I’m tired of being the only adult in the house.

[gatorsmom]

I believe I’m on Day 3 of my cleaning management strike. I have reminded DH and the kids several times that I will no longer push them to keep up the house. I’ll do some cleaning everyday (yesterday I did 2 loads of dishes because my kids cook and then leave messes too), and the day before I vacuumed. But I’m not pushing anyone else to follow the chore chart. I don’t care. I did send DH a text today suggesting that he better be reminding the kids to do their daily chores because I’m on strike. He has ignored those texts. I’ll got mention it now while he’s outside swimming. If he doesn’t keep on top of the kids, they are going to be overwhelmed. I’m really enjoying not caring about the cleaning. Now that I’ve unloaded that duty, I’m able to get projects done that I’ve wanted to do for years! And they can’t say I didn’t warn them when the mess is finally no longer tolerable.

[SnuggleBuggles]

That’s about all the cleaning that ever gets done here. 🤷*♀️ What more is there? Maybe some bathroom stuff as needed? Enjoy your strike and know that some of us live in that level of mess regularly.


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[gatorsmom]

That’s about all the cleaning that ever gets done here. 🤷*♀️ What more is there? Maybe some bathroom stuff as needed? Enjoy your strike and know that some of us live in that level of mess regularly.


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Vaccuuming and mopping 3 floors, dusting table bases and legs, dusting the wood parts of stairs and spindles, dusting every room, scrubbing countertops, wiping glass and windows, scrubbing toilets, cleaning showers, etc, etc. There is no end to it. I’m not thinking about it. La la la

[SnuggleBuggles]

Vaccuuming and mopping 3 floors, dusting table bases and legs, dusting the wood parts of stairs and spindles, dusting every room, scrubbing countertops, wiping glass and windows, scrubbing toilets, cleaning showers, etc, etc. There is no end to it. I’m not thinking about it. La la la

Yeah, a solid no to the dusting!! Mopping? Unless it visibly looks dirty just skip it. Get a Swiffer Wet Jet for super quick touch ups (less commitment than getting out a mop and bucket). Cleaning the shower? Again, only if it looks or feels dirty. You’d be surprised how long that takes . Windows and glass? Nope. All nice to do but definitely not dire. Dishes and wiping down the kitchen counters are about my only “musts” regularly. Enjoy your strike and try not to stress about dusty table legs!


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[California]

If you are still texting DH reminders then he knows you are still mentally responsible. Ask me how I know ��
Sharing in case it helps, since the first month of the shutdown I thought I’d lose my mind: What ended up working for us is finally getting into a routine. On the day our housekeeper would come, my kids do all the chores she would do. Afterwards we do something fun- go to the beach, on a hike, etc. One big clean up morning with everyone working, and then during the week they have smaller chores. They had to make their own chore lists. Me making one did not work. Now they have to sit down together with my master list and divvy who does what. The funny thing is this was DH’s idea- I told him that I was tired of being responsible for the mental load of assigning the chore chart, and could he switch off weeks with me? He said yes. And then gave the kids the chart and told them to figure it out among themselves! I was ticked at first but they did it without complaint! So maybe, who knows, something good will be discovered during your strike!

[bisous]

Lisa, from what I understand your house is enormous. Mine is tiny. I think both are hard to keep up on! Mine is fairly quick to clean because it is so small but the dirt sure piles up quickly and one trip to Costco and we have a cluttered mess! On the other hand, we only have 2 bathrooms and 1200 of flooring to dust and clean. Bottom line, it isn't easy any way you slice it!

[gatorsmom]

Thank you, ladies for commenting! I know this is the bitching post but your ideas have been helpful!

I have a bit of an update. Just before DD and I left for camping, I was about to remind Dh one more time to get this under control. He was outside and I thought he was swimming. Nope- he was using my chore chart to make a spreadsheet. A few hours before Dd and I left, while I was packing up a few last things, I heard him talking to her and her brothers about their new arrangement. He didn’t really discuss it with me (which is good, because if I don’t know what’s going on, I have an out) but he did say the kids have some assigned stuff and he’s actually figured out some consequences for the kids if they don’t do their chore. Now all I have to do it remind him that he has to follow through on his threats or the system will fall apart (he’s never been good on following through, thus the kids ignore his threats).

It’s good news! I’m sure I’ll have to do the deep cleaning but that’s only occasional and I can handle that. I have hope!!

[gatorsmom]

Lisa, from what I understand your house is enormous. Mine is tiny. I think both are hard to keep up on! Mine is fairly quick to clean because it is so small but the dirt sure piles up quickly and one trip to Costco and we have a cluttered mess! On the other hand, we only have 2 bathrooms and 1200 of flooring to dust and clean. Bottom line, it isn't easy any way you slice it!

Bisous, you ain’t kidding. While we were building this house, we lived in a small rental house. I could clean that thing thoroughly- including scrubbing showers- in 2.5 hours. THAT was awesome. But yeah, I couldn’t leave shopping bags sitting around to put away later because people were tripping over them. Our current house is huge with plenty of space to organize and sort out project equipment. On Friday I had one table with DS’s unfinished puzzle and some of his science projects, another table with my jewelry supplies for the girls’ group I lead. In another area I had a pile of camping stuff dd and I were sorting while in another area DH and boys were sorting their camping stuff for their trip. We still had plenty of room for making meals in the kitchen, hanging out on the sofa, and putting up an ironing board for some shirts. That was all in the greatroom area. Lots of room to spread out! BUT it is a monster to clean. There is no such thing as doing a really quick clean up of the whole house.

[California]

That’s a great update! Enjoy the camping trip with your DD!

[hbridge]

ARGH!!!! DH is making me crazy! DC and I ran a few errands on Saturday morning. DH said he was going to the grocery store later in the day. I asked if he wanted us to go when we were out, he was adamant he wanted to go. Fast forward to today, Monday Morning, DH never went to the store. DC and I now need to go this morning because we are out of milk!

DH is great with putting laundry in the washer. Yesterday I made a conscious decision to NOT do laundry. At about 7pm last night, I went into the laundry room to grab something and realized the washer had clothes in it. DH has thrown in a "few items", but he never moves clothes from the washer. So now I am doing laundry after dinner (something I try hard to NEVER do). He does this ALL the time, even after I have told him to just leave the clothes and I will get to them. He thinks he is being so helpful...