House proud people

plenty of "games, puzzles, baking, watching a film on a Sunday afternoon" etc etc with my boys and a home to be proud of, which they were proud of too.

As long as loos and basins are hygienic, other stuff gets done as and when I notice or have time.
I put things away as I go which seems half the battle to our HOME looking clean.
Quite honestly it doesn’t get that dirty with just two of us most of the time.

House proud people need to think of the impact that this has on other people, especially their children.
My husband has no memory of his mother doing anything other than cleaning ( and moaning ) when he was a child .
No games, puzzles, baking, watching a film on a Sunday afternoon, bike rides, making ice lollies…. Just a few of my everyday memories I have told him about .
He had his imaginary friend instead .

I think my housewifely pride is governed by the phases of the moon. Sometimes I'll go at the cleaning until there's a drop of sweat on the end of my nose and the air is thick with parfum de Mr Muscle and Domestos. Other times the mess will pile up until I can't find anything and DH complains that all his undies are still in the laundry basket. But I do have a very good sense of smell which I never ignore!

People say they aren't slaves to houseowrk, yet clean loos daily and the kitchen floor 3 times a week?

I trained my family to make sure loos are clean when they leave them. Cleaning materials are to hand, and I clean them once a week. Washing the kitchen floor? I hoover mine once a week and only wash it when it looks dirty. The floor is quarry tiled, so that isn't often. I have only ever owned a cooker with a black drip tray, as it does not show the dirt.

I have invested all my thought and energy in finding ways of not doing housework

All the furniture either has legs high enough to hoover under without moving it, or the base lies flat on the ground.

My mother and grandmother thankfully had lives that were far too busy and interesting to waste on housework and I follow in their grand tradition.

If I got a cleaner I’m sure I’d feel the need to clean before they came.....

Another house work detester here too. Just cleaned my kitchen floor and hall tiles and the water was black! Don't know where dirt comes from. I was thinking of getting a cleaner but not sure I'm at that stage yet. I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself but don't ever want to. I wish I was different but I don't think I'll change now

We do enough housework to avoid the need to panic if we get unexpected visitors. We don’t have a routine, just decide that something needs doing. Kitchen and bathroom have always been CAYG to avoid build up.
We don’t have set jobs, except for cleaning the shower drain. Frequent and lavish praise means DH sees that as his job.

I had a friend round who commented on my skirting boards (they were clean) and when I told another friend she said 'Those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind' I don't keep on top of things like I should but having a 24 year old that has OCD is a nightmare

My aunty has a little sign in her house that says ‘Excuse the mess, but we live here’

I used to work with a lady who got up at 5 am so she could clean her house from top to bottom EVERY DAY. I felt guilty for about one minute.

We have two long haired cats so my house is never spotless. My mum ironed tea-towels and pyjamas, which I think says it all! She always used to clean my kitchen when she visited. I like a clean house but with pets and three children (well, they’ve left home now) I had better things to do than have a show home. I have a cleaner so I don’t have to clean. Some would say that’s lazy (my late mum would) but surely if you can afford it, it’s providing employment for someone.

It’s a good job nobody goes into my lower cupboards, I recon I’ve probably cleaned them out twice in twenty years. They are well ready for a good sort out and clean.
But I do push the ‘Shark’ round every day, and everywhere is reasonable, just don’t go in my cupboards !

Grandmabatty

My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.

I prefer it when you visit houses that are a bit untidy as you feel you can relax rather than putting a doily under yourself when you sit down.

I had a friend who 'gave up' having an immaculate home, she said it was too much effort and all she did was clean!

My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.

I loathe housework - I do the minimum to keep it looking reasonably presentable, with a bit extra if guests are coming - usually meaning I make sure I’ve got my glasses on so I can see the dust. ?

Anyone trying to tell me how to clean my house would get very short shrift! Luckily I don’t recall anyone ever trying.

IMO some women positively seem to enjoy making martyrs of themselves over housework. Maybe they would like, ‘You could always eat your dinner off her floors!’ on their tombstones.

My DH was brought up by an extremely houseproud mother.
She used to come into our house, and surreptitiously run her fingers over my surfaces. She never found much dust.
My standards are way below hers! Over the years DH has got used to the state of our house. I dust when it needs doing, same with the vacuuming. I wash the kitchen floor as needed, same with the bathrooms. Life is too short to worry about house work!

It's often detrimental to their physical health too Mattsmum.

I do want I think needs to be done when I see it such as dusting and hoovering. As far as I’m concerned as long as there’s clean bathrooms, kitchen and bedding then I’m happy and no one else matters. My dog creates quite a bit of hair so with wooden floors it’s easy. I don’t knock house proud people or those that are not, it’s up to the individual.

The only concerning thing to me are those that hoard, to the detriment of their mental health.

My neighbour noticed us getting in the car a few weeks ago; after the usual chit chat etc we said we were going our for a few hours - the weather was lovely and far too nice to be stuck indoors. Her comment................" Oh dear me, going out on a Wednesday, we clean our bathroom on a Wednesday " ! Why would anyone structure their lives around a blooming cleaning timetable? My motto - I can clean inside when it's raining outside! I frequently do the ironing after dark too ?‍♀️

just smile and say nothing ...its your home .you can do as you like ...

What dirt is there going to be in a 91-year-old's cupboards in a month for heaven's sake. Or a much younger person's for that matter. Am presuming food cupboards here, unless you habitually put jars of leaky jam on their sides or holey flour bags, in which case that's different, what's wrong with an annual go through of the cupboards to get rid of/use up old half empty jars/packets etc, ok maybe twice a year if you are 'slovenly'. As long as things are clean and you are happy with that, that should be enough. Keep up with it on a day to day basis, vacuum when it needs it, keep the loo clean and keep on top of the washing up and kitchen surfaces, and be a bit careful you use the old stuff in your cupboard first and in general you probably only need to do deep cleaning occasionally when needed
Oddly I was watching one of those programmes last night with someone with a cluttered house in need of deep cleaning was paired with someone who spent hours cleaning and bleaching their house. One of the 'clean ' people had started cleaning after her son died so she could feel in control of her life, if she felt bad she would clean, the other was lonely as her husband worked away, and cleaned to fill her time. The first lady decided to seek help for her obsession, the second lady started volunteering to clean friends' houses, and considered getting a job. Often those on the other end of the spectrum too, have had a trauma, a death, or other such loss leading to difficulties. Both deserve help. If you are somewhere in the middle and your house is safe and you are happy, all is well. I thought last night that the lady who was bored could maybe do gardening or volunteer for a good cause if she didn't want a job, rather than clean unnecessarily, or even do some fun study or join a club but everyone is different. I'd love her to come and clean my house though lol
If Aunt is happy doing what she does, fine, but she'd not be happy if you started telling her she was boring and should do something interesting

Why is it necessary to be scathing about people who are house proud? I don't keep our home the way I do because I worry about anyone finding my home in a mess for 2 reasons; 1) It will never happen and 2) I love my home and enjoy keeping it clean and tidy.