amo_mea_filiis. Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Mine is electronics all the way. Sure, the kids make big messes, rarely clean up after themselves, etc. But when my internet is out for extended times, my house is much cleaner! I can get my house shiny clean and organized in 2 days, but i can't seem to keep it that way. This probably ties into internet as well. Where are your problems? (I'm sitting here staring at my messy living room, messy dining room table, and debating on doing something about it.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Basiclly what keeps me from doing it is that I'm sick of cleaning. Sick of it I tell you. It seems that is all I do. So while it is tidy, it certainly could use a good vacuuming and dusting. The basin and toilet need a good scrubbing. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender's green Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I can get my house spotlessly clean in one day, but I hate devoting an entire day to it and then the toddler comes along and does his toddler things... So that's why I clean a little bit every day. I do my chore of the day upstairs with my son's "help," and do it downstairs plus drymopping and decluttering while he naps in the afternoon. I do laundry throughout the week on an as-needed basis. We rarely have more mess than a little toy clutter and a dirty dish or two in the sink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotSoObvious Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Is the keeping it clean. We are good at doing big cleaning days and getting it spotless, then things start to pile up, we tried Fly Lady. Our old neighborhood house was always clean. Now that we live in the country and don't get visitors, there is little motivation. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Electronics definitely contributes, I waste too much time on-line. If I have a good book, that will do it too. My biggest problems though are space and kids. We have a serious lack of space. I've been working steadily for years on purging, packing away, rearranging, and organizing. It's getting better all the time but it still looks messy very quickly and easily (one blanket and a few toys and it looks trashed). All rooms open directly into the living room so the kids bedrooms are right there. Then there's the kids. Two seconds after I clean, there's toys everywhere (which really messes with my motivation). I need to be more consistent on making them bring stuff back in their rooms at least. Getting them to straighten there rooms would be a bonus. Right now an additional problem is the cold, damp weather we are having is bringing aches and pains with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassy Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Nothing. My house is spotless. Except for the dung from the flying pigs :D. Seriously? Men. Men keep my house from being spotless. Five of them aged 5 to 53. And their mud, their socks, their mess. Sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyhomemaker Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 My biggest stumbling block is any break in our routine. I can carve out a day to get the house clean, and I can keep it that way by cleaning a little every day. But if I have to run an unexpected errand, go out of town, tend to a sick kid, etc., I lose my cleaning time and can't seem to be able to dig my way out of the hole that something unexpected creates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 It's because I have about 50 things higher than cleaning on my priority list. I enjoy cleaning. But I get a lot of guilt and grief if I take time to do it when I have work deadlines piling up, the kids are slipping in school, etc. Which is always. I have a big house (for one person to clean, especially if she's a single working mom) and many years of accumulation of other people's hoarding. (I used to be a bit of a hoarder, but now I'm more of a purger.) It would probably take a solid month of focus for me to get this place in shape. I don't have a month, and probably never will. Besides, I'd have to get the cooperation of the hoarders. Fat chance. I do try to keep the areas used by me and my kids decent most of the time. Though, one day of playing in the house with an auntie in charge, and you'd think it had never been neat. We have maids who come every 3-4 weeks to keep things in a condition where the house is unlikely to be condemned. The other thing is that our house needs a lot of things replaced. Even when it's actually clean, things look dirty / dingy because they have old wear / water stains etc. So I don't have that motivation of "the house will look so nice if I clean." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brilliant Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Sloth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Sloth. Yeah, that's what I really meant, but you said it better, LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 My house is as clean as I need it to be. What used to keep it from getting that way: 1) Being overwhelmed by the whole task. Solution: I broke it down into daily chunks of two hours. Once my work in those two hours is done, I'm done for the day. 2) Getting all bent out of shape about dirt on the floor. Solution: Reality of living in the woods with four dogs, nine cats and fourteen chickens that we all dearly love and visit often means there will always be dirt on the floor at some point during the day. All the mats in the world will not keep it out. And I've lived with people who insist on shoes being left at the door. Not going to do that. But we do have boots to wear in the creek now, and I have chicken shoes. To make myself feel better part of my evening chores includes a quick sweep over of the house. It takes 20 to 30 minutes and ensures that I go to bed with a mostly clean floor everywhere. Happy me! 3) Rigidly cleaning the way my mother taught me. Solution: I needed my own cleaning routines that worked for me and my house. Part of that is loose sorting of laundry, folding and putting away every load when it is done instead of batching it as my mum did. Not soaking dishes is another thing. Probably the biggest thing is the use of boiling hot water to clean the tub and fixtures. Now everything does get done and I've got my own special ways of doing it. I am also now a lot more relaxed with my boys when it comes to cleaning. My own mother often pointed out where I had not done things as whe wanted them done, and I had a habit of doing that to my boys. Now I'm far more likely to start with an array of how pleased I am at how they did things instead of a recital on how I would have done it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Clutter. I could clean if I could actually, you know, see the majority of the surfaces in my house. Unfortunately, I live with a pack rat who just doesn't see the clutter or mess. Drives me nuts (clutter literally makes me physically ill), but it's not likely to change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Neither. Both. I can't keep it clean if I can't ever get it clean. I can spend hours cleaning and 10 minutes after people come home, it's trashed. I have a dh w/ ADD, and 2 kids w/ AD/HD. Dh used to not do anything, and I mean anything. He does do dishes and laundry now, but even when he cleans something, it isn't "clean". He just doesn't "see" stuff. If he spills sugar, he wipes up some, but doesn't really check the counter so he doesn't get half of it. The kids don't either. They spill milk when getting a drink or cereal...they don't see it. Even when they try and clean it up, they don't see it all and end up leaving half the mess. Laundry never gets put in drawers- it goes on their beds, dressers, etc. falls to the floor, and ends back up in the dirty laundry, never having been worn. Dd and ds will get a cup, pour themselves some milk or whatever, set it down, forget that they have a cup, or what it looks like, or where they put it. 20 minutes later, they are doing the same thing. Trails of papers from school work all over the place, dirty socks taken off and thrown next to, or into the clean pile of socks I was trying to fold in the living room, etc. etc. I ask them to pick something up, they forget. I ask again, they forget. I say do it now, because you keep forgetting.. they get angry cuz I'm nagging, explode, go to their room... and, and, and.... And then there's me. I completely shut down if the other people in the house aren't helping, and are just getting in my way. I can't function, so I just don't. Hmm, so I guess it's getting it clean, mostly. Because it never is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I can ALWAYS find something more important to do :-). I have students in my home 2 days a week, so the downstairs does stay mostly presentable. I tend to clean quickly to get it over with. Right now, my house could benefit from a good, detailed, deep-cleaning but THAT'S not happening anytime soon. One day when the weather is warm, the urge to REALLY clean will strike and I'll do a full-out G.I. party, but there is NO predicting when this will happen. I simply cannot schedule when inspiration will strike and right now my brain is in dance choreographer mode and it needs to stay THERE for today, at least. My house USED to be messier, but my kids are older now and don't really play with toys anymore. They are also big enough to be useful and they don't interrupt all that much. I'm down to one child at home during the school day, so I'm really out of good excuses for letting it get trashed in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Stuff. Seriously, the less stuff you have, the easier it is to clean. Wiping counters takes seconds if there is no junk on the counters - the piles of stuff are the deterrent. Sweeping floors is quick if there is no stuff on the floor. Cleaning is quick. It's clutter that eats time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeschoolMamaOfTwo Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I can get it clean but can't keep it clean. Basically, I am lazy and I don't take the time to put things back where they go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 My biggest problem is that I let other people live here. Every evening the house is reasonably clean - dishes done, kitchen, bathrooms and living areas tidied, toys and clean laundry put away, etc. Then in the morning everybody wakes up and it all goes downhill. By 8am I look around and DH made his breakfast and left the kitchen a mess, the preschooler went potty and washed his hands and the bathroom is now a flood zone, the toddler "read" 20 books and left them scattered all over the play room before I corralled him for breakfast where his chair, the table and the floor are now piled with crumbs and smeared with peanut butter. The messes pile up faster than I can clean them and my motivation plummets as I realize I HAVE to get dinner in the crockpot and start some laundry and make an important phone call before I can even address any of those messes and by then more messes will have been made. Wendy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraciebytheBay Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 What prevents me from having a clean house? Three words: OTHER LIVING BEINGS. Keeping it clean is impossible these days. I can get it clean in less than two hours, but I can't keep it clean for more than a fraction of that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaffodilDreams Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 It's much easier for me to get it clean than to keep it clean. It takes an entire day to clean it, and then the dog, the child, and the dh come along and undo all that I did. I never realized how much dh contributed to the undoing of a clean house until he began traveling for work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elinor Everywhere Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Our house is usually presentable, with things put away and floors clean (except the kitchen floor, which seems to be a magnet for food, dust, dirt, dog hair, etc). So I'd say "picking up" is my thing, along with having the kids pick up their things around the main living areas. If people stop by unexpectedly, it's not a major problem. BUT, if they were to go back to the bedrooms...umm...that's where half the stuff gets piled and stashed. Piles of paper to be filed on my desk. Piles of my daughter's STUFF all over her room. Piles of Legos on my son's floor. Oy. I have a house cleaner every other week to deal with the bathrooms and heavier cleaning, which has helped. Since my kids started ps this year (my dd only part-time), they don't have the time to clean like they used to. I still do my cleaning routine, which is breakfast/lunch dishes, patio watering, dog poop pick-up, laundry, my bedroom. But the rest of the "cleaning" waits for the house cleaner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 The fact that we live in it, and we are here all day is why my house is a mess. I sit at the computer while my kids do their lessons. If I get up and do something else (which I do sometimes) they stop working. My mom promises that someday I will have a clean house and not to worry about it now. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaleidoscope Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 My day dreaming is what gets me. I start staring off into space and I don't finish a single task. I must get up and get busy now. I have a crazy week ahead and need to start with a clean house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Energy. I have limited energy due to health issues. My kids get a great education, they have a stimulating environment, and we eat healthy foods. I get the laundry done. DH shares dishes and cooking duties. We have a weekly housekeeper who does the big jobs, changes linens, etc. Without her, things slide. Not terribly, because our standards are high, but they slide. Keeping things clean is harder for me - my creative boy is a leave-it-out-I'm-still-working-on-it type. So he tends to make piles. The saving grace is that we have to get maid-ready once a week. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I am not majorly bothered by a messy house but the thing that stops it being tidier is the lack of storage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbecueMom Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 My biggest problem is that I let other people live here. Every evening the house is reasonably clean - dishes done, kitchen, bathrooms and living areas tidied, toys and clean laundry put away, etc. Then in the morning everybody wakes up and it all goes downhill. By 8am I look around and DH made his breakfast and left the kitchen a mess, the preschooler went potty and washed his hands and the bathroom is now a flood zone, the toddler "read" 20 books and left them scattered all over the play room before I corralled him for breakfast where his chair, the table and the floor are now piled with crumbs and smeared with peanut butter. The messes pile up faster than I can clean them and my motivation plummets as I realize I HAVE to get dinner in the crockpot and start some laundry and make an important phone call before I can even address any of those messes and by then more messes will have been made. Wendy This, all of it. Especially the crumbs. Plus, between my carpets stained beyond salvaging and my walls smudged and streaked and my floor tiles falling out and every closet or shower door in the house broken off the tracks, it can be totally sanitary and clutter-free, but still look awful. My hormones tell me there's no point, go eat chocolate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Not keeping to my cleaning routine/schedule is what throws me. When I do things run very smoothly. I have a list of daily chores for each kid and almost every day there's a scheduled weekly chore for each kid to do. It's the holidays and unexpected things that take us away from the house that interfere. As long as we do school first, then chores, then scheduled activities or free time, we're good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeterbug Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 What prevents me from having a clean house? Three words: OTHER LIVING BEINGS. Keeping it clean is impossible these days. I can get it clean in less than two hours, but I can't keep it clean for more than a fraction of that! This. Just can't keep it clean. No one else can seem to remember to put stuff away after they use it! And everything has a spot, right? But I seem to be the only one that knows that spot for most things. My other excuse is pregnancy. I've been completely exhausted and just plain don't have the energy. Ergh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooCow Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 What prevents me from having a clean house? my family ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 My love of reading. Given the choice between cleaning and reading the book will win every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedicMom Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Men. Particularly the 29-year-old and the 2-year-old. Working fifty hours a week. And having one closet in the entire house along with no attic and basement. I gave in and hired a once a week housecleaner. Now I just feel like I have to clean up before she comes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 We do ok, but there could be improvement if: - I made a greater effort to stick the great cleaning routine I put together (it looks fantastic on paper :tongue_smilie: ) - I was more consistent in making the kids pick up after themselves - we really adhered to the rule of "clean as you go" (when we don't leave a room until we've picked up and put away what we took out, the house stays picked up) So...the theme in all of the above is greater effort and consistency (mostly on my part). :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PachiSusan Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Toys. No matter how much I "nag", not nag, plead, tell, reward - Melissa just does not think of putting things away when she's done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeterbug Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Toys. No matter how much I "nag", not nag, plead, tell, reward - Melissa just does not think of putting things away when she's done. I keep wondering (hoping) if there is a certain age where this kicks in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hypatia. Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Internet. Too much stuff. In particular, too many kids' toys & clothes despite constant purging. Not having a home for everything. A newborn. Did I mention the internet? And inertia. And object at rest on her butt with her laptop tends to stay at rest on her butt with a laptop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readinmom Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 My family. It's like a game. I start in one part of the house, leave it sparkling and immaculate, and by the time I return, it looks like a disaster. I go through periods of "why bother?", but then my sage side says clean it anyways. Eventually they have to pick up on this cue, right? Right...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 basically i hate cleaning and dont care enough. the year i was home with the youngest, and the older kids were in school, i did flylady and it was clean. but now i'm too stressed out and busy and, yes, on the webs constantly and i have a bad knee . . . and i just dont care enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Hairy dogs sometimes, but right now my house is messy due to the tent drying in the living room from this weekend's camping trip. Once the tent is gone, our house wil lgo back to being mostly clean all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 1) I'd rather read and post on the Hive. 2) Cleaning any room in the house is like a gigantic child magnet. As soon as I get it clean they are immediately in there, messing it up. 3) I'd rather read and post on the Hive. 4) It is one of those jobs that is never "done", so I get discouraged. 5) I'd rather read and post on the Hive. 6) I've relaxed my standards a LOT in the past couple of years. Probably too much - but I can't seem to work up the energy to care. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 #1 I just don't care that much. If I did, I would make it a priority. #2 anyone in the family who does care is welcomed to make it their priority. #3 it isn't my job to do the cleaning, set the tone of the cleanliness of the house, or set priorities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 2) Cleaning any room in the house is like a gigantic child magnet. As soon as I get it clean they are immediately in there, messing it up. ... 4) It is one of those jobs that is never "done", so I get discouraged. These two reasons are why it is so much harder to keep it clean. I wish I have a spare room to make into my kids playroom so that its a contained mess. But since we have no spare, the living room is their playroom and they put in their best effort to clean up before bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atozmom Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Cleaning is never done. That's the thing. Yes this. It seems the minute you think you have everything clean, you turn around and discover there is something else that needs to be done. Add to that a busy schedule and then there is even less time for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linders Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Boys. Dog. DH (who is currently sanding wood in my kitchen because, hey, it's cold out). And not to be left out, the horrid red clay of the South. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSOchristie Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Asher. Jackson. Piper. Logan. Asher is like a tornado, he blows through leave a path of destruction, seriously, you can follow his path through the house. My saving grace is they know they have to pick up completely twice a day. So our house is clean during rest time and at night...when no one is looking at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSOchristie Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 These two reasons are why it is so much harder to keep it clean. I wish I have a spare room to make into my kids playroom so that its a contained mess. But since we have no spare, the living room is their playroom and they put in their best effort to clean up before bed. It is really hard to keep clean when you don't have a playroom. I am constantly throwing stuff or asking my kids to throw stuff back into the playroom. They have a closet that I emptied to use as their "secret fort" and the playroom for their toys, if I don't allow them anywhere else including their bedrooms. This so helps to contain the clutter. We didn't have a playroom at our last house and it always looked like an episode of Cops, clutter everywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janie Grace Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Homeschooling (it takes a lot of time, you know!). Also, that we are here a lot -- in and out, making and eating food, etc. If the kids were at school, I guarantee it would be cleaner. But honestly... cleaning bores me. I do enough so that it's not gross but there are about a million other things I find more interesting. Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom in High Heels Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I'm lazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 We are remodeling right now so everything is removed from a room and is all stuffed other places. That and the fact that I am rarely home and when I am home I spend the time working with dd on school and music rather than clean my house. Once the remodel is complete, I will have places for things and hopefully will be able to get the house clean and keep it that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somo_chickenlady Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 For me it is harder to get it clean once it gets messy b/c I easily get overwhelmed. It is so much easier for me to just keep it clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 I'm too lazy to write an actual post, but I *liked* a bunch of lazy/clutter/rather read/post on Hive posts. I will say that my iPad is vey organized -- every hs pdf in Notability is clearly labelled and correctly categorized. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amo_mea_filiis. Posted January 29, 2013 Author Share Posted January 29, 2013 Every single time i reach the end of the internet, i find something new! Right now it's behavioral stuff. Having extremely portable internet ready devices has made everything worse. I found that if my kitchen is clean, the rest is somehow easier to deal with. When my house had to be inspected over the summer, it was spotless. I wasnt sure what the guy was going to be looking for. I managed by taking cooking and cleaning the kitchen out of the equation. We ate frozen meals for a week with plastic utensils! Dinner clean up involved me telling the kids to throw out their tray and fork! Lol. I'm going to shower and clean my kitchen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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