I'm not the only one with a lived in house? Right?

[Deleted]

MIL and I were just discussing this.

We've both been to visit SIL and her new baby (BSC SIL for those of you that remember!).

Her house is spotless, like show room clean. Not a thing out of place. Floors perfectly shiny. Blinds perfectly in position, throw pillows perfectly tossed etc. It's always like this.

My response was My house could be like that too if:

A) I followed my kid around all day picking up after her (like she does with her 2 year old) my house would be spotless. My philosophy is if Rubes wants to empty the tupperware cupboard while I clean so be it. If she wants to empty the entire toy bin on the floor for 45 minutes..great...dinner is done! I know my floor is clean under all that.

B) She doesn't do guests. Ever. Like you're there 20 minutes and it's time to go. Her family never calls her and says, "Hey, we're coming down for the weekend, throw something on the grill, I'll bring the beer, we'll be there by 7." Mine does...alot..and I love it!

C) She doesn't have a parade of farmers in and out of her house all day long that need a Kool-aid and cookie break thereby leaving a trail of glasses and plates on the counter. Enter someone requesting you bake cookies 3 minutes after you just picked up from lunch.

D) She has no cows that need milking. There goes 8 hours of clean time out of my day..lol. Add the grass that needs mowing which you do at naptime and you here the kid cry so you haul your grassy self into the house to grab said kid,thereby leaving a trail behind you of grass you didn't get a chance to sweep because the cows need milking, the garden produce that needs washing and the mess of farm clothes that come with it.

I love my life! It's fun! As much as I want a showplace on the inside..I just don't care that much! I do clean and my house is in pretty good shape but the little stuff just doesn't bother me!

Make me feel better! BSC has got me feeling all insignificant and not house-wifey enough!

[kaylie]

Our house isn't going to be showroom ready for at least another year with everything we're doing to it. The apartment we just moved out of usually was, but we had a cleaning lady. Left to my own devices, the health department would kick us out (for clutter).

[sierramist03]

I don't have kids yet but typically my house is pretty picked up it usually bothers me until things are in order and dh knows this so he helps out. But lately we have been so busy that things are put away but there is some dust on furniture and the floors need cleaned too

[mrs.jacinthe]

I think, based on your photos that you've posted, your house is pretty dang clean, overall. Don't let someone that BSC make you feel down - after all, if it takes being crazy-cakes to maintain that level, it's not attainable for a normal person like yourself.

And remember, you are the one keeping that whole messy household together, so you should give yourself more credit! If I were doing all that, I'd feel like a freaking superhero. So kudos to you.

And ... FWIW, I'm 99.9% sure that your house is still cleaner - on the regular - than mine. Honestly, neither H or I is a great cleaner to begin with, H is fighting off inherited clutter/hoarding tendencies, and we have 3 totally indoor pets. All in around 1000 sq ft. So there's just nowhere for the excessive stuff to go. Which makes cleaning a LOT harder. Throw in (again) the fact that neither of us is a great cleaner and ... you get the picture.

[sailorgray]

Ours is a mess. I have a 2 year old and an 8 month old. I'd rather be at storytime, the playground, etc. I do straighten up at night, but it's def not showroom ready.

[FoxInFiji]

Well my house is a freakin' construction site so I'm sure you're house is cleaner and more organized than mine. It's been 11 months since we started demo!

But hey I got to shower in my new amazing bathroom this week!! ;D We just have some minor things to finish and touch-up and we're on to the next bathroom.

[wawa]

I'll just go ahead and ditto Fox. Except add in the fact that MH and I are both awful awful slobs, and have two cats and a dog.

Everything, and I do mean everything, that I own is covered in either construction dust, cat hair, dog hair, my hair or buried under a pile of clutter.

the list of things I'm currently missing but are sure are in the house somewhere is looooong and includes winners like, my favorite bra, my good jeans, my camera and the spare key to my front door. Also a fair number of tools have dissapeared into the chaos. I've looked for these things....they're somewhere I'm sure.

Also I've been working late every day for the past 3 weeks, and H doesn't believe in doing dishes when I'm not home to badger him into it - so my kitchen counter is a wasteland of dirty dishes except for the 2'x1.5' area he clears off every night to make himself dinner.
(on the nights he doesn't just get taco bell. And then leave the trash on the coffee table)
He might run the dishwasher tonight if I'm lucky since we're 100% out of clean dishes. Or he might just pull out the paper plates. It's a tossup! Can you tell it's grating on me? Just a little?

Even without the construction excuse my house always has a fine coating of cat hair and my dirty laundry is always overflowing. And I don't have kids or a farm as an excuse!

[sjh722]

I have friends whose houses are always spotless, which mystifies me.

If you drop by unannounced - well, my house looks like someone lives here. I can have the public areas picked up and company ready in about 20 - 30 minutes, depending on how much the dog is shedding (no dishes on the counter, counters wiped down, no dog hair tumbleweeds, bathroom wiped down, clutter picked up).

[emoflamingo]

Want me to PIP my kitchen?? Or my living room, for that matter?

(Pictures I usually post? Totally staged. I will move things to take a picture and then put it back lol.)

[adhdfashion]

My house is not showroom ready. My oldest is a one toddler wrecking crew. She constantly getting into things.

[Deleted]

May 16, 2012 17:18:26 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

I think, based on your photos that you've posted, your house is pretty dang clean, overall. Don't let someone that BSC make you feel down - after all, if it takes being crazy-cakes to maintain that level, it's not attainable for a normal person like yourself.

And remember, you are the one keeping that whole messy household together, so you should give yourself more credit! If I were doing all that, I'd feel like a freaking superhero. So kudos to you.

And ... FWIW, I'm 99.9% sure that your house is still cleaner - on the regular - than mine. Honestly, neither H or I is a great cleaner to begin with, H is fighting off inherited clutter/hoarding tendencies, and we have 3 totally indoor pets. All in around 1000 sq ft. So there's just nowhere for the excessive stuff to go. Which makes cleaning a LOT harder. Throw in (again) the fact that neither of us is a great cleaner and ... you get the picture.

LOL...thanks! You are so right! I can't say my house isn't clean. Other than a sticky window here or there...I can get it normal company ready pretty fast. I just have a lot of stuff of life out and I have a life to live so I'm not about to pick it up every minute of the day!

[Deleted]

May 16, 2012 18:00:10 GMT -5 sjh722 said:

I have friends whose houses are always spotless, which mystifies me.

If you drop by unannounced - well, my house looks like someone lives here. I can have the public areas picked up and company ready in about 20 - 30 minutes, depending on how much the dog is shedding (no dishes on the counter, counters wiped down, no dog hair tumbleweeds, bathroom wiped down, clutter picked up).

This would be me! It's clean enough that I can get company ready with a Clorox Wipe and a mop pretty fast, NBD.

I just have a lot of life stuff around. I've also come to the conclusion that when your husband basically works at home, you work not at home 3 days out of the week it's just going to be messy. My friends that have showroom houses a) have cleaning ladies b) Work not at home..so they're gone all day. When I lived alone my apartment was always spotless..because I was never there!

[vanillahip]

There will always be a corner (or two... or 5) that's filled with clutter in our home. Any day you walk in here there'll be half-sorted mail in the LR, a stack of DVD cases next to the tv, 7346592 dog and cat toys on the floor (and usually the dog toys' guts are strewn about LOL), a couple of coats over a chair, a few tufts of fur on the floor, and a couple of dishes in the sink.

You are not alone!

[mrsacornblue]

Mine is clean but cluttered. I keep the bathroom and kitchen sanitary but we have a really small house and three dogs and a husband who loves to collect things. Dog hair is inevitable and I don't have the time to vacuum daily. Oh well...life goes on!

[Deleted]

I have no cows that need milking, farmers that need cookies, or babies that play with tupperware and my house is still 'lived in' though if I know we are expecting company I will give it the good show-room scrub down.

[mrsfurmom]

May 16, 2012 18:36:18 GMT -5 vanillahip said:

There will always be a corner (or two... or 5) that's filled with clutter in our home. Any day you walk in here there'll be half-sorted mail in the LR, a stack of DVD cases next to the tv, 7346592 dog and cat toys on the floor (and usually the dog toys' guts are strewn about LOL), a couple of coats over a chair, a few tufts of fur on the floor, and a couple of dishes in the sink.

You are not alone!

DOG TOY GUTS!!! My house looks like a masacre happened at any given time. I guess that's what happens with 2 retrievers under 2 and a chihuahua!

[vanillahip]

May 17, 2012 7:54:59 GMT -5 mrsfurmom said:

May 16, 2012 18:36:18 GMT -5 vanillahip said:

There will always be a corner (or two... or 5) that's filled with clutter in our home. Any day you walk in here there'll be half-sorted mail in the LR, a stack of DVD cases next to the tv, 7346592 dog and cat toys on the floor (and usually the dog toys' guts are strewn about LOL), a couple of coats over a chair, a few tufts of fur on the floor, and a couple of dishes in the sink.

You are not alone!

DOG TOY GUTS!!! My house looks like a masacre happened at any given time. I guess that's what happens with 2 retrievers under 2 and a chihuahua!

I have no clue if my PIP will work (woahhh uploading from my phone on an app?? PB>tn for sure) but its a pic of our Christmas massacre lol

ETA nope, pic didn't work. Damn I have to figure that feature out...

[floridakat]

We're much less cluttery now that we have kids (they tend to stick everything in their mouths even now at 20 months), but our house is definitely lived in! All our glass doors are sticky messes from little girl hands and a dog nose, but that's okay. There are toys everywhere until the girls are in bed for the night, and that's okay. I would much rather have a house full of people for the weekend than an empty shell that looks pretty.

[davescatch]

HAHA - I tell people - if you don't like dog hair or dust bunnies, don't come to my house. I would rather spend time doing things that really matter than make my house show ready.

Nice to see you dairy! Rubes is just freaking adorable.

[winofairy]

My house is very lived in and it's just the two of us. I'm embarrassed to say that my up-stairs furniture is furry right now (and I don't have a fur-baby).

I work full time and really like to enjoy my down time and not constantly run around here with a dust cloth in my hand.

[heliocentric]

Our house is rarely spotless. Many rooms are acceptable on a regular basis, but the kitchen is always messy (not necessarily dirty, just cluttered) and it's unusual for the DR table to not have piles of mail, etc. on it.

I sometimes get frustrated that we can't keep our place neater. Then I remember that I have an evil commute, I take time to exercise most days, we cook most meals from scratch. Some people don't do those things. It's all a matter of priorities and tradeoffs. At least that's what I tell myself to feel better.

[sailorette]

Hi Dairy!

Yeah, my house is pretty much a construction site. As soon as we're finished with the lower level, it will be time to start ripping upstairs all to pieces.

[alf17]

Silly me thought when we became empty nesters that my house would be perfect. I didn't take into account that my children and grandchildren would live so close. They pop in all the time, and I babysit 3 days per week. There is always some kind of construction or decorating project going on. I wouldn't trade this for a "perfect" house. My goal is, if you can clean up for company with 30 minutes or less notice, hour house is clean enough.

[ericanandy]

Dude my house is a disaster zone. Constantly played in. We pick up before nap, pick up before bedtime, but most times it's well played in. If some one were to stop by I'd have to pick up a few things, but we're not quite living in an episode of hoarders so I'm okay with that.

Pre kids we were super clean.

DH once told me, Honey even though you're home all day I'm glad the house isn't super clean. It looks as though we live in it and that you do things with the baby(s).

I was glad he said that because when I first began to SAHM I was worried that he'd expect the house spotless. I had more time to clean it when I was working becuase I could do it while he was picking up the baby from daycare. Now I'm never without one of the two little guys or the horse of a dog we own.

[housegeek]

My house is clean but messy. My inlaws live with us currently, and my MIL is a real nag about it, and wheni do clean a room i get this patronizing "wow, you cleaned" bs. Dh and I were talking about pets and she had the gall to say if she ever comes over and our house smells like animals she taking the kids. I was fuming...

Thats ot though, and I'm hoping for a couple showroom rooms when we move. We're actually having one of the 3 bedrooms be just a playroom in hopes of keeping the toy trail to a minimum.

[mrs.jacinthe]

May 17, 2012 14:53:31 GMT -5 housegeek said:

My house is clean but messy. My inlaws live with us currently, and my MIL is a real nag about it, and wheni do clean a room i get this patronizing "wow, you cleaned" bs. Dh and I were talking about pets and she had the gall to say if she ever comes over and our house smells like animals she taking the kids. I was fuming...

Thats ot though, and I'm hoping for a couple showroom rooms when we move. We're actually having one of the 3 bedrooms be just a playroom in hopes of keeping the toy trail to a minimum.

OMG. The bolded part would be grounds for never getting invited over again to chez mrs.j. I would be livid.

[housegeek]

Yeah I was really really pissed. My H just kinda laughed it off, which cheezed me more, but he's also really not confrontational. I normally get along fabulously with them, it's just sometimes she gets these little zingers in. I really try to be the better person and not say anything back at her, but one time I finally checked her and she didn't speak to me for a few days hah.
It's also really annoying because my H is an only child and they both worked so he was at his grams most of the time. It was like, I'm sorry, of course your house wasn't ever a mess, if I took the girls out everyday my house would be in the shape I left it too. But as it is, they are 2 mini tornados I practically have to velcro down for nap time hah.

[mrsjuleshs]

I have a husband, a teenager, 2 dogs and 3 cats. My house is never showroom ready.

[katie4253]

My house is not even really clean right now. It is definiately clutter filled. I don't feel like we are 100% settled here (and we've lived here for almost 6 months).