How many have help with their housework???

I know what you mean, Marlee. For the life of me, I don't know how two people can make such a mess.  I try to de-cluttert, but the hubby is attached to everything.  I literally have to wait until he goes to bed to toss out the must-have catalogues and other items that he might need sometime in the future.  I too obsess about it.  I don't feel grounded or connected surrounded with stuff. Thankfully, it is confined to one room, but only because I have begged him to keep his school stuff out of the other rooms.

I do not see a cleaning lady in my future.  If the economy goes any further down the toilet, we'll be living over a sewer grate in a back alley so it won't matter.  I love watching the stock market arrows pointing straight towards 'you know where'!

Huggies

donna

I take care of my own home.  I can't afford a cleaning lady.  So, I have learned to pace myself.  I also try to keep things picked up.  Today my project is cleaning my stove, microwave, and all counter tops in the kitchen.  I've been working on it on and off all day long.  I still have a couple of drip trays soaking in the sink.  I don't work non-stop doing anything!  That's how I pace myself. 

I do pick a day to vacuum and dust.  That doesn't take very long...about 45 minutes.  I don't mop the floors every week.  That's the hardest thing for me to do and lots of times I break up the mopping over a couple of days.  I also have to hose off the lanai and wipe down patio furniture about once a month, too. 

I just got in a pattern and do it.  I don't have a choice in the matter.  It may not be as perfect as I would really like it to be but my home is far cleaner than other people's homes I've been in that don't suffer from chronic pain!  No one has gotten sick from my home nor has the Health Department come knocking on the door!    

So, Marlee, my advice to you is let it go.  I had to.  Life will go on even if things are perfect.  Enjoying your family is far more important than stressing over things that people usually don't notice! 

Sherrine 

If I had grown children living with me they would be doing their share. I loved it when my granddaughter was growing up and loved to clean.

 

I have tried to let this go and be happy living with what I can do but it is the one thing that causes me so much anxiety. I think I would have to go to therapy to let this go and if I'm going to do that I might as well pay for help to clean it. I'm not looking for perfection just reasonably clean. DH does help but he has been so busy with the business he is doing good to keep up with the mowing and trimming. Plus it doesn't bother him like it does me, he looks at the house with blinders on.

 

I did buy a Shark Steam Mop that I love so I don't mind doing the hard surface floors anymore. They need to be done often with two dogs in the house with one still having accidents.

 

Guess I will just keep doing what I can.

 

Thanks girls.

 

luv and hugs

Marlee

It's good to see you Sarah. I have missed you.

As for me, fibro and my back do not allow me stand for any length of time, so housework is very difficult for me. I hired someone about four years ago and she comes in once a week and does an overhaul to my kitchen and cleans the house including the floors. I have two german shepherds, so the dog hair and the sand are horrible year round, I'm afraid.

I am a clutterbug and that hasn't changed. It annoys my husband tremendously. It doesn't help that my dear sainted mother in law cleaned houses and hotels for a living and that you could eat off her floors at any given time. The woman was amazing. An excellent cook too, but I digress.

We just figured in the housecleaning into our monthly bills since I can't do it any more and he doesn't do it either, so we have Sally.

Thanks for letting me share.

Lindaloo

I would love a neater house but it's not happening unless I win the lottery and can get a much bigger house. Our house is actually clean; we keep up on the dishes, bathroom, dusting, etc. It's the clutter that makes it look bad. Even if I could afford to hire someone, it wouldn't help. We live in a small space and have a lot of stuff. We are used to walking in zig-zags to get around because books, papers, and art supplies are everywhere. An 800 sq ft apartment is easy to keep clean but impossible to keep neat.

The fibrofog makes me confused when I try to put things away. On good days, I organize piles but the good days never last long enough for me to find homes for everything. If my husband or son put anything away, I can't find it. Since they are guys, they never put things in the same place twice. I get easily distracted and then forget what I was looking for or what I was doing.

We put a wire rack in the closet so I can put my clothes in piles on the shelves. I had a really hard time when my clothes were in dresser drawers, I could never find anything and I'd get frustrated. I have to be able to see things to remember that I have them.

I can deal with the pain and fatigue but the brain stuff gets me nuts.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that doesn't get things finished. I started extra projects this spring after being on the vit D and had more motivation and a little more energy and have yet to finish any of them. I have an office in the back of the house and that is where everything ends up that I don't know what to do with, it is a disaster in there but I can lock the door and no one has to see it.

 

If I could find someone that works as hard and fast as my niece does I would hire her a few hours a week to do the heavy duty stuff. Because of the arthritis in my hands I can't do a lot of scrubbing.

 

My dream life would be to have my house cleaned so I could spend my time and energy on the fun and interesting things I want to do in life and there are a lot of those I would like to do. Right now I'm spending all my precious energy on the house and not having much fun.

 

Thanks again girls.

 

luv and hugs

Marlee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marlee, that's one of my major problems also.  My dh helps out some, but it's not enough.  I mentioned to him about hiring someone for maybe twice a month and he said my income wasn't enough for that. 

 

This summer I've been trying to organize and throw out some things when he isn't looking.  He's a pack rat too. 

 

Right now I would have to clean my house before I could hire someone to come in and see such a mess.  Every time I plan on a cleaning day, something comes up with someone at church or in the family and we just drop what we're doing and take off.  The house work is still waiting for me when the crisis is over.  I never seem to get caught up. 

 

I've been out of school for about a month now and I still haven't gotten my closets cleaned out or my windows and woodwork done.  How can you ever find time to do it all?

 

I'm at my ropes end and don't see any problem solving in sight.  As I've said before my fibro isn't as bad pain related as it is exhaustion.  I just get so tired when I have to work at it all day.  My job at school is actually easier than working at cleaning house. 

 

I wish I had a way of fixing this problem too.  If anyone else has any ideas keep them coming.

 

God bless!

Shannon

I say you should hire someone. My 17 year old daughter helps around here and my 22 year old son comes over and does the heavy work occasionally.

We will be moving in about a year to an Island which may to far a commute for my son so I will hire someone else to do the hard housecleaning.

Our place is not spotless but without my children, it would be far worse.

Hire someone to do it, it is worth saving your energy for the fun things you like to do.

Donnaeil

I wish I could get help with my home. Between school and work and my two girls i am beat. Its all I can do to get in the car at the end of the day to go home after school and work, but now I have to make dinner and play with my girls too (my oldest is 3, my youngest is 1), which would not be a difficulty if I did not have to clean after everything was done. My husband tries to clean, but his idea of cleaning is "getting the big stuff", he will leave all the "small" difficult tasks and get the plate on the table becuase it is what he notices. I am grateful for what he does, but I would like a night off every once and a while...

I used to clean houses when I lived in Florida. Also, I cleaned motel rooms. Then, I had meds which would help me get through the day, and so except for exhaustion at evening, a good sleep, I'd go the next day. My clients were "by referral only". They actually tidied house before I came so I could get to the surfaces to vacuum, dust, scrub whatever. Honestly, I liked doing most of the places I had. There was one lady however, who micro-managed, and I gave her the slip. Could not stand someone over my shoulder. Left alone I can do a thorough cleaning of 1000 sq,. ft. in exactly 3 hours. I mean everything. Underneath furniture, behind fridge, behind toilet, all corners, all cupboards, all closets, etc. I charged $15.00 an hour and wouldn't except anything less that 3 hours, unless it was for a couple, both had cancer, lived in a trailer, and I charged $8.00 per hour for two hours, or didn't charge at all. Just my little contribution to the universe.

Last move, 6 weeks ago, I had a 2000 sq.ft. rental, I was leaving, I wasn't well, so I hired a local girl.
I stayed for the first 30 minutes, helping, then got out of her way. Silly me, I left $60.00 on counter and left. She probably passed me going down the road. I had to go back over Everything. I can't believe the low standard of work put out by some. Altogether, it took me another 4 days of work to get it done properly, for owners to move in as I was renting for winter. So, I don't know what to tell you. I would reccomend asking around your neighborhood for referrals to someone who knows what the heck house cleaning is. You might only need someone twice a month. It's $100 well spent if you fine the right person. Even check with some girls at local hotels, who sometimes want a little cash on the side. Check the public areas, and even ask to see a room. Check baseboards, behind toilet, in closets, etc. (you can tell them aunt martha's coming for visit and you're seeking appropriate facility as she's so fussy, Aunt Martha is. Good luck. Give up something else that's a luxury, like buying new clothes, shop second hand. Use that money for household help. Or whatever. It might prove to be a good thing if you do your homework, as I obviously did not, on my last endeavor.

Thanks, Marlee!  I'll head over to Walmart this week!  I knew you liked your chair.

 

Sherrine

No a great guest would have cleaned your whole house Snootzie. Our son and DIL are staying here for two weeks while we go on vacation and I'm going to let her know she is more than welcome to clean anything she wants while we are gone and if they want to paint the family room they are more than welcome to do so. She has fibro too so don't know how she will feel while she is here.

 

My DH has been asking around, since he is out in the public and knows more people than I do, for references for someone to do the heavy cleaning once a month. I pushed yesterday til I made myself sick and I can't keep doing that. I would l love to have someone once a week but that isn't in the budget.

 

luv and hugs

Marlee