Old style housekeeping question?

Cookie_monster_7

I live near 2 elderly ladies, one has terrible arthritis and has had cancer the other has had a mild stroke, but their homes are always immaculate and when I ocaasionally pop into see them, they are not rushing round trying to keep the place clean, they are sitting reading, knitting etc. How do that generation do it? I am married with one child and I am a SAHM but I always feel like I am chasing my tail, the house never stays clean and tidy for long, I am very embarrassed if anyone pops round unannounced and things always seem to pile up (dishes, ironing...) despite my best efforts to follow flylady :rotfl:

What did they know then that we don't know now?

malamala

I think the difference is, we know something that they don't: the internet!

I reckon if I don't have internet/computer at home, I would spend more time on cleaning.

thriftlady_2

Old ladies don't make a lot of mess;) One child makes for a huge amount of mess and laundry.

Hawthorn

I'm with Malamala on this one. We have far too many distractions these days.

Cookie_monster_7

I bet their houses were still spotless when they had young children

No-one knows the secret then I have asked them how they do it but they just laugh and say "oh, this place is a mess"

It is true about the distractions....the internet has a terrible hold over me!

Hawthorn

Cookie_monster wrote: »

I bet their houses were still spotless when they had young children

!

My mums was, for sure. It was always immaculate. But then, we weren't allowed to play. We didn't paint at home, bake at home, play with play dough. We were allowed one toy out at a time, and then it had to be put away.
I never felt relaxed there, because everything had to be 'just so', and then, it was never good enough. I think my mum is a little OCD :rotfl:

My kids are terribly untidy, but at least they know how to have fun

I do cringe if anyone comes around though. Particularly when it's my mum. She kind of gets this, um, nervous twitch :rotfl:

Cookie_monster_7

Hawthorn you have reminded me of the stories I heard about my great grandmother. Her house was legendary in it's cleanliness, it was a council house and when the street was getting their new kitchens fitted she was told she didn't need one because hers was as good as new....because she had taken such good care of it! I understand she was not happy and got her new kitchen But she was a tyrant who didn't allow any of her 7 children any possessions. My grandmother had to keep her homework under a hedge in the garden or it would have ended up on the fire :eek:

She will be turning in her grave if she can see the state of my house right now :rotfl:

tessie_bear

im sure its kids who muck the place up....when mine go on holiday with my mum and dad the house stays as it is...hopefully tidy and im yet to get the washing of 4 people in hand....sometimes i cant see over the pile as i bring it downstairs..i think washing is timw consuming and possibly they would have to do that much

Hawthorn

Theirs was handwashed too! One of those old dolly things no doubt.

I don't think back then they had the huge quantity of clothes we do now though? I may be wrong on that.
I know my nanna growing up had one to be worn, one in the wash, and one waiting. They wore them for more than one day at a time too, I'm reckoning.

that said, I used to handwash, and actually it was a lot faster in some respects. Yes, you can't just put it on and leave it to do it's job, but it doesn't take three quarters of an hour to handwash clothes thoroughly either.
The pain was getting it dry. Many a time I had to defrost jeans that were outside during the winter LOL.

[Deleted User]

Well I too have arthritis, and have gone through cancer, and am certainly getting on a bit ,but my house is my home, so when I feel like cleaning I do and when I don't feel like it I don't.
I only have myself to please now and if my granchildren want to make a mess then Granny's is the place to come .
Life is far too short to worry about a bit of dust as it will still be here when I am long gone .My house is reasonably clean, but not over so that I can't smell the flowers when I want, or read a book. I no longer have little ones to mess it up and boy I still miss them,but the grandkids make up for it .I have just had both my DD's round for a cup of coffee and one is 41 and the other is 39, and they are still arguing like a couple of kids ,bless them, as to who puts the coffee pot on. Anyone who comes to my home is welcome to put their feet up and relax, as I am not keen on seeing a place too immaculate. Where we used to live my next door neighbours husband Mick used to pop in to visit my husband, and always said that he could relax more in our house thaan in his own as his wife always made him take his shoes off before he walked into the sitting room She was a very houseproud lady and very nice, but definitely a touch of the Mrs Buckets.Not a thing was ever out of place and the cushions were always being plumped up. She had a phobia about cleaning and it was spotless but a bit like being in a furniture store when you visited, where as mine was a bit more like the warehouse, if you see what I mean:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: .newspapers are meant to be read not folded to pristine neatness:rotfl:

thriftlady_2

When my OH takes the kids camping for a week in Summer I clean the house from top to bottom as soon as they've gone and it stays absolutely spotless all week. I don't have to wipe the toilet once, I don't need to hoover all week, I don't need to ask kids to put stuff away, I do laundry once in the week. Also I do a lot less cooking and no baking at all so my kitchen clean-up is minimal.

The minute they walk in the door they dump all their bags and junk on the floor and empty piles and piles of laundry out and it's like they've never been gone.