I just don't know what I'm missing here!!! I mean, I totally know that I need to be a better housekeeper, especially since I am pretty much a SAHM (I have an event planning business, but its from home), but some of you are kinda nuts!!!
I admit that I should be cleaning my bathrooms more than I do, and DD is 20 months, and I don't even know if I had ever changed her bedding more than twice
(I just did it last night along with DD3 and the master bedrooms), and the kitchen has tupperware on the butcher block at all times because frankly I can't reach to put it away, and DH NEVER does it for me, and my neighbors 2 year old son came into my house yesterday, and said "Woah, MESSY!" (ofcourse he was talking about my girls play room) but I mean, one person said that they run the dishwasher twice a day, once after lunch, then once after dinner, and (correct me if I'm wrong) suggested that its full both times. What are you doing, cooking with every pot, pan, dish and utencil in the house??!? I thought I was bad!!!
Another person said that they do a wash every single day just for their own clothes.... Do you only have one pair of panties and one pair of sox?? Can't it wait a
couple of days??
I don't know, I'm not a hippie or anything, but I just couldn't stand to waist water like that, even if its from my own well, or whatever. I mean, I'm not like my neighbors son who does bathe because he doesn't want to waist water (hes a stinkie one!!) - I take at least one to two showers a day because I work out 2x a day, but I make them quick...
I'm just rambling now... maybe I'm just jelous because you all are much better housekeepers than me! At least its taught me one thing - I need to make a weekly list of what should be done in the house, and acutally do them! Bathroom, kitchen, vaccuming, sweeping, picking up, etc
So thanks! ..... though I still think some of you are nuts!!!
Don't worry, you're not missing anything. I'm finding some of the responses a little crazy too. I'm thinking we're probably the only ones admitting the truth! We're a small family (me, husband and a 4.5 year old boy) and I would rather do pretty much ANYTHING but clean. Some people find it theraputic, or get some kind of satisfaction from it...not me. Don't get me wrong - my house isn't so dirty that you should be afraid to come over or eat food I've prepared, but I'm definitely not one of those "you can eat off my floors" people. Who the heck wants to eat off a floor anyway!
Dishwasher - is run when it's full, or when we run out of something, whichever comes first. I use it strictly for dishes, glasses, silverware. Pots and pans are hand washed after use, because they take up too much room and I'd rather wash 1 pot than 6 dishes. It averages about every other day. The plastic things never dry, so they come out of the dishwasher and end up in the drainer on the counter, next to the pots I hand washed. And there they stay, until they are used again, or I need the space for something else.
Laundry - I do a lot. Usually a load a day or more. But that's because I have a husband that works on construction/demolition sites every day, so he easily goes through 2 outfits/day. He cannot do a "repeat performance" of the clothes without washing because of the construction "stuff" on his clothes, and I don't want them sitting around. He usually also takes 2 showers/day, so we have extra towels too. I will re-use the towel I wrap my hair in that touches only my head, but not the other one...I have no idea why, I just don't. My 4.5 year old son goes to pre-k, so I wash his clothes after 1 wear as well, since they come home decorated with paint, glue, food, juice, and lets face it, germs.
Vaccuum - Downstairs - about once a week. Bedrooms, less often. We have carpet in the living room and dining room which has been converted into my son's playroom. We pretty much never wear shoes in the house (they get as far as the mat at the bottom of the stairs) so we're not tracking in that much. We also have no pets, so that makes a difference. We probably will never have pets (aside from non-furry things that reside in their own SMALL contained tanks) because I refuse to clean up after a construction worker husband, an active boy, and an animal. Not happening.
Sweep - I don't even own a broom. I vaccuum the tile floors in my entryway and kitchen when I do the rugs, about once/week. However, I also crawl under the kitchen table with a dustbuster every day to get the stuff my son has dropped on the floor while eating. Yes, I know he's 4.5 and shouldn't still be doing that, but he does. Occasionally I have
him use the dustbuster it if he's made a really big mess - and he thinks it's fun, so it may become his regular job around here.
Change the bedding - every few weeks, when I remember. I also do the pillowcases a little more often than the whole thing. My son's bed has a headboard and footboard, and it's against a wall, and I have a king size bed. Frankly, it's a pain in the neck to strip everything off and change it. However, if someone is sick (any kind of sick - cold, stomach thing, whatever) everything gets stripped off and changed immediately.
Clean the bathroom. It depends on what you consider "cleaning" the bathroom. I wipe the sinks and counters when it looks like they need it...probably every few days. We remodeled our upstairs bathroom (the only full bath) last summer, and we've been pretty vigilant about wiping the shower walls and tub dry after each use. I have to say it
really makes a difference...without the water sitting, it stays much cleaner. I "scrub" the tub (and remainder of the bathroom) if/when it looks like it needs it, but honestly that's about once a month or longer. The toilets, and floors surrounding the toilets get a wipe down pretty much daily, sometimes more than once/day, but that's because my son gets easily distracted and his aim really isn't what it should be
.
I guess my philosophy is that I clean what needs to be cleaned when it needs it. I wipe down my kitchen counters every night since they've had food on them. If my someone spills something on the kitchen floor, or leaves a messy footprint in the entryway, I'll clean up that area, but I probably won't mop the whole floor because of it. Especially since that's my least favorite thing to do because most of my downstairs is tile. (btw, I saw an infomercial for the shark steam mop - that thing looked pretty cool, and I'm all for something that will make floor cleaning easier. anyone have it??) If I notice dust on the entertainment center, I'll dust it, and probably continue on to the coffee table, but I stop there. I don't even want to talk about my windows.
I will fully admit that I need to do a little bit better job, but it's not my life's ambition, kwim? I've been in people's houses (my neighbor is one) that absolutely obsess about it being clean. As a guest, I feel a bit uncomfortable because I know that as soon as I leave, she's going to be up until the wee hours cleaning everything to get the house back to "normal". It also makes me not want to bring my son there because I have to watch him every second to make sure he's not getting fingerprints anywhere or or messing anything up...it's more stressful than fun.
I also have another neighbor that my husband and I call "Bree" from Desperate Housewives (behind her back, of course
) - she has an immaculate house, perfectly maintained garden, and her bay window appropriately decorated for each holiday, but she plops her 2 kids in front of the TV for hours on end to do it. She also completely freaks out if they get dirty - she has to drop everything and put them in another perfectly matched (usually name brand) outfit and go wash the other clothes immediately...and these poor kids are 1.5 and 4. Me, I'd leave the mess and the clutter and take my son to the park/zoo/beach/boardwalk any time rather than tell him to watch TV so I can scrub the floors for the 3rd time in 3 days.
Goodness, I haven't changed both my DD's sheets for a good two months, if not longer... 
My home is not spotless nor will it ever be but I feel like I am constantly putting something away or wiping something down.
