Old style housekeeping question?

beautiful_ravens

I do actually have OCD (y'know, the real, diagnosed kind of OCD) I hope it helps you all to know that OCD is NOT a mess/dirt/cleaning phobia/disorder!!:j

penguin83

Reminds me of the poem below that my nan gave me -

Dust if you must, but wouldn't it be better
To paint a picture, or write a letter,
Bake a cake, or plant a seed;
Ponder the difference between want and need?
Dust if you must, but there's not much time,
With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;
Music to hear, and books to read;
Friends to cherish, and life to lead.
Dust if you must, but the world's out there
With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair;
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.
Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it's not kind.
And when you go (and go you must)
You, yourself, will make more dust.

My nan is 79 now and she always comments that she doesnt know how I fit time in for housework with having 2 littleys and working full time. You didnt tend to go out as such with your family - the children were free to roam and explore while they got on with chores and she never had to work - in reality I think she was just more organised than I will ever be! x x

Cookie_monster_7

I am loving all your replies, picking up great tips and really enjoying your lovely anecdotes about OS housekeeping :j

We live in a 2 bed flat and it gets messy very quickly. The living room is also the dining room, computer room and our dd's playroom and also, as I type, has 3 airers of clothes drying! :eek:

I have started following all the tips, cleaning as I go along, taking out one thing at a time, wiping the bathroom sink while I brush my teeth etc and it is making such a difference! Five minutes here and there all day is so easy compared to an hour after I get my dd to bed when I have no energy left.

pretty_mumma

I love this thread!!
I have a 10 month old dd and a 2 1/2 yr old ds, and i seem to be constantly cleaning! I can leave a room tidy and walk back in 5 mins later to find its been hit by a hurricane!
One thing i will do is get my son to clear up all his toys before bed, and they go in the conservatory, not all over the rest of the house. That way, it seems alot tidier.
He also likes to dust and sweep the floor I have him well trained!!

Mrs_Flittersnoop

My mum, who is now 82 and housebound, used to clean every morning without fail when we were little and at home. She used to dust, hoover and polish the lino in the downstairs rooms and clean the bathrooms round. Afternoons were our time when we were allowed to paint, play with plasticene etc and we nearly always went out for a long walk to the park too. Every night everything was tidied away and put in order before we went to bed.

Although she is not able to do a lot of cleaning now and actually has almost nothing left in the house to clean, Mum still wipes down all the surfaces in the kitchen as she goes, tidies round every night before going to bed and generally keeps the house tidy. Sadly as she's virtually incontinent it's not very clean and she's just sacked her cleaner (as she's quite a fierce old lady) the house itself is unpleasant to be in. But that's another story.

OrkneyStar

rosieben wrote: »

I follow a few of Flylady's baby steps

• swish and swipe the bathroom every morning when I have my shower which keeps the bathroom under control.
• do laundry as soon as I can make a reasonable load.
• keep the kitchen sink clear (not so successful at that one at the moment :rolleyes:).
• tidy up after myself (if you get it out, put it back!).

A few simple routines are enough to keep my house looking ok. I know if I had kids or pets it would be very different though

and I love my books too. Books are not a muddle, they're one of life's necessities!

I agree with all of this.
The other thing, with a toddler, is not to let things get out of hand but, equally, not clean up all the time, otherwise that is all I would do!

afterglow_2

my mum is like this, she starts her cleaning about 8 in the morning, does the bathroom, andkitchen thoroughly daily and puts on the washing, then hoovers the house and dusts, then hangs washing and does the garden!! all done by midday!!

katie_jane_2

My mum always had a verse on a tile in our kitchen when we were little

CLEANING AND SCRUBBING CAN WAIT TIL TOMORROW
FOR BABIES GROW UP WE'VE LEARNT TO OUR SORROW
SO QUIETEN DOWN COBWEBS AND DUST GO TO SLEEP
IM ROCKING MY BABY AND BABIES DONT KEEP.

When i had my first baby my mum gave it to me .It makes me smile coz in our house you wont catch anything from dirt but ya might fall over something (4 kids husband 2 dogs) and my mums was pretty much the same when we were growing up although v.tidy these days now its just her and dad.

bumble-bee_3

Great thread OP :T

I can remember from my childhood my mum and other neighbours regulary tutting at one neighbour who used to always have greyish whites on the washing line...a real no no then especially grey looking nappies.

I was brought up in a very houseproud home, my nan lived with us and I can remember them both always cleaning, it would only stop for crossroads You weren't allowed to sit on the bed etc when it was made and my Mothers motto is if in doubt chuck it out, nothing is considered sentimental...its clutter. She came around while I was work last week and tied up without me knowing, my stuff survived, but DD can't find her coursework :rotfl:

meanmarie

I never thought that my mother did any cleaning either...reading to my children was always more important than dusting and I never felt obliged to keep a sparkling house....if people wanted to see how clean my house was they weren't welcome!