s/o of house being a pit -- what do YOU not do?

[Melissa in Australia]

other.

We live a pretty much Self-sufficient lifestyle that includes growing just about all fruit and veggies, meet and milk. I cook every single meal from scratch, including all our own bread. this year I am only homeschooling the 3 younger ones, and all afternoon subjects are teacher intensive. I also supervise the children doing their morning schoolwork. I try to keep the house clean, though it defiantly has the lived in look. I referee basketball and am studying for my bachelors full time.

[JessReplanted]

As an example of what my expectations are around here these days:

 

Last week my husband jokingly said something about housework, and I replied: "I think I'm doing pretty well, considering I'm still growing a baby, we have started school, and you still have clean  underwear!"

 

That about sums it up. :lol:

[PeacefulChaos]

I don't clean much.  That's really the only thing that applies to me.  :P

I'll admit, I really really REALLY hate to clean.  I don't do it even close to as much as I should.  DH thinks it is absolutely INSANE that I want to hire someone to do it once I've paid for my trip to Thailand- he thinks, 'But you're here!  Every day!  Why waste money on hiring someone to do something you can just as easily do yourself?!'

But seriously, I think I will.  I do like to have a clean house, I'm just really easily frustrated by all the work that I feel needs to go into it.  We have clutter which I'd like to go through.  I'd like to get rid of some stuff, build some more shelves, etc, etc.  DH wants to, too - but he always brings up doing it at really weird times for me (like when he gets home from work) but then when we have a free Saturday and I want to do it, he doesn't want to.  :rolleyes:

Hmm... he's not working this Thursday or Friday.  Kekekekekeke..... :D

[PeacefulChaos]

OMG this stupid browser is driving me nuts today with the double posting!  Ugh!  :glare:

[Spryte]

When DH and I got married, he knew I was not domestic.  He committed to being a team on the housework/cooking front.  And we are.  

 

We have 3 kids.  One adult (out of the house), DS 9 yo, and DD 2 yo.

 

DH works full time +, of course, and some extra on our own business projects.  But so do I.  His view is that my job is teaching our kids.  :)  (To be very up front, too, I have had chronic health issues that impacted our lives in a big way.  DH is determined that I get enough rest etc to keep my immune system functioning well, and is very protective of that.)

 

He loves to cook, so often he cooks.  Or I throw something easy in the crockpot or do a simple dinner.  But if we are having guests or want something more elaborate - DH cooks.  He is better at it than I am.  (Thank you, Food Network!)  We don't use convenience foods or eat out much due to life threatening allergies.  Most things are made from scratch, with the exception of gluten free, allergen free bread - we've found a good source for that, thankfully.

 

We share the daily clean up stuff, the kids help.  I do the laundry because DH is seriously laundry challenged (enough items were faded onto, shrunk, or dried when they should not have been over the years that I took over laundry).  DH irons.

 

We used to share cleaning duties, but now we outsource.  We have a weekly service for the basics - changing sheets, mopping, dusting, bathrooms, etc.  Love it.  We have to do a lot of extra re: asthma care for DS, so there's a slew of weekly washing curtains etc, that happens here that might not happen otherwise.  We take care of that.

 

I use fairly intensive teaching materials, because they work best for non-workbooky DS.  

 

 

[KrissiK]

We have a weekly cleaning service. But, the house is still a mess. Just not a dirty mess. Lol. I just lower my standards and do what I can.

[SailorMom]

Not just here - but IRL and on other threads, I've noticed a lot of "I just really hate cleaning" comments....  Um - doesn't everyone ???  Seriously - does anyone here actually enjoy cleaning? 

It reminds me of the parents who don't volunteer to help with Scouts or sports because they don't like doing it.... ummmm....  well - it isn't exactly how I want to spend all of my free time either.  There have actually been people who have said that "Well, but people like you love to do it, so there are enough volunteers...".  Yeah - NOT. 

I hate cleaning.  I always have.  If I had the money I'd hire someone in a heartbeat.  But - I clean.  I guess really liking the end result is worth it, lol.  Kinda like the end result of scouting and sports....

[KrissiK]

Not just here - but IRL and on other threads, I've noticed a lot of "I just really hate cleaning" comments.... Um - doesn't everyone ??? Seriously - does anyone here actually enjoy cleaning?

It reminds me of the parents who don't volunteer to help with Scouts or sports because they don't like doing it.... ummmm.... well - it isn't exactly how I want to spend all of my free time either. There have actually been people who have said that "Well, but people like you love to do it, so there are enough volunteers...". Yeah - NOT.

I hate cleaning. I always have. If I had the money I'd hire someone in a heartbeat. But - I clean. I guess really liking the end result is worth it, lol. Kinda like the end result of scouting and sports....

That reminds me of a conversation I had with DS last week. He was complaining that he hated grammar, ergo he shouldn't have to do it. He was saying this as I was scrubbing grime and dirt off of walls. And I looked at him and said, " do you really think I like scrubbing you kids' fingerprints off the walls? I hate it, but I do it because it needs to be done!" He went into his room quietly and finished his grammar.

[Parrothead]

I have one kid. My house is never a pit. It isn't because I have only one kid. My house isn't a pit because we clean daily. Everyone pitches in and we go to bed with a tidy house. This was true when my kid was under 5. It would be true if I had 5 or more kids. A clean/tidy house is a priority to me.

 

I have a master list I go by. I just had to re-do it because I lost the last one. It covers every room top to bottom. It has daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual jobs.

 

I'm a full time homemaker, a full time teacher, a full time student and with luck by the end of the week I'll have a part time outside the home job. I can't function in chaos.

[I.Dup.]

We have 7 children, 4 of them under 5, including a newborn. I breastfeed the newborn constantly. I work part-time from home.

 

I have a "mother's helper" come over 4 days a week. Originally I was going to try to be productive during this time, but I end up just sleeping with the baby while she's here. The only time I can nap is if there is another adult in the house because of the number and ages of our children. 

 

We do not do outside activities, and I don't plan to anytime soon.

 

My husband is home at 3pm every afternoon and he's home on the weekends. He does dinner most nights. He does not help around the house, but he does help quite a bit with the kids. When he's home, I'd say we do 50/50 care with the kids.

 

We get take out or eat out 1-3 times a week.

 

I do not function well in chaos, although our house is definitely "lived in." I wipe down toilets every other day or so, I clean the kitchen several times a day, and the kids have chores like vacuuming the kitchen floor, cleaning up the playroom, and folding and putting away the laundry every day. I clean about 1-2 hours a day.

 

The more children we have, the more I've needed to get my act together and follow a stricter schedule if I expect schoolwork and house cleaning to get done. That has helped a lot. I do not choose to do curriculum that is really teacher intensive. We have not stuck with science or arts and crafts well so far.

[I.Dup.]

I hate cleaning.  I always have.  If I had the money I'd hire someone in a heartbeat.  But - I clean.  I guess really liking the end result is worth it, lol.  Kinda like the end result of scouting and sports....

 

I think the end result of organization and cleaning is worth it. It is very important to me.

 

I do not feel that way about outside activities or sports (for the kids), or exercise (for me) at this point in time.

 

To each his own.