What prevents you from having a clean house? Is it easier for you to get it clean or keep or keep it clean?

[skeeterbug]

I will say that my iPad is vey organized -- every hs pdf in Notability is clearly labelled and correctly categorized.

 

 

:lol:

 

If someone would only come do that to my closet!!!

[lil' maids in a row]

Perhaps it is a cop out, but seriously..... before I married and had kids my apartment was 100% spotless ALL THE TIME. One husband, three kids, two dogs, one cockatiel and a rabbit later...... not so much. I spend much more time cleaning, but there is just so much more messing up going on.

[8circles]

 

 

Seriously? Men. Men keep my house from being spotless. Five of them aged 5 to 53. And their mud, their socks, their mess. Sigh.

 

 

This. This is my problem. Except mine are aged 2 to 42.

[FeFe]

What prevents me? My laziness/perfectionism. Can you be both of those at the same time? :confused1:

 

There's a million things I'd rather do than clean but when I do clean, I do it well. No one does it quite as well as I do, so I just do it all myself but (big whine coming!) it's tough to keep up with six people, one dog and 3600 square feet, the yard, the cars, blahblahblah. And little to no help, so I put it off - vicious cycle. It's frustrating but it's my fault. I should let go of some of my expectations and do my kids a favor and teach them to do more chores and consistently enforce it.

[MiniBlondes]

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.

 

 

This is EXACTLY why I despise clutter. I have a certain clutter tolerance and once I've reached the clutter maximum, my heart rate elevates and I start to have a panic attack. My family has learned to read the signs and they usually jump into action immediately, or they prevent it from getting to that level to begin with. On average, I can tolerate 3-4 items that don't belong in the living room. Beyond that, I start to freak out. DD9 says that she can see it on my face when I get to the bottom of the steps. She says this look comes over my face and that I usually start doing some sort of windshield wiper motion with my hands or arms. Haha.

 

I used to ignore clutter and pretend it wasn't there but I found that my house was constantly out of control and messy and I couldn't keep it clean. A messy house is something that I have very little tolerance for, and when it gets messy and stays messy, I actually get depressed. So it's important that my house stay clean. The easiest and most effective way to do this is by controlling clutter. It took us awhile to get a good system down but I'd say that it's rare for me to ever be embarrassed by surprise guests.

[MissKNG]

The only thing that prevents me from cleaning my house is being bed ridden sick. I tidy and clean all day long, every day.

 

"Excuse the mess" is a phrase that I purposed to NOT apply to me.

 

I teach my girls to pick up after themselves before moving onto the next activity (ie. put away the puzzle, blocks, play doh, etc).

 

I also agree that cleaning is quick, especially if you keep up with it.

 

My days are long so I have plenty of time to keep the place clean. I don't formally exercise because I'm on the move all day long. And I move quickly, I don't putter.

 

It's my OCD...really. And I'm just very good at keeping things going and balanced. I don't know why.

[MiniBlondes]

 

It's my OCD...really. And I'm just very good at keeping things going and balanced. I don't know why.

 

- waves - Nice to meet you fellow OCDer! :)

[MissKNG]

. A messy house is something that I have very little tolerance for, and when it gets messy and stays messy, I actually get depressed. So it's important that my house stay clean. The easiest and most effective way to do this is by controlling clutter. It took us awhile to get a good system down but I'd say that it's rare for me to ever be embarrassed by surprise guests.

 

You are my twin! :thumbup:

[nmoira]

I don't know about "clean" vs "disorganized" but a big reason I have trouble with organization is that I simply don't see the disorder... it makes perfect sense to me the way it is. However, if I walked into my house with no prior memory of it, I'm sure I wouldn't see order, because my brain wouldn't have had a chance to build up an organizational framework for it. Does that make sense?

[Laura Corin]

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.

 

 

This is what I have belatedly discovered about myself. I have to force myself to keep it under control otherwise I can't face it.

 

Laura

[PachiSusan]

I'm lazy.

 

I have to tag on to this honesty. It truly is that I'm lazy and want to do other things. I battle with this all the time.

[KrissiK]

My house is clean. We have a service that comes once a week. But it's messy. And there's a big difference. It's messy because we have too much stuff and while I do work at decluttering, it's a long process with me. And my kids do not clean up after themselves unless I stand there and shake a stick at them. And I just can't be after them all the time or I will go insane. So, it's messy.

[somo_chickenlady]

My house is clean. Always has been, that's just a fact. I hate clutter. I throw away unwanted mail as soon as I get it. I do dishes as soon as I can after eating. I empty trashcans when they're full, not on a certain day, the same for dirty sinks/toilets. Most importantly--I have a husband who willingly helps. We taught the kids very early on that they will help whenever needed, too, for only one reason--they're a part of a family. No money, no rewards, no chore lists. We also taught them that they can spread their toys where ever they want, as long as they clean them when asked. They also had a space/compartment for every toy, so even as toddlers they knew where things belonged.

Some people are lazy, some don't have cooperative spouses, some work such long hours, and some have kids who just don't care to help, and after a while the clutter just snowballs. I also think house size plays into it. Big houses may take longer, and smaller ones show clutter more quickly.

 

 

Exactly to the bolded. The same goes in our family. No money, rewards, or chore lists...he does whatever I ask him to, when I ask him to. I don't ask a lot of him, just to take the trash out when it is full, put the clean dishes away when the rack is full, pick up after himself, wash the dishes he uses, and do his own laundry. That's it. There are other little things here and there that I will ask him to do, but I'm OCD and do most the rest myself b/c in my mind he can't do it the way I can.