Would you take a week's vacation....to spring clean your house?

[yoopermom]

This is causing a whirlwind of controversy here at work for some reason (we must be bored ...)

A coworker, married, in her 60s, absolutely lovely woman, is taking off all of next week to clean her house. She does it the way my grandma used to, taking everything out of a room, wiping down every single surface, wiping everything off before it goes back in the room, moving all the heavy furniture, etc. Her house is only 1500 sq ft, but she said it will take her every waking minute of those seven days to do the job "properly".

I love her dearly as a friend and coworker, but now I realize that I can never invite her to MY house

I did ask her, if I volunteered a week of MY vacation time, if she would go to MY house and spring clean it, but she declined.

So, how important is spring cleaning to you?

Terri

 

[Mizzoufan]

This is causing a whirlwind of controversy here at work for some reason (we must be bored ...)

A coworker, married, in her 60s, absolutely lovely woman, is taking off all of next week to clean her house. She does it the way my grandma used to, taking everything out of a room, wiping down every single surface, wiping everything off before it goes back in the room, moving all the heavy furniture, etc. Her house is only 1500 sq ft, but she said it will take her every waking minute of those seven days to do the job "properly".

I love her dearly as a friend and coworker, but now I realize that I can never invite her to MY house

I did ask her, if I volunteered a week of MY vacation time, if she would go to MY house and spring clean it, but she declined.

So, how important is spring cleaning to you?

Terri

I wouldn't be taking vacation days to clean no way no how!

 

[cabanafrau]

We've used vacation time to tackle major projects, reno, painting, etc., not cleaning.

I have two friends who don't ever need to spring clean like that because every surface, closet, drawer, etc. in their home is spotless as your coworker's will be at the end of the week on a 24/7/365 basis. For one of them the sickness even extends to her landscaping.

 

[ashley0139]

I wouldn't do it, but if that's how she wants to use her vacation time, I have no problem with it. It's her time.

 

[JanaDee]

The extent of my spring cleaning is taking down the storm windows and putting the screens back up. I clean all year, no need to "spring" clean.

It is her vacation time and if that is how she wants to spend it, no skin off my nose. I would *much* rather spend my vacation time laying by the pool with a fruity drink, but to each their own.

 

[ImDMous]

Yeah, she better not come to my house either. It's a great idea in theory but I just don't have the time or energy for that. If I wasn't otherwise using my vacation time to spend it doing fun things with my family and friends, then I guess it's a good idea. I think my mental health and need for fun vacations outweighs my need for a spotless house. If my friends think my house is gross, they are free to invite us to their house instead.

I have no problem with what other people want to use their vacation for though, more power to her if she wants to do all that work. Better to get it done all at once than to spend a month's worth of weekends doing it.

 

[eliza61]

I wouldn't do it specifically for just cleaning but I do plan on taking a week off and getting my house together.

Don't you ever look around and say "I wish I had time to ____"?

with me working about all I have time to do during the week is to keep up with the daily stuff.

I definitely don't have time to wash windows, paint or repaint, wax floors (I have hardwood floors and banisters) etc etc.

So a few years go by and I really need to take time off and work on the house.

If you work and have kids when do you find time to vacuum, clean drapery, wash windows, grocery shop yada yada yada.

I refuse to spend my entire Saturday and Sunday doing it because then when do you have family time/

So yep, some time this summer I plan on taking a few days off and working on my house.

It also helps that I get 6 weeks vacation.

 

[kamik86]

A full week no but we have taken off a few days to just get stuff done around the house.

Spring cleaning I just got a weird urge to clean this last weekend and spent all weekend cleaning and decluttering. I have most of the house done except the areas my DH has told me I'm not to touch because they are "his" stuff.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I wouldn't do it every year and probably not a full week but I have taken time off just to clean and try to get the house back in order!

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

I have taken off to clean before but only before I had out of town guests coming in. I would take off ONE day before they came to get the sheets laundered, bathrooms scrubbed and whole house vacuumed and dusted. I don't like to do this on evenings or weekend because it gives my DH too much time to dirty things up again

 

[mel&me]

I'm saying no way not a chance.

 

[Dawnlight]

Our spring cleaning is Passover cleaning- getting rid of all the forbidden grain products, no matter how miniscule. That means some serious business, especially in the kitchen, but we do get to all the other rooms as well (even though eating isn't allowed in the bedrooms, crumbs still find their way there).

I would never, never take a week vacation for it. I do it piecemeal starting about 3-4 weeks in advance of the holiday. I don't usually bother with things like window-washing at that time unless I get everything else done (which rarely happens).

I also do not move every single item out of rooms for this task, but things do get turned pretty well upside down with drawers being emptied of contents, vacuumed/dusted out, area rugs taken up and out of the house while floors are washed down, refrigerator emptied and cleaned, oven detailed, book shelves emptied and dusted, etc.

Ugh, I probably should be doing some of those chores now...

 

[Hisgirl]

I know two people like this. (and bless her!). We have a little vacation home. It is cleaned everytime we leave...using average effort. However, both of these folks came to my house. One, within ten minutes, asked if she could vacuum. I was surprised but said, "sure!". She then proceeded to deep clean the entire house. Her daughter was mortified. The other person was there when we weren't and did the same thing...I'm talking cleaned the oven, rearranged the pantry shelves...everything that could have been done got done.

I'm happy some folks clean so seriously, but for me...I have hobbies, friends, take trips, play musical instruments and do other things that I would have to give up if I kept my floor in an you-can-eat-on-me state. It's all about opportunity cost!

 

[yoopermom]

Thanks everyone for the responses!

I forgot to say that she is a VERY clean person in her day to day life anyways (let's just say it's a good thing our desks aren't next to each other). So she must really get out the cotton swabs and tiny brushes to clean what's already pretty darn clean!

Her DH is a bit of a "collector" though (in his case books, vinyl records, DVDs, etc), so she does insist on taking each one down and wiping it, etc. If that was my DH, he'd have a room of his own for that stuff, or be wiping it down himself....

Terri

 

[jdb in AZ]

I'm wondering how a woman in her 60's has that much energy. Not to mention strength to move the furniture. I defrosted my freezer earlier this week and my back was screaming for Tylenol after 15 mins.

 

[weeniecat2442]

absolutely not! but can I hire her to come and do mine??

 

[Colleen27]

I wouldn't, but I've never had a job with so much vacation time that I could do that without cutting into my ability to actually vacation. Since I care more about traveling than about mopping under the couch that's always been an easy choice for me.

DH works seasonally, so the "spring" cleaning around here gets done in the dead of winter. The painting and remodeling too. It helps keep him from climbing the walls (or driving me completely crazy) during his slow season, and means it isn't all waiting for us come spring (aka "chickens with our heads cut off" season - baseball x 2, track, school, work, planting, etc).

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I took 1 day off to clean & organize the garage. Was a nice surprise for the Mrs. My vacation time is fairly limited, so even taking 1 day for that is not something I'd do year in & year out.

 

[minnie mum]

Would I take a weeks vacation to spring clean? No. But I do pretty much what the OP describes every spring. I just spread it out over weekends when I was working. Now, I'm retired, so vacation doesn't play into it. We used to take a few days of vacation time each year to do any major projects with the house or yard. I had no idea that this could make someone an object of criticism. Did someone actually call this a sickness?

What a person chooses to do with their "vacation time" is a personal choice. I dont know why it would be fodder for office gossip or controversy if she prefers to do this rather than lie by a pool or travel.

 

[Christine]

Many people take great pleasure in cleaning and organizing their home. It makes them feel good. I'm not one of them. I would never take off a week to "clean" but I should actually take a week of to organize. I have papers that I need to go through, closets I need to pair down, etc. The weekend is just not enough time and I am YEARS past doing it.