Tuesday, February 15, 2011

how clean is clean?

I feel so much better after I clean my house.  Don't we all love a fresh smelling clean house?

I cleaned this morning and now I am tired but happy to have it done.  As I was cleaning I was thinking about other things I needed to clean.  My baseboards are dirty, there are marks on the walls...the kids probably drove a toy car on the wall to mark it up.  The cabinets in the kitchen and both bathrooms need to be lemon oiled.  My kitchen table and chairs need to be scrubbed.  They get so dirty and the daily wipe down doesn't always do the trick.

  I vacuumed, cleaned the bathrooms, kitchen, and mopped the floors.  I also dusted and continue my daily chore of laundry.  I feel like I am constantly cleaning and thinking of things I need to clean.  It is never ending.  Sometimes it overwhelms me.  But I realise the kids don't care.  I care...I want my house to be spotless.  But with 2 kids, a puppy and an older dog it just doesn't all get done.

So I do the best I can.  I make the beds some days and other days I skip making them.  When I finally can't see through the finger prints and dog paw prints on the glass back door, I clean it.  I steam clean the kitchen chairs when I just can't stand it any longer that there is a frosting stain that won't go away. 

My way of letting go of the house work is to have my house picked up.  As long as everything has a place and things aren't a mess I am OK.  I have had to find a happy medium because if I spent all my time cleaning I wouldn't get to go outside and enjoy this amazing weather!!  It is 75 degress right now.  As soon as Hayden wakes up from his nap and Layla gets out of school, we are playing in the back yard, or going for a nice long walk!!

Oh and one last thing...

Weather, can you go ahead and make the grass green?  If I have to clean up any more dry khaki grass drug in the house by the kids and dogs I may lose my mind. Kthxbye ;)

How do you keep your sanity when it comes to kids & pets and house cleaning?

11 comments:

Vivienne @ the V Spot said...

I'm trying really hard to keep on top of it, but you're right... it's never ending.

LeAnna said...

Oh, is it never ending or what??? I try to keep things picked up, like you say. It's increasingly harder with two young ones under foot. We're actually putting our house on the market today, and my Mom is coming over next week and we're just gonna pack some stuff up. Less stuff, less clutter. I figure worst case scenario, I might enjoy living with less. ;)

Kelli W said...

Ugh! I hate to clean! Mainly because it seems like as soon as I clean something it is just back to being dirty again! I really want to hire someone to come in and deep clean for me maybe once a month, but I still haven't managed to talk Jason into it:)

Brigetta Schwaiger said...

I hear ya girlfriend. I am a pick up and not really clean girl too. Until it starts making me crazy.

Laura@The Oily Cupboard said...

i figure it's never gonna stay clean until all kids leave for college and then i'll be crying begging them to live at home to mess up the place.
and speaking of cleaning...my house is a mess and has been for the past 2 weeks...ok it gets picked up...just not the mopping and vacuuming and swiffer'in....makes me want to cry!

Unknown said...

You can only do so much with the cleaning before it just becomes too overwhelming. I agree - everything has a home, put it away and the rest can wait! The cleaning never goes away - but the kids grow up and we don't want to miss the "good" stuff right??

And ummmmmmm I *wish* I could even see the grass. Two days ago it snowed FOUR feet in 24 hours. Yes. FOUR feet!

Anonymous said...

I feel like all I do is clean! My house is teeny,tiny so even small messes seem huge. I need to scrub walls/baseboards/cabinets etc. I just haven't gotten that far. In fact, I really just want to paint! That always makes everything feel clean! I have felt like my house is super nasty lately. But, I just try and pick up, vaccum.. which my vaccum is a piece of junk and I never feel like my carpet is clean, and of course dust and mop. And then the small boy wakes from his nap and the messes appear again! Or its time for another meal!

Red Stethoscope said...

Angie, I don't have kids or a dog, and I'm not sure that I DO make it work! Hats off to you! And yes, cleaning IS a never-ending job! (Although the perks of being a medical student include being very rarely home, so things sort of stay put. The dust on the other hand...)

Anonymous said...

I am bowing down in your honor! I am amazed!

I am able to put up with a little dust and dog hair for a day or so, but have to get at it (and the house organized) sooner rather than later.

I don't like to clean because I know as soon as I get it cleaned the muddy dog/kid will come running through and I will have to start all over. But do clean because dirty houses are gross... LOL

Kelli said...

Cleaning...the neverending adventure. We've been really trying to work on this in our house. With the kids I've basically tried to find a place for all of their things so they know where to put things away and I always have them eat at the table. It's such a battle though. Hey...I tagged you over on my blog btw.

Perfectly Imperfect said...

I am a freak about cleaning. A freak. Basically I divide up the house. Each room gets a day. So during BG's morning nap, I tackle the room of the day. It gets dusted, scrubbed whatever it needs. I vacuum the whole house while I have the vacuum out (joys of two dogs) and the kitchen gets cleaned as I go. I seriously can't handle a mess, so it's necessary. But it's a battle!!