Does anyone else think cleaning is a waste of time?

calico2222

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Ok, I do clean my house, really I do. But, usually it's a quick "clean if people can see it" type of deal. You know, dust, run the sweeper, straighten up the kitchen, sweep and mop, pick up clothes...the everyday type of thing. Ok, vaccuum and mopping probably aren't everyday...and well, dusting isn't either..ok, so I'm a terrible housekeeper. I'll admit that!

But, there are a few rooms that just get the door closed if company comes over. One, is our bedroom..the other is the spare bedroom where my computer is. Well, we found out this afternoon we're getting company Wednesday and he needs the guest room. Yep...it's the mad dash and OMG. I had boxes stacked (that the cats got into and tore up), dust an inch thick, so much dog hair I honestly thought we had another pet! I FINALLY got everything gone through, put away, dusted (I can actually see my computer screen now...woohoo!) and vaccuumed. Now, all I have to do tomorrow is scrub the carpet, put clean sheets on the bed...and clean the rest of the house, right? Yeah, right.

I walked out of the room for dinner and forgot to close the door, and came back in and Brooke (our long haired dog) laying in the middle of the floor, scratching, and dog hair flying everywhere again! It literally doesn't look like I vaccuumed at all..tuffs of white hair everywhere (she is still shedding
) And it had only been 1 hour!! Then Harley decided to gorge on dinner again, play, and came in and puked right on the bed (luckily the mattress pad was still on, but still.....

So, my question is...why bother? With 6 cats and 4 dogs it's impossible to keep a clean house! DH and I both work full time (with 1 hr commute one way) and I don't have the time or the energy to do this every day! I'm just frustrated tonight. I don't know how you people with pets and kids do it! I wouldn't give my pets up for the world...but catch me in the right mood (like now) I would seriously consider it!
 

abbycats

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Originally Posted by calico2222

Ok, I do clean my house, really I do. But, usually it's a quick "clean if people can see it" type of deal. You know, dust, run the sweeper, straighten up the kitchen, sweep and mop, pick up clothes...the everyday type of thing. Ok, vaccuum and mopping probably aren't everyday...and well, dusting isn't either..ok, so I'm a terrible housekeeper. I'll admit that!

But, there are a few rooms that just get the door closed if company comes over. One, is our bedroom..the other is the spare bedroom where my computer is. Well, we found out this afternoon we're getting company Wednesday and he needs the guest room. Yep...it's the mad dash and OMG. I had boxes stacked (that the cats got into and tore up), dust an inch thick, so much dog hair I honestly thought we had another pet! I FINALLY got everything gone through, put away, dusted (I can actually see my computer screen now...woohoo!) and vaccuumed. Now, all I have to do tomorrow is scrub the carpet, put clean sheets on the bed...and clean the rest of the house, right? Yeah, right.

I walked out of the room for dinner and forgot to close the door, and came back in and Brooke (our long haired dog) laying in the middle of the floor, scratching, and dog hair flying everywhere again! It literally doesn't look like I vaccuumed at all..tuffs of white hair everywhere (she is still shedding
) And it had only been 1 hour!! Then Harley decided to gorge on dinner again, play, and came in and puked right on the bed (luckily the mattress pad was still on, but still.....

So, my question is...why bother? With 6 cats and 4 dogs it's impossible to keep a clean house! DH and I both work full time (with 1 hr commute one way) and I don't have the time or the energy to do this every day! I'm just frustrated tonight. I don't know how you people with pets and kids do it! I wouldn't give my pets up for the world...but catch me in the right mood (like now) I would seriously consider it!
I was just telling my husband tonight how I don't have the energy to be a top notch house cleaner! I admit I am a surface cleaner! I probably have a huge dust bunny waiting to attack somewhere!

Out of 6 cats 5 are really good. I have the ultimate house wrecker in 1 feline. I can't keep up with her at times!

I'm not a slob but I am not immaculate either
 

kittkatt

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Originally Posted by abbycats

I'm not a slob but I am not immaculate either

With ten cats now "running" my house, it's almost impossible to keep up with it all!
And with me having degenerative disc disease, it doesn't help any..


The place isn't a pigsty, but I don't do a "thorough" cleaning unless I'm expecting company.
 

tierre0

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I have a poster on my hall closet door that reads....

Enter at your own risk the dust bunnies are armed and dangerous..


Seriously though with 3 cats and a fairly small apartment I swear I could vacuum 24/7 and there still would be cat hair...
I figure as long a things are tidy, not to cluttered, the dishes are done, the laundry is at least confined to baskets, the litter boxes are done everyday and the floor is clean, unless the Queen is coming for a visit everything is fine...
 

amberthe bobcat

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I fully understand as well. Unless you do not have to work, with having multiple pets, it is almost impossible to keep a clean house. My main thing is clutter, I hate it, but I can deal with the house not being spotless. My pets are more important than a spotless house.
 

white cat lover

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I'm among the worst house keepers in the world.
I hate cleaning & never get anywhere. With the 3 dogs, 5 of my own cats, Bea who is neither mine nor anyone else's, plus Eden & her 4 babies....I don't get much done. What I do get done, they get undone very quickly.


I vacuum once a week, when I should do it more often.
 

lsanders

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Originally Posted by tierre0

I have a poster on my hall closet door that reads....

Enter at your own risk the dust bunnies are armed and dangerous..
Ha! My mom had one that said "Dull women have immaculate homes"...I had a cousin who had one, I guess it was sort of a well-known, iconic poster from the 70's that said (avert your children's eyes)" F**k housework!"

Yeah, we pretty much don't clean until we've hit that tolerance level of "ohmigod, we're living in squalor" or we have guests coming over. Sometimes we're tempted to have people over just so it forces us to clean.

I mean, the place isn't *dirty*- all surfaces where food is prepared are clean and there's not usually any rotting garbage....but the dishes do pile up over a couple of days and there's some clutter.

Most of our friends have pets AND kids, so they're unfazed by it, but we don't even have the excuse of kids.

There's some areas of the house that need MAJOR overhauls- the office has become the dumping ground for all the papers- newspapers, junk mail, old bills, etc. Our bedroom is covered in laundry and it's getting harder and harder to tell what's clean and what's dirty. Our bedroom closet is piled high with mostly dirty laundry. We just have too much clothes, and a lot of it's been sitting in there for months....obviously, we're not missing it, so we should just get rid of it, right? I *HATE* living in a condo and not having our own washer/dryer. It's such a pain.
 

rosiemac

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All of you that know me know i had to post in this thread


Yes, i confess, i love my house clean and tidy. No i don't have OCD, i just like to live in a clean and tidy house that's all.
Originally Posted by lsanders

Ha! My mom had one that said "Dull women have immaculate homes"...
And i'm far from dull. If anything that's a line for an excuse not to do housework
 

jack31

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I dont' go so far as immaculate but I like a clean house--I grew up with a mom who lived by the motto of "You never know when someone is going to stop in for a visit"

I do occasionally slack, and to get myself moving, usually invite people over, so I know I'll make myself clean up.

Leslie
 

rubsluts'mommy

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Originally Posted by Jack31

I dont' go so far as immaculate but I like a clean house--I grew up with a mom who lived by the motto of "You never know when someone is going to stop in for a visit"

I do occasionally slack, and to get myself moving, usually invite people over, so I know I'll make myself clean up.

Leslie
HA! My mother was the exact opposite. She hated having people over. She resisted us having sleepovers/parties/etc. Family even rarely came over. My mother was a wretched housekeeper. She did the cooking, dishes and laundry, but nothing else. She never pulled the vacuum out. My sister would get bored once in a while and vacuum her car and room, then continue it through whatever floor she could find in the house. There's as reason they chose dark brown carpeting... you figure that one out. It's not hard.

Now, she didn't have us do it either. Now that I'm an adult (although I don't feel like one sometimes), I see that having chores as a kid is a GOOD thing... but my parents didn't feel the same. I have a schedule... Bathrooms on Fridays (one day off), and then alternating tidying up each of the other main rooms on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, rotating each week. Is it perfect? No. But it's more than I've been doing.

All that said, I have the desire to clean... but working two 'stand-up' jobs, one with a long commute, when I get home, I have no desire to do anything but sit. Mostly since my feet can't handle standing for much longer. I've recently (voluntarily) cut one of my days out of one job, so I have time at home to clean and start up my business... and it's helping. You can actually see most of my office floor. You really wouldn't have wanted to see it before.

Originally Posted by lsanders

There's some areas of the house that need MAJOR overhauls- the office has become the dumping ground for all the papers- newspapers, junk mail, old bills, etc. Our bedroom is covered in laundry and it's getting harder and harder to tell what's clean and what's dirty. Our bedroom closet is piled high with mostly dirty laundry. We just have too much clothes, and a lot of it's been sitting in there for months....obviously, we're not missing it, so we should just get rid of it, right? I *HATE* living in a condo and not having our own washer/dryer. It's such a pain.
That's how I am. I can get the laundry through the washer and dryer, but getting it to the 'put away' point is hard. Although this is why I have my dirty clothes in the bathroom... I know that the clean onees are in the bedroom!

I have a tshirt on my cafepress store that is perfect for me:

Neat Freak Trapped Inside a Packrat's Body

I envision a nice, almost zen-like apartment... but the reality is far from it. working in a fabric store has made me worse... the fabric is semi-organized now, but all the other stuff has suffered for it. I'm slowly working on it... slowly. My ADD affects this as well...

"Must do laundry... must do dishes... must do- ohh! shiny!"

That. Is. Me. Yes I have clutter. Do I love clutter? No. But trying to manage the stuff i have in the small space i have isn't easy... not to mention the lack of free time I've had...

Okay, long post over... this morning, before going to work at 1pm, I'll try to tidy up the bedroom without getting distracted... we have a nice cooling rain/t-storm going right now (after nearly a week of 100+ weather), so the windows are wide open and I don't need the fans on... such a nice feeling.

Amanda
 

misty8723

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Originally Posted by Rosiemac

Yes, i confess, i love my house clean and tidy. No i don't have OCD, i just like to live in a clean and tidy house that's all.
I also like to have a clean and tidy house - I just want someone else to come and make it that way for me
 

forensic

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I HATE cleaning. HATE it. HATEHATEHATE.

My roomie, on the other hand, has boughts of OCD-like cleanliness. I clean if she tells me to or if it's bothering me... but MY room is off-limits to her insanity! I need a place to be a slob! It's comforting!
 

ninacaliente

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My parents have always kept an immaculate house. I have always been a slob. Mom & Dad finally gave up on me and just kept my bedroom door closed.

As an adult, I just do not have the neat freak gene. I do, however, really appreciate the calm and pleasant energy that comes with a clean house. When I was a SAHM, I relied heavily on Flylady principles to keep the house manageable. When I was working and going to school, plus taking care of kids and pets, housework pretty much went by the wayside until it got intolerable. Now that I'm done with school, I am really trying to establish some new routines to keep up with everything. AND I'm trying to make my kids do chores! DH is great about helping out too.

Clutter does get to be an issue in our tiny house though. I desperately want to move to a bigger house that actually has some storage space!
 

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Originally Posted by Rosiemac

All of you that know me know i had to post in this thread


Yes, i confess, i love my house clean and tidy. No i don't have OCD, i just like to live in a clean and tidy house that's all.

And i'm far from dull. If anything that's a line for an excuse not to do housework
I'm with Susan on this one! I'm not OCD eithor, but I can not stand a dirty house! I vaccume almost daily and make sure we stay up to par with all of our cleaning/chores/etc. I want our home not only to look presentable, but to also as clean as possible since i've got allergies/asthma. It is possible to have a clean house and multiple animals


My mom has owned her own cleaning business since i was a little girl, so i guess she rubbed off on me
I like my home tidy!
It's not perfect- but i do try to keep it as clean as possible. (We have 2 dogs and 3 cats and constantly have foster animals in and out.) I take pride in our home, so i'm more than happy to spend a little extra time to try and keep it nice.
 

pami

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Originally Posted by Rosiemac

All of you that know me know i had to post in this thread


Yes, i confess, i love my house clean and tidy. No i don't have OCD, i just like to live in a clean and tidy house that's all.

And i'm far from dull. If anything that's a line for an excuse not to do housework
What are you doing in this thread?
 

brandi

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I dont like a dirty house but I dont like an immaculate one either...my house has been immaculate for two weeks since Ive been out on my own..I vacuumed dusted swept and mopped every day as well as done the dishes wiped off the oven and counter tops cleaned the bathroom tub sink and toilet and done the laundry it was an every day thing..my house was cleaner then my moms and she is OCD about things being clean...shes the type who walks in to your house straightens pictures dusts and vaccuums while shes there...Its funny...after two weeks I decided it was exhausting to keep it that way...so now I sweep and mop every two days(no carpet to vacuum now) dust the fans on the days that I sweep and mop as well as wipe the tv down...The kitchen still gets cleaned every day because I cant stand a dirty kitchen. We have the Roll N Clean litter boxes so those get done 3 times a day morning noon and night I clean the bathroom on Monday and Friday more if it needs it...and I do the laundry every other day...I do my best to keep it clean but with the 3 dogs we have and 8 cats(6 foster 1 mommy and 5 babies) it gets aggervating LOL we also have a ferret and a chinchilla that we are keeping for friends in the army I clean their cage every day) and I work 40 hours a week if not more...
 

white cat lover

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Originally Posted by NinaCaliente

Clutter does get to be an issue in our tiny house though. I desperately want to move to a bigger house that actually has some storage space!
Eh, we moved to a bigger house with more storage space....and I filled it with kitties!


I'm a clutter bug in some respects. I don't put my shoes away, as I wear the same 2 pairs....every other day. Simple things like that. And the doggie toys everywhere, if they aren't out....then they chew on the couch.
 

luvmy2cats

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Cleaning is a huge waste of time at my house. As soon as I clean something my DH filthies it up agian within a couple of days. Nothing stays clean here.
 
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