Keeping house like my mum

downshifter

I remember seeing a discussion a while ago, I think it was on here, about how our mum's houses are always so clean and tidy, and I remember our house was always like that too when I was little, even when there were 4 children at home. My mum's house now is not only spotless but also tidy, no scuff marks on paint, well behaved garden, paperwork in order, no 'miscellaneous' boxes under the bed etc. I thought it was just because she doesn't have children around as much, or dogs, cats etc but she says that her philosophy now, at 82, is that anything could happen to her and she wants to ensure that she wouldn't feel ashamed if she had to go into hospital or even die unexpectedly (unlikely in the short term, she's healthier than the rest of the family put together!!), especially if strangers had to go through her stuff. So the house is clean, knicker drawer tidy, papers in order etc, the only thing she's kept are some love letters from my late father which she's made me promise to destroy without reading, which I will do. It's not clinical, still lived in. So I thought I'd look round my house with that philosophy in mind and wow, what a nightmare. I don't know where to start. I think my biggest problem is the 'miscellaneous' collection, I have misc drawers, misc boxfuls, misc shedful, misc everywhere. (Are these the same as hotspots?) While I can live with it, the thought of someone having to go through it all when I'm not here is scary.

So straight after work tonight I'm going to start, thinking of the most embarrassing things for others to find - probably actually emails and other computer things plus grey underwear drawer! My standards are far lower than my mums, or at least different, so I'm not likely to be shamed by the same things as her.

Has anyone else got anywhere else that would make them ashamed? I don't want a clinical, unlived in, pet and children - free house but talking to her did make me think.

DS

CLARABEL

ha ha...how about my whole house?:o

My OH grandmother died recently, and on starting to clear the house there was stuff everywhere, random boxes of old photos and junk, old newspapers etc. I think things get worse when people become older and less able to do stuff...

Not that I've got an excuse!
I do try and keep on top of things, but it's not alays possible however,s tuff I do includes


regular sort of clothes and trips to the charity shop
recycling of paperwork imediaterly it's not needed, and as much online billing as possible

perhaps more people have better ideas?!!

Clara:D

bluestarrz

I generally keep my living room and kitchen tidy but the bedrooms/cupboards/drawers etc are a riot! I often think of people having to sort through my belongings if something happened to me and put it this way it would take a while...
Sometimes I have a weekend where I'm really in the spirit to tidy all those odds and ends but generally i have enough trouble keeping the basics tidy. I'm exhausted after doing the daily hoovering, dusting, cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing plus looking out uniforms and making lunches, oh yeah and work...lol! I would have to take a holiday just to sort through that stuff!
Maybe when my kids have grown up and left home I'll find the time but until then it's messy cluttered drawers and random things under the bed! Lol!

WelshWoofer

You've spurred me on!
My house is perfectly tidy on the surface but go into a kitchen drawer or a bedroom cupboard and its chaos!
I'm off sick again today but feel much better so I'll attempt a cupboard or two - its a start!

looby-loo_2

My MIL was like that. When she died we found almost every cupboard was empty. In the two spare bedrooms just a suitcase in one wardrobe and a small box of photos in the other, all drawers empty.

Just the same in the kitchen and garage. Just the few things needed for every day. She must have been gradually putting some things in the bin each week. My DH was quite upset about some of the memories which she had thrown away but his sister was pleased - she wanted it all done and dusted and order the skip for the rest to come before the funeral.

My house will be an entirely different matter but I hope I'm having a life, unlike my MIL whose life was cleaning to a clinical standard.

cyclingyorkie

anyone sorting out my place will need to treat it as an expedition!

must be genetic - my mum's place will take a lot of sorting when the time comes!

THIRZAH

My mother's house was a nightmare to sort out. She was never very tidy to begin with but then she was ill for several months before she died--.

There must have been three months post just shoved in a box.Every cupboard was crammed full.

We had just cleaned her bedroom-a stressful task as she had died in there -and were about to head downstairs for a cup of coffee when my sister spotted the drawers in the base of the bed which we hadn't noticed before!

While we were sorting the house out a neighbour called. He was a trainee vicar from the local theological college. It was early evening and my sister and I were filthy after a days cleaning. We both had large gin and tonics on the table in front of us while we sorted paperwork and my sister was smoking-goodness knows what he thought he'd walked into.

After that I do try to keep things tidy and organised but I know that it would all slip if I were ill-DHs idea of tidying is to pile things up on the coffee table.

PasturesNew

One thing your mum's house had was less stuff.

Clothes fit into a wardrobe/drawers because we only had one set for school, one set for playing, one for best. And only one pair of shoes plus some plimsolls.

We didn't have stuff in bedrooms like: TVs, DVD, PC, games, videos. I just had a bed, bedside table and wardrobe in mine ... and a lamp.

Bathroom products were just: soap, shampoo, toothpaste. No fripperies. No big fluffy towels. Kids' toys were just one box full, kept in one cupboard.

If you want a house like your mum's you should think about how differently some people live nowadays - loads of stuff.

LameWolf

I do try to keep paperwork all filed so that it'll be easy to go through when I pop my clogs, but the rest of the bungalow is a bit of a challenge.

Trouble is, Mr LW isn't as organised as me, and tends to just shove things anywhere, whereas I like to have specific places for stuff (mainly because I get annoyed if I can't find what I want immediately).

I have recently been trying to tidy up and rationalise stuff; I have an ongoing charity box in the [STRIKE]junk[/STRIKE] spare room; and I'm trying to tidy/turf out a bit at a time, as and when I feel well enough.

I shudder to think what the loft is like, though, as I can't get up there so Mr LW has free rein there! I'd put money on it that it's a Ghastly Glory Hole up there.

I actually think I'm more organised and tidier than my mother ever was; but I've had no contact with her for about eight years, so I have no idea what she's like now.

mary-op

My mum was always an 'organised' sort of person -think it stemmed from bring up me and my brother in the 1940's, working as well and keeping house and not having the labour saving devices we have now. She had to be organised to get everything done.
She carried on that way even after Dad died and when she had her stroke it made life much easier for me and my brother knowing that everything was in it's 'place'.......papers in an accordian file, phone numbers always kept up to date, clother always put away in the right drawer.
Not so me.............I do try and have a filing cabinet as well as a separate file for household bills but poor OH -when I was in hospital earlier this year he brought me the strangest sort of pyjama outfit..............lol -said he couldn't find what I'd asked for. No wonder.......knicker drawer is chaos -was then and still is I'm afraid.
I'm trying to sort paperwork out a bit better -if anything happened to me OH wouldn't know where to look for bank stuff or anything. Friend of mine has a bag always packed for hospital stays as she goes quite often -makes sense too. When mum had her stroke it took me a while to pack, sort out toilet bag etc. If I'd had the necessary stuff in a little holdall I wouldn't have got in the panic that I did.
I'll keep trying but I'll never match my mum that I know

Hardup_Hester

I come from a family of hoarders, I helped clear out my nan's house, among other things we found a carrier bag of bits of string that were too short to be of any use & a dustbin bag full of unused, some still boxed, ladies hankies as she was 'keeping them for best' & always made her own hankies from sheets that had already been turned side to middle, then been made into pillow cases & finally into hankies!
Then I cleared out my grandpa's flat, also crammed to the gunnels & finally my Mum's bungalow, which was full of stuff she'd taken from my nan's house as 'it was too good to throw away!
Hester