Post by sunshineluv on May 18, 2016 13:43:21 GMT -5
I am liking all the pics of clutter, lol, I am not sure why .
My house is middle of the road. Thank goodness for big closets, or it would be worse. I am not good at organizing. We have a dresser that becomes a catch all, and our kitchen gets messy at times. Our bedroom is always a mess. But we keep the house decently clean. My girlfriend came over last night, and after dinner I cleaned the kitchen for 15 minutes and threw the catch all clutter in a basket. And I felt like the house was company ready, she even complimented it. That's how I like to function... to be within a 30 minute scramble of cleaning up and it can be ready for company without any embarrassment.
I would be extremely embarrassed if someone stopped by. I try to keep up with it and it gives me a lot of anxiety. I can't wait to have a house with a dedicated room for the kids toys that is not my living area.
I am too sunshineluv haha mainly because that's what my house looks like and I appreciate knowing I am not alone! My mom is the craziest neat freak and makes me feel abnormal.
Clutter makes me feel anxious but at the same time I'm not innately a neat person so the motivation to clean up comes and goes. It's annoying.
Post by creamsiclechica on May 18, 2016 13:51:54 GMT -5
I have some actual issues with this, because I have very real compulsions to clean that aren't particularly healthy. I'm working on it though. In general, my house is pristine, and I say that not as a brag, because I really wish I could relax about it. I have a lot of anxiety about leaving the house if it isn't completely immaculate.
I'm better than I used to be. I used to seriously bleach my toilets every single day, sometimes twice. And vacuum twice. And mop the floor, twice. And wipe down my entire kitchen 4-5 times a day. Yikes.
Post by fadedscars on May 18, 2016 13:55:30 GMT -5
Ive recently made it a point to go through and clean everything only on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays. I try to do dishes, vac, and pick up toys every day. I was driving myself crazy trying to do it every day.
creamsiclechica We have a family friend who is very similar! She can't go to bed unless she bleaches her garbage can every night. Everything has to be completely pristine , vacuum lines on the carpet. You aren't alone!
Post by laurensmomma on May 18, 2016 14:01:33 GMT -5
LOL for days and days.....
I will say that I recently started reading that book "the life changing magic of tidying up". I only got part way through it before I had to return it to the library, but I think I'm going to buy it. It had a lot of really good principles in there about how to get to a point where things are just naturally tidy.
I will, however, not be thanking my shoes for their hard work before I put them away as the book suggests.
@creamsciclechica We have a family friend who is very similar! She can't go to bed unless she bleaches her garbage can every night. Everything has to be completely pristine , vacuum lines on the carpet. You aren't alone!
Ugh thank goodness. It is true. My vacuum lines have to be straight and in a uniform way. I drive MYSELF crazy with this. Matt is so good about gently helping me through or knowing when he should let me do it. But it's so ridiculous and yet I can't stop.
My main floor is ok but the upstairs is terrible. I cannot figure out how the hell to keep up with laundry. It's so overwhelming to me and I feel stressed every time I go up there. I wish I had a few days by myself to go through clothes and organize. I hardly ever get to deep clean anything
I would be extremely embarrassed if someone stopped by. I try to keep up with it and it gives me a lot of anxiety. I can't wait to have a house with a dedicated room for the kids toys that is not my living area.
If someone stopped by id have to fake my own death.
Post by Faevantastic on May 18, 2016 14:26:43 GMT -5
Why are kids so naturally untidy or is it just mine? Generally, I try to keep toys with multiple pieces in a large ziploc bag. I was doing this the other day, F came over, grabbed the bag and dumped them out all over the floor and then she just moved on to something entirely. They both also like to rummage through their toy box, taking everything out and not specifically looking for anything. Ahhhh!!
Also my house is small and has a weird floor plan, so if things don't get picked up frequently, it really makes things cluttered. We rarely go downstairs for anything other than tv, and upstairs is kept tidy (with the exception of L's room sometimes), if you don't count baskets of clean laundry that need to be folded.
Why are kids so naturally untidy or is it just mine? Generally, I try to keep toys with multiple pieces in a large ziploc bag. I was doing this the other day, F came over, grabbed the bag and dumped them out all over the floor and then she just moved on to something entirely. They both also like to rummage through their toy box, taking everything out and not specifically looking for anything. Ahhhh!!
H's bedroom is a sea of clothes, stuffed animals and "art" projects that are usually made of twine, tape and paper towels.
And then every morning she throws fits because she can't find the one fucking t-shirt she is willing to wear.
Butters has been known to dig through one of the several boxes of toys we have in the bookcase in the living room, flinging toys over his shoulders.
Post by twirlermom on May 18, 2016 14:44:29 GMT -5
Well, since we just moved, we have boxes everywhere and I don't know where to put everything yet. I am having a hard time figuring out good spots for things and how it will all work. We did just have a big joint party for DD2 and DS since they both just had birthdays. So, the upstairs looks pretty good. The basement is full of all the boxes we still have to unpack.
I am hoping with having more than doubled the space we had, I will be able to keep it cleaner. We actually have a toy room now. So, the toys don't have to live in the living room. They either go in the toy room or the basement. I think this will help a lot.
We'll see how that goes over the next couple months though. I know I am generally not the best. I really try and want to keep it clean, but I tend to get super busy and just not have enough time. I am going to try really hard with the new house though!
Post by chirpchirp on May 18, 2016 14:49:58 GMT -5
If we didn't have a toy room, it would be an absolute disaster. Also, H is not a naturally tidy person and has a tendency to collect things so that adds to clutter big time. We have a coat closet in our entryway and he will walk right past that and dump his coat on a chair or the couch...grrrrr We had to purge quite a bit when we moved to our apartment and I'm hoping we can keep our level of things under control when we get a house again
Post by breezy8407 on May 18, 2016 14:52:33 GMT -5
H is a clutter freak and hates stuff sitting out, so it's usually picked up. But, The kids' playroom is usually covered in toys and my area of our closet is a disaster.
Hah. So much clutter. It doesn't take that long to tidy, but the thought of it is so daunting when I know that it's going to be messed up in 30 seconds or less. It's also completely dependent upon my emotional/stress state. I can deal with small amounts of clutter if the rest of my life is under control, but as my stress builds my ability to deal with the clutter is less and then I can not focus on anything else except making sure my surroundings are clean and tidy.
It's pretty bad. I feel like I haven't gotten into a good cleaning groove at our new house yet. I don't know where to put everything. It's a little bigger than our last house but older, so not as much storage, especially in the master bedroom and kitchen.
It generally is horrific except when people come over and when we have to prepare for the cleaning lady once a month. I have thought about canceling her but then I think we might never tidy at all
I have some actual issues with this, because I have very real compulsions to clean that aren't particularly healthy. I'm working on it though. In general, my house is pristine, and I say that not as a brag, because I really wish I could relax about it. I have a lot of anxiety about leaving the house if it isn't completely immaculate.
I'm better than I used to be. I used to seriously bleach my toilets every single day, sometimes twice. And vacuum twice. And mop the floor, twice. And wipe down my entire kitchen 4-5 times a day. Yikes.
My mom is like this. Like she needs three hours to get ready before leaving the house because she has all of these things that she has to do before she leaves. She's the same way about her personal appearance- it's like ritualistic. She doesn't like coming to my house because it gives her anxiety. It's not even that bad!
Yes. I get up before the kids most days to drink coffee and start cleaning. I hate that it rules me. On weekends, Matt kind of has to nudge me out the door almost immediately before I start doing it, because if I do, I cannot stop.
However, I am lucky in the sense that it doesn't extend beyond my own space. Other people's homes do not bother me in the slightest, and I am perfectly comfortable and unfazed by it outside of my own home. I'm sorry if you feel analyzed by your mom too, any picture you've posted of your house it looks like a magazine!
Part of this is my own mothers fault. Many of these things she did when I was young and also indoctrinated into us. I remember being grounded for not making my vacuum lines straight enough on my 16th birthday. I am praying I don't pass it off to the kids in the extreme the way it was for me. I try to balance it by allowing them messy projects, playing in the dirt, etc. but it's such a mindfuck!
Eh, it's been better and it's not company ready. Hopefully I can tackle a few areas tomorrow, but as much as I would love a spotless home, there are only so many hours in the day and I'm not going to beat myself up about it.
I would definitely hire a housecleaner if I won the lottery though!
I purge like a maniac and cannot stand clutter- it makes me super anxious for some reason. My space has to be tidy or I feel completely out of control. I also wake up before the rest of the household to empty the dishwasher/tidy up/drink coffee, even though I do the same (minus coffee) right before bed. I'm slightly less neurotic about things being "clean" though- everything just has to be picked up/put in its place. Except the kitchen. That has to be clean. Hugs creamsiclechica- I totally understand the ocd instincts.
I have some actual issues with this, because I have very real compulsions to clean that aren't particularly healthy. I'm working on it though. In general, my house is pristine, and I say that not as a brag, because I really wish I could relax about it. I have a lot of anxiety about leaving the house if it isn't completely immaculate.
I'm better than I used to be. I used to seriously bleach my toilets every single day, sometimes twice. And vacuum twice. And mop the floor, twice. And wipe down my entire kitchen 4-5 times a day. Yikes.
This is me to a T! At my worst I vacuumed 4 times a day. Since moving to our current house I've managed to only vacuum 4 or 5 times a week. I still bleach my sinks and toilets daily. I'm too trying to relax, but it's hard.
It generally is horrific except when people come over and when we have to prepare for the cleaning lady once a month. I have thought about canceling her but then I think we might never tidy at all
We did cancel our cleaning people. We don't clean, nor do we tidy...