The big difference being life is a whole lot more than just that.
Ya know. Some days it isn't. While I think passion and drive are wonderful things, I think that it is mentally healthy to balance that with an understanding and appreciation for the mundane. If you can find peace, and even joy, in the regular the mundane, life is always fun. You don't have to go climb mount Everest to feel accomplished. That you helped the elderly woman with her groceries is enough.
Kids and I are going to strip down to the undies now and wash the floor on hands and knees. I have to use my knee pads. Getting old.
It makes me sad to see so many women overwhelmed by housework. I definitely do get overwhelmed with chores and busywork as well, but I would really like to put things in perspective here.
I don't have a dishwasher--my SO and I (well mostly my SO!) wash all of our dishes in a tiny sink by hand. I don't have laundry in my apartment--I have to go to the bank, get quarters, then walk down 3 and a half flights of stairs and go to the laundromat down the street every time I do laundry. I also do chores at other peoples' houses when I nanny part-time, which includes cleaning up spilled juicy juice, putting away toys, and the like. And it sure does get tedious at times, but I always think: I honestly can't wait until I have a regular job and kids instead of all of the multiple things I am juggling right now!
I know it's tough to appreciate what you have, but the fact that you own a dishwasher and a washing machine and dryer is a blessing in some ways! I know it can be tough picking up after kids or mopping the floor for the zillionth time, but I can tell you right away that it sucks WAY less to pick up after your own kids than kids that aren't your own...And it's way less awful to clean your own house than someone else's.
Also, KIDS SHOULD FREAKIN DO THEIR OWN CHORES!!! I cannot even begin to tell you about the vast numbers of incompetent individuals at my college--smart kids, but they don't even know how to boil water. DON'T let your kids end up like them! Teach them the necessary skills they'll need for adulthood and life in general--it will benefit everyone involved.
I've lived overseas and had a maid before too - but I looked at it as a privilege, not a right.
And why in the world are you doing a FULL housecleaning often?
Normally, things are done in stages.
Everyday you clean the kitchen, tidy up the bathrooms, make the beds, take out the trash, maybe run the vacuum and/or mop if you have carpet or hardwood floors that get dirty easily.
Washing sheets should be done once a week.
Washing windows, curtains, etc., are a once-a-month type thing (at least in my house).
Ironing, in my house is as it's needed. I iron clothes the night before to wear to work the next day.
Good grief women - you're wearing yourself out! Slow down, do it all in stages.
Another option: get wrinkle-release fabrics! Then no ironing will be necessary!
Hey, that's what I do, I don't like buying shirts I have to iron.
House cleaning is actually pretty easy for me because I do it daily, like MWIL said. It takes me about ten minutes if I just want to keep it up, 30 minutes if I want to do a more thorough job. I have a small apartment, that helps a lot.
I always feel great after I clean my apartment, it feels nice to live in a neat and organized place.
I also feel great after I cook a nice meal, feel I can do many things.
I never feel doing these things tiring, I only feel joy that I can give us a nice quality life style with spending very little.
Hey, that's what I do, I don't like buying shirts I have to iron.
House cleaning is actually pretty easy for me because I do it daily, like MWIL said. It takes me about ten minutes if I just want to keep it up, 30 minutes if I want to do a more thorough job. I have a small apartment, that helps a lot.
It is SOOOO much easier now that the kids are in school. They aren't here all day messing it up!
In Taiwan, people do have maids, but they are usually for looking after the old and sick.
Healthy well off people may have housekeepers, they don't have live in maids.
And I find her life to be exhausting too with a live in maid, just look at how paranoid she is when she thinks that the maid might steal some time. They fired the maid because she found out her sneaking out of the apartment. And no privacy. people are doing their best to live alone so they can enjoy some privacy, here some people are paying money to get rid of their privacy. And with the money I save on a maid, we can go traveling, that is really money wasted if one can do it herself.
It is SOOOO much easier now that the kids are in school. They aren't here all day messing it up!
Yes, when you have toddlers, it is more difficult to keep the house neat, they tend to make a big mess. After they become bigger, it is just a routine like cooking meals and doing their laundry.
Yes, when you have toddlers, it is more difficult to keep the house neat, they tend to make a big mess. After they become bigger, it is just a routine like cooking meals and doing their laundry.
Not toddlers! I home schooled a 4th and 1st grader. They eat like crazy, generating breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner messes. They paint. They have school work out. Oy! Luckily they also know how to take care of their own messes. Still you have to drive them through it a bit.
Not toddlers! I home schooled a 4th and 1st grader. They eat like crazy, generating breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner messes. They paint. They have school work out. Oy! Luckily they also know how to take care of their own messes. Still you have to drive them through it a bit.
Yes, that's understandable. You are liking having a classroom there, how many neat classrooms have you seen?
It is a good opportunity to teach them to be organized though!
My Wife never has to clean a thing in the house, as soon as I get home I don't stop moving till the place is all cleaned up. Every evening im chasing down my little ones cleaning up after them.
Typically though im on top of it, so it never gets too messy..
My Wife never has to clean a thing in the house, as soon as I get home I don't stop moving till the place is all cleaned up. Every evening im chasing down my little ones cleaning up after them.
Does she work out of the home? Why would you clean up after your children?
I've lived overseas and had a maid before too - but I looked at it as a privilege, not a right.
And why in the world are you doing a FULL housecleaning often?
Normally, things are done in stages.
Everyday you clean the kitchen, tidy up the bathrooms, make the beds, take out the trash, maybe run the vacuum and/or mop if you have carpet or hardwood floors that get dirty easily.
Washing sheets should be done once a week.
Washing windows, curtains, etc., are a once-a-month type thing (at least in my house).
Ironing, in my house is as it's needed. I iron clothes the night before to wear to work the next day.
Good grief women - you're wearing yourself out! Slow down, do it all in stages.
I have not read all of this just a few posts here & there but I have got to agree with this
We are living in a time with SOOO many blessings - like washing machines, dryers , microwave ovens, dishwashers, Weed wackers, Ride on movers. Just imagine life before these wonderful inventions & what women's toil was!
We are so spoiled !!
I have 6 kids, a huge old farmhouse, I sometimes mow 3 acres of land by myself before my husband gets home after work to save him the trouble, I dont have a dishwasher- by choice. You can imagine all the preparing, cooking, cleaning up time I must do, and the tornado atmsphere of a house with this many children, not to mention the Laundry.
In the beginning of our marraige, I didn't even care to own a Dryer & I used cloth diapers ! (anything to save $$ was my motto back then). But once I got one, there is not going back now, Love not having to iron all those t-shirts! We even pick our own berries & I take the time to make homemade pies.
I am not as neat as I used to be-before kids, but a pretty darn good housekeeper considering my large family. I get very very annoyed when my house is in disarray. I have to vaccum about 2 times a day, everything must be put away before I go to bed, or I could not sleep.
If you are a stay at home Mom, for the life of me, I can not understand how ANYONE would need Housekeeper help. Unless maybe you have Octuplets or something.
Why must everything be so spic & span sparkling clean -every day? Living is a little messy sometimes. I have relatives who their houses are SO clean, you are afraid to sit down lest you move a couch pillow out of it's place. The most inviting - hospitable homes are the ones that are a little disheveled, somehow the atmosphere is more comforting. Having a lived in look --is simply OK.
Re: Housework never finishes... 
Then no ironing will be necessary!
Do it as much as I can!
