Housework, am I alone?

I call it crisis housework. Two grandchildren staying for the weekend now so that bedroom got a deep clean. It won’t be touched again until their next stay. Unfortunately we live in London so even the rain comes down dirty. My mother lived on the coast. She wouldn't let anyone clean the rooms that weren’t in regular use and to be honest they hardly got dusty at all. In London it takes two days for everything to need dusting again and I just can’t be bothered. Kitchen and bathroom are the exception.

I'm clearly in the minority but I do not feel 'right' unless I have done some housework. I hate clutter (although I have too much, I know) and everything has to be in its place - apart from books, which belong everywhere IMO. I actually enjoy moving my body, not being 'sat' at my desk, but everything has a balance. I love my long walks and treasure my reading time, and lunches/chats with friends - I think it's all about not wasting time or energy. While cleaning I listen to Radio 4 to cope with the tedium of it.

I hate housework too and increasingly hate changing beds as the mattress is heavy.
I have a cleaner who comes to my neighbour and then to me every second week for one hour. Its the best spent £15. She does so much in that hour and the house feels so nice forwards. I occasionally get her to do 2 hours and that involves more deep cleaning. I quite enjoy doing the laundry and cooking etc.

I always say I was born to be a lady but ended up as a simple serf...lol.

In India ,where they still have a lot of help in the house, older people get stiff and old as they are not very active. So I see the housework that I do, to some extent keeping me fit and young.

i hate it with a passion

No you are not alone. My mother was a house proud, cleanaholic. She never stopped cleaning and I know a couple of people the same but not for me.

I once read a brilliant book called “Giving up on ordinary”by Isla Dewar, as a cleaner she had clients she called Mrs Terribly-Clean-Pearson or Ms Oh-Just-Keep-It-Above-The-Dysentery-Line McGhee.
I used to be a Mrs Pearson I’m now unashamedly MS Dysentry level.
So far nobody’s noticed 🤩

I do housework when I’m stressed.

I’m stressed roughly 3 days a week………….

However, I don’t iron bedding or towels.

I like it. I like a clean house. Hate dust and cobwebs.

Only do any housework ( apart from the obvious essentials to stay healthy!) when anyone is coming over ….my sons due in an hour to do some jobs and eat a roast with me in payment …..but apart from a sluice around the loo ( so he can report to his sister that I am ‘ looking after myself!) …I’m drinking a glass of plonk as I prep lunch😂

Posts very reassuring. I’m 80 & scared about turning into a repulsive old woman whose guests don’t fancy drinking out of my cups. The dishwasher is invaluable for that. I have a problem with damp though so use a dehumidifier & sniff the air frantically when I return to the house after an outing. It’s a constant battle with mould on window frames. Quite depressing really as I’ve always had better things to do than mindless dusting & cleaning. If only I’d had a ceramic kitchen sink instead of a composite one which stains & scratches. I shan’t go on…

I do just enough cleaning now for the place to be respectable! I am a tidy person and live alone so it is usually not too bad. Kitchen is not used excessively as I rarely cook a full meal just for myself, only when guests/gc around. Bathroom cleaned daily- not much mess there anyway. I have always disliked housework and never gained the satisfaction from it that I have observed in others. It is a necessary evil as far as I am concerned- so many more interesting things to do! My former sister in law would often chirrup how she loved to ‘keep house’. It filled me with horror!

So refreshing to read this as I thought I was alone! I have a son with ASD and he messes up the bathroom every day. He uses orange shampoo for a scalp condition that stains everything somehow and there’s toothpaste on the sink and floor so I have got into the habit of cleaning the bathroom before I have a shower. I have a sacroiliac problem so get backache really quickly when standing still and leaning forward so I can’t do much at a time. I have a gardener once a month during the summer. I have also learned to be less fussy about clothes because ironing hurts my back too. I used to do it for other people as a business up until Covid too! Like others I do have a bit of a blitz when expecting company, I just have to do one thing a day leading up to it!

No, you’re not alone but I found myself sticking to the kitchen floor this morning😳 so desperate times call for desperate measures! When I can write my name in the dust and read it from the sofa, I think seriously about it!

Absolutely not alone!! There are so many more important things to do in life than constantly cleaning. Like you, our house gets a thorough clean when we’re expecting visitors! Nice to know I’m not alone 😁

I loathe housework - I do it, but find no pleasure in it whatsoever, and am in a grumpy mood for however long the job lasts. It is a huge relief when it is done and I can get on with something more interesting.

Do as lttle as possible due osteoarthritis &other problems- do toilets& sinks &worktops, &laundry,& we vac when needed but go a bit 'all out' best we can if visitors due😅Used to have a cleaner but she is too far away now....

kwal

I'm a crafter so housework is at the bottom of my list. When it gets to the stage where it HAS to be done I do it but not willingly. Life is too short.

Me too.

I do the least possible nowadays. I keep it tidy and it looks clean ....but it's not 🤣. I have grandkids I see most days, I have a dog who I love being with and getting outside with and I have my husband who I like to spend time with. I have a sister I go see every week. It's just me and my hubby at home so who cares 🤷. If I had visitors I'd do a clean , other than that I wait til things look like they are begging to have a clean🤪 I saw my mum and mum in law cleaning a lot well onto their old age, and I look back now they've gone and realised what a waste it was. I'm 62 and I don't intend wasting my last 10 or 20 years cleaning. As I write this I'm sitting outside a coffee shop with my dog watching life ....and the bathroom has needed cleaning for ages 🤣🤣

I hate housework with a passion, there are so many other things I would rather do. I do have a fair few visits from family and friends so I just clean before they come. Otherwise the house is tidy and work services and toilets and bathroom are wiped over regularly but I can live with a bit of dust!

I’m exactly the same. I do hoover each day including kitchen floor, mop about once a week or when it need it. I was looking at my window blinds and what a job they’ll be so that’s on hold. Don’t feel bad, as long as it looks tidy and smells nice what harm is it doing. Enjoy your own time.

I'm a crafter so housework is at the bottom of my list. When it gets to the stage where it HAS to be done I do it but not willingly. Life is too short.

We live out in the countryside, surrounded by fields and very muddy lanes. Our two very big, long haired dogs bring in leaves, twigs, lots of mud and hair. So our kitchen floor frequently has the appearance of a farm yard. No point in getting stressed about it. Love and kindness lasts much longer than a shiny floor.

Absolutely not alone. Basics for me, unless visitors due. Only dust when the sun shines on it. Way to go 👍

I used to know someone who almost invariably met me at the door with a cloth or duster in her hand, saying, ‘I haven’t sat down all day!’
The houses were small prefabs on a construction camp in Oman - what on earth she found to do in it all day I have no idea.
But IMO you’re either born with the endless-cleaning gene, or you’re not.
Thank goodness I was not!

I loathe housework but I do like things clean and the wet areas are done regularly! I had to remind the other half that two of us live here as I was cleaning the lounge of cat hair and he was complaining! He did get up and mop floors plus he hoovers when he remembers 😂
Dust if you must but isn’t it better to …..

If I could afford a regular cleaner I would employ one ! The upper floor gets done when we have a visitor otherwise it stays as it is! Life is too short to worry about housework but then I do have a blitz occasionally on a rainy day !!!