oh and Monday we did a toy purge.

We boxed up half their toys and put them in the storage shed -- they'll resurface again in a month or so.

Once again I was reminded that my kids will play twice as long with half of their toys.

They've been pulling things out that they haven't played with in months -- I think it is because of the extra space.