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anyone else tired of cleaning the house?

post #1 of 17
11/11/05 at 10:36pm
Thread Starter 
sigh. everyday i wake up with the goal that today is gonna be the day where i get everything cleaned and i spend all this time tidying, cleaning doing what needs to be done only to go to bed having it look like pretty much nothing was done i have decluttered pretty much to the point where nothing else can be decluttered, but i do have 4 kids (12,9,5 and 3) along with 2 dogs and a cat. it just gets depressing at times.

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post #2 of 17
11/11/05 at 10:37pm
Yup, especially when it seems like I'm cleaning the same mess over and over and over...
post #3 of 17
11/11/05 at 10:46pm
Sing it sista!

To top it off, dh always manages to make some sort of commentary on the state of the house. He is my cheif clutter collector too. Some days I just want to play with my kiddos and blow it off completely, but if I did that it would be soooo much worse.
post #4 of 17
11/11/05 at 11:39pm
Thread Starter 
mothernature - that would put me over the edge if dh complained. seriously he never ever complains about the state of the house, i am sooo grateful!!
post #5 of 17
11/11/05 at 11:41pm
I'm with ya on this one. The thought that all my hard work is going to be undone shortly after I do it just kills my motivation. I go way too long before I do certain chores b/c it seems so pointless and then when I actually do the chores it takes way longer than it needs to since it hasn't been done in awhile.

I think this is one of the hardest things for me to deal with being a SAHM. When I was working, I could accomplish a task and I wouldn't have to do it again and again and again. I miss being able to look back on the day and see what I've accomplished.
post #6 of 17
11/12/05 at 3:06am
I am sick of cleaning all the time too.
Luckily, I trained my oldest, now 16 , to do alot of it.
She is in charge of the kitchen - from top to bottom
It is one place that i don't usually have to worry too much about.

I strongly suggest that you enlist the help of older children to help out with household tasks. I am extemely picky as to how i want things done. It was frustrating the first year or so. I let her do it all wrong and then i'd do it the right way. It was a pain but so worth it in the end. My son already wants more chores. I think it gives my kids a sense of responsibility for the caring and well being of our family.

That said, my house is still a mess because i still insist on doing too much myself. Every day i let go of a little of the control freak in me - but i have a long way to go.
post #7 of 17
11/12/05 at 8:43am
Ahhh, I was just thinking this this morning. I cleaned up the kitchen at least 3 times yeaterday and when I came down this morning it looks like a tornado hit. It is so depressing. I get so fed up and depressed and actually came down here with the goal today of getting it all in order and decluttering AGAIN, so it is funny that this thread is so timely.

I made a big run to the dump yesterday and took care of the piles of recycling we had sitting around and today I am bagging up stuff for the thrift store and loading it in the van so the kids can't pick through the bags and pull things back out.
post #8 of 17
11/12/05 at 12:25pm
Hell yes!

My fave cleaning tool is a few TRASH BAGS. Though I am a New Englander and we are famous for being pack rats, I have lived with enough of them to learn to love throwing stuff away! The less you have to clean around, the easier. And : to getting older kids to pitch in/be in charge of certain areas of the house!

That said I do have my sentimental stash of stuff, but I limit it to a certain container... I do get very fed up with doing the same tasks daily, esp when it seems I am the only one who does them. So, selfishly, if I find that other family members do not take care of their clutter over a long period of time, I throw it away! This sounds insensitive, and I do not throw away known loved items (like blankies, etc that incidentally are well taken care of), but my kids/husband/dog have yet to notice that i have thrown out any of their stuff.... It is at the Goodwill!
post #9 of 17
11/12/05 at 3:50pm
I vacuumed and swept my kitchen and living room floors 4 times yesterday and when my dh came home, he made a comment about the floors
My vacuum lives in my kitchen or living room....NEVER gets put away......and laundry is a stinkin joke.....I HATE CLEANING!!!!!
post #10 of 17
11/12/05 at 5:54pm
I actually did get a lot done today. The kitchen is spotless. I did clean up the living room and playroom as well, but the playroom is trashed again. I ended up throwing away a bunch of junky toys today, but it still hardly makes a dent. Am I the only one not looking forward to Christmas because of all the toys that will be coming into the house?
post #11 of 17
11/12/05 at 11:12pm
I agree about loathing the amount of Christmas toys coming in... That is why we set the 3 gift limit. Anything more than this is WAY too overwhelming. Extra toys are brought out at birthdays, sick days, etc.. And I always EXCHANGE toys, meaning an old toy is sent to Goodwill for every new toy. We live in a REALLY small home with limited space so this has to be done. Plus, my DD doesn't even miss the toys because they are the ones she has grown out of or has become bored with!
That being said, I hate cleaning, too. Floors are the worst. We have all hardwood floors so we can't just vacuum - you have to mop them too! One "rule" that has really helped keep the floors clean is the "no outdoor shoes worn in the house" rule. Outdoor shoes are kicked off at the door and then we go barefoot or put on slippers.
Having pets REALLY adds to the cleaning duties, as well. We have two cats that shed constantly. I try to brush them regularly, but I am still forever picking up cat hair dustbunnies!
I am in the process of creating a daily chore list that will hopefully help me feel like SOMETHING is being accomplished. Right now, I clean as needed and it just seems like I never catch up! At least I have converted to non-toxic cleaning products, so at least I am not poisoning myself or my family at the same time!

Laura
post #12 of 17
11/13/05 at 11:40am
oh, good, I am not alone. I pick up something everyday and it still looks like *ick*. We both work outside the home, but we had in home care that we thought would help with the clutter...it didn't. *ugh* anyways.....I am trying to stop worrying about it and try to focus on the kids but my min d ios messy when the house it messy and it is a vicious cycle. I am planning to get to the toys before thanksgiving, so we can get ready for the mounds of toys my mil has already set aside for the holidays. *oy*
well today I am focusing on laundry and it isn't so bad. I should have mine, and the girls done soon.
post #13 of 17
11/13/05 at 11:52am
Cleaning the house is bor-RING! But i can't stand total disorganization. I am pretty good at decluttering and we don't have a lot knickknack stuff etc.

I try to get the kids involved as much as I can. I paid 4 kids $5 each yesterday to vaccum inside and rake leaves. It was worth every penny of that $20. My six yr old must have filled 5 huge bags of leaves herself. Altogether, the kids raked 26 bags of leaves and I sent out for Chinese as a surprise. Dh and I worked on some other stuff. Like the bathrooms. (Which he does). I did laundry and wiped down the kitchen.

I could **never** do all this myself. Nor would I even try. Four kids, two dogs. If I could train the 2 fluffy dogs to want $5, I would have them sweep up their own hair balls.
post #14 of 17
11/13/05 at 2:30pm
Thread Starter 
ugh. the toys. yes, i have gone thru all of them and getting rid of anything plasticky and even close to what i think is junk and my definition is pretty broad as to what constitutes junk i gave my MIL a christmas list this year ... she's a wonderful grandma but her gift selection has been rather - uh - interesting - so hopefully she didn't take offence to the list. now, if i could convince her to stop giving them junk that she has held on to from her kids (where is a hairpulling smilie??). sigh.
post #15 of 17
11/13/05 at 5:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by UUMom
If I could train the 2 fluffy dogs to want $5, I would have them sweep up their own hair balls.
:
I often dream of that scenario, LOL! My next life, I am coming back as a cat or a dog!
post #16 of 17
11/13/05 at 5:46pm
I'm so busy cleaning up the daily stuff that I never get to the bigger projects that need to be done. I think it's because I WOH on weekends-I never have any long blocks of time where I can even make a dent. I'm so depressed about it. I feel like it would really make a difference if I could get more done.
post #17 of 17
11/13/05 at 11:45pm
yes, I hate housework. I do manage to get the house tidy most days, but only between the hours of 9 pm and 6 am (when my toddler is sleeping), so its not very rewarding. And I find it worse when I do my cleaning tasks regularly, because you see so little results. If you wait a long time, it is harder, but you can SEE that you cleaned, you know? I remind myself that it is better to have it not need to look like it has to be cleaned, but it doesn't always process if there is a new novel laying about the house waiting for me to read it.

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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Natural Family Living › The Mindful Home › Decluttering, Organizing, & Simplifying › anyone else tired of cleaning the house?