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When does the maid come?!
Hubby and I first moved in together (officially) one month before his deployment overseas so we didn't really get into living with each other until after we were engaged. The house we rented at that time was a small, comfortable home that was easy to maintain however the house that we purchased back in January is considerably larger than the rental house and is a pain to keep clean. I will be the first to admit that I do not like to clean! Sometimes I'll get into a groove but mostly I don't enjoy it and I am having a hard time finding a balance between not cleaning all the time and enjoying just living in our home. When I do clean it is an all day event which includes scrubbing floors and walls, sinks, toilets, and showers, doing laundry etc. I can't find a balance between working until 6 or 7 every night and maintaining a household. How do you ladies keep up on the housework? I also want to clarify that hubby does his part too! He mostly does dishes (which I hate!!!), takes care of the yard and vacuums.
After reading this, I realize that I probably sound like a slob! I swear I am not, I just don't do much around the house until Friday (when I don't work) and it turns into an all day event.
Re: When does the maid come?!
We don't a lot during the week. My job saps all the energy out of me so a lot of times it gets done on Fridays while I work and H is at home. Then I usually help with I'm done with work on Friday. I try and do a little when I get home every night to help it from turning into a total disaster.
I mean we have time to do the "regular stuff" IE, dishes, wiping counters, etc. but I really get bogged down with the stuff you don't do every week - like scrubbing out showers, dusting, etc. That's what I'm really behind on, esp. since the house totally got neglected during the last phase of wedding planning.
And now we are spending a lot more time on things like painting areas & our yard, so that's even less time!
So don't worry, you aren't alone. H actually said (after we had one of those all day cleaning events) that if we ever had kids we are going to have to hire a cleaning lady!
We did this too. Our family made fun of us at first but I work a crazy job and just couldn't keep up with it at all. It may have been the best decision we've made.
OP - you absolutely do not sound like a slob. IMO, you sound completely normal. In our house, H is the morning person and I'm the opposite, so we divide and conquer that way. Before work, he makes sure the dishwasher is unloaded, pulls out anything we need for dinner and usually starts a load of laundry. In the evening, I clean up after the day's activities, wipe down the kitchen, and start the dishwasher. Other than that, I do the major cleaning on the weekend.
i've heard that hiring a cleaning service is totally worth it, if you have the money for it.
DH and I are still trying to figure it out, I'm definitely more clean than he is, but if the kitchen is clean then I'm usually happy, the rest of the house isn't that big of a deal to me :-P I try to keep up with it as I go, and for things like cleaning toilets and showers I usually don't do that until it gets to the point where it grosses me out or if i have company coming over hahaha like i said, we're still trying to figure out the balance.
one thing i used to do is clean the shower while i was actually in it. it doesn't take long to wipe it down while you're letting the conditioner sit in your hair for a minute, and as long as you don't use harsh chemicals to clean with, they won't choke you out of the shower haha
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I completely understand! I LOVE our house it is perfect for us just a 3 bedroom 1 bath house with a great size kitchen and living room and then we are on over an acre of land and yet still in town. It works for just the 2 of us and if we have any guests. The living room is easy to clean as usually it is just blankets and cups to clean.
It's the kitchen and bedroom I have problems with. Since we are always on the go with MIL being sick and I still try to cook it seems dishes and laundry I fall behind on. I have thought about a cleaning service but I have issues with a stranger in my home without me there. Plus in our area they can get kind of expensive. I try my best to clean but like OP said when you find the time it's like an all day thing.
H helps me since he gets home before I do but it's usually just like 1 load of laundry (not folded) and then loading or unloading the dishwasher. It helps but I just can't seems to stay on top of things.
I think it will just take some time to get used to things and get into a routine but until then people will have to get over it.
Yeah, this has definitely been a challenge for me also since I'm having to adjust from cleaning a one bedroom apartment to a 4 bedroom house. I actually suggested today to DH that we look into having someone come in and help us out once a month; whether or not we do it will depend on the cost.
But for now, I try to clean as I go. My friend suggested picking one area per day to work on so that the work is more spread out. Now that the wedding/gift clutter is under control, I'm going to try this approach.
You totally don't sound like a slob!!
Hubby and I have this same problem...we're in a rental place but it has carpets (yuck) and we have 2 kitties and a dog. Luckily there is a dog door, so everyone goes outside...but still...lots of fur. And then there's the normal wear on the house.
I don't mind cleaning, but I really hate cleaning the bathrooms and kitchens. Hubby helps..but it was by no means clean enough for us. My family has had someone helping them since before I was born...and she contacted us saying she needs a few more hours a week...so she's going to be helping us 1 day a week starting next week! Woohoo!
I'll still do the light work like laundry and wiping counters and stuff, but none of the deep and yucky cleaning!
You're definitely not a slob! Our place is such a mess right now with slacking on the cleaning before the wedding and all of our wedding stuff, I'm actually a little afraid Hoarders is going to show up and start taping. For the record, we're not gross, our place is just cluttered.
Right now I'm really dreading going through all of our stuff and deciding what we're keeping and where to put all the new stuff we got for the wedding. Our dining room is STILL wedding present central!
I agree w/ PP that if you can spend 15-30 mins a day in one room it helps a lot! Mind you this is maintaining a relatively clean house. Here's one way to do it, but you can change it up based on your house (this accounts for 2 bathrooms) and what you need to do more. http://organizingmadefun.blogspot.com/2010/11/15-minutes-of-cleaning-how-to-have-fake.html
LOVE THIS! Just added it to my pinterest board - I will definitely be using this.
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Oh no, you don't sound like a slob! I am OCD neat freak and just in the last few weeks my subbing position has turned full time ish so I have been struggling with this. DH cooks and takes care of the yard, and the trash. I do the laundry, dust, clean the bathroom, and we both take care of the litter box, hair removal from the furniture and vacuuming.
What is hard for me is that I am used to doing all of the cleaning you described in one day, that way everything is clean. But I can't do that anymore and I refuse to spend my days off cleaning the whole day. What I do is something each night after work.
I am having trouble balancing this too. H and I just moved in together so we are figuring out a balance for both of us, he is a big help though! My problem is when I get home from work and the gym, I have to work on my online classes so the weekdays are totally full with "things to do" not much time for me to unwind (or clean!).
I don't mind cleaning (hate doing dishes) but I definitely don't want to waste my entire weekends cleaning! I even said to H last weekend while I was scrubbing our shower.."if we spend so much time cleaning now, what's is going to be like when we have kids?!" Maybe by that point I will be able to hire someone come once a twice a month for the heavy cleaning and we can just do upkeep.
I'll be done with school next month so I can't wait to have my evenings back, though it seems like school work will get replaced with cleaning
Glad to see I'm not alone in figuring out how to achieve domestic bliss lol
This is my nemesis! I hate to clean, but I hate even more living in clutter and dirt! So....cleaning wins out. I tackle something every night. We have to labs and therefore, sweeping and vacuming are a daily event in our house. Then I do a once over the house dusting, bathrooms and general cleaning. The down and dirty stuff gets done probably twice a year or if company is coming to visit!
DH has actually suggested getting housekeeping and I just seem to fight him on that. We live in a small town that I'm sure people will just think we're such snobs if we do that....but honestly...he may be on to something!!!
I'm still trying to get into the swing of things with us both work, cooking, and cleaning. I haven't figured it all out yet.