To ask if you grew up in a clean and tidy home?

Yes and yes to a point.
My mum was a stay at home mum when we were tiny until my youngest sibling started secondary school so was more able to stay on top of the house and my dad also cleaned and tidied it as well - wasn’t just mum’s job. It was spotless but we never felt like we couldn’t living in it we weren’t worried about making a mess just knew we would have to help with the tidy up if you know what I mean, it was lovely having a home like that which is what I want for my kids.

our house is clean and tidy 98% of the time but we both work full time, me in shift patterns so some times the tidying gets a bit built up and has to wait until the weekend/ my next day off. We also insist that the kids keep their spaces tidy expecting them to tidy their rooms once a week and hoover them as well as helping with general chores such as emptying dishwasher sorting clean laundry etc. I really think my parents expectations of keeping the house clean and tidy played a bit part in how clean and tidy my house is.

My parents home growing up wasn't bad. Dad did the cleaning, and he did a decent job of it. There were always piles of books and magazines around, but it was always organised and neat clutter, if that makes sense. Now that they are elderly their clutter piles have turned into doom piles and I'd say their house is borderline like a hoarder's house. I clean for them, as well as in my own home, but cleaning and decluttering is something I have always struggled with (I believe that I am one of the many middle aged women who have undiagnosed ADHD). I keep kitchen and bathroom clean enough to be considered hygienic (both theirs and mine), the rest, I do my best with what little executive function I have after work and helping my parents with day to day life needs (shopping, some cooking, sorting their bills out etc). There is usually more dog hair on the carpet than I would like, and there is definitely more untidiness in both households than I would like. When I get on a decluttering spree I love it, but the progress never lasts.

Yes I did. I found my mother’s almost obsession with this pathetic. DH and I share the housework so our house is clean with little time expended, I struggle with being tidy. I’m much happier this way.

Clean yes. Tidy no. I have never been tidy. I know where everything is, which is all that matters to me. I have piles of books and papers all over the place. I also have loads of musical instruments. It's all stuff I use and enjoy.

I don't think tidy/untidy is important. I like my house. I think it's a nice place to be. My friend's house was immaculate, but it radiated love and laughter.

Yes, we had chores and had to tidy our rooms regularly.

I am not a remotely tidy adult, but I am very good at keeping others homes tidy. If we stay away we leave the place spotless, when i visit my mum I'll tidy up and hoover, but it doesn't translate to home. Our house is clean but not tidy

Yes I did. Then at 14 I left school and became obsessive with cleaning. I took it upon myself to deep clean the house every week, general clean everyday, prep dinner if I could, ironing, washing etc.... it lasted until my mid 20s and suddenly stopped being about the house, and moved on to the garden instead.

I grew up in an immaculate home and may home is the same. It still managed to be very cosy and homely though and my house is the same.

Yes I did. Mine is clean enough but I'm quite untidy.

I grew up in a physically clean and moderately tidy house but I can't keep on top of housework at all. Only the kitchen is clean here.

Just to counter misconceptions about OCD I have very severe OCD, which means I can't physically touch anything that I consider to be contaminated. Whenever anything drops to the ground I can only lift it with gloves on, I can't clean the loo or toilet sink as I fear getting sick from faecal germs; I use lots of clothing (multiple changes each day), which piles up as i can't do laundry fast enough etc.

I did. Stifflingly clean and ordered. I hated it. Im disorganised and messy and I love it. My home is very lived in and chaotic, and interesting - full of charm I think.

My brothers are just like my parents though - show home ready all the time, no character in their homes.

They are all great but each to their own. Funnily enough they all say how much they love my place and how 'quirky' it is. Go figure.

No, it was a shit tip most of the time and dirty.
This was because of my mother's long term health problems. She really couldn't manage all the household tasks and my Dad was run off his feet caring for her and his elderly parents and working.
My home is not a shit tip and it's clean but I've had to work really hard at getting into routines and I do still struggle with it sometimes.
I had to learn how to do everything as an adult because I hadn't seen it as a child.

I was always embarrassed of visitors seeing our home growing up. Not a hoarding disaster. But bits of mould in the bathroom, carpet not hoovered, kitchen mugs unwashed etc. I don’t need to do minimalist, but my house is both clean and tidy, and anyone can visit any time and it’s more than fine. It had never embarrassed our children.

It isn’t though. It didn’t occur to me until about 25 that you need to pull the sofa out, hoover under the cushions, wipe down kitchen cabinets on the outside, clean windows. I thought it really was just washing up, hoovering and wiping of surfaces 🤷‍♀️

Sort of, I’m one of 4 so it was quite chaotic and there were always toys/clothes/random items lying around. Mum did the washing up once a day, hoovered once a week, wouldn’t have left mouldy cups lying around or anything like that but it was never visitor ready or show home tidy.

I’m pretty much the same now but a bit tidier as less children and more space.

Mostly. But I seemed to have a sudden epiphany in my early 20s (when still living at home) that everyone else's house seemed to be immaculate compared to ours. I don't think it's affected my own cleanliness/tidiness thresholds, though - I struggle a lot to keep our home tidy but it's more down to my ADHD than anything else. I would actually love it to be show home clean and tidy but never seem to be able to make it happen.

I think the key element is if it was generally a happy clean and tidy home.
Those who grew up in miserable chaos are more likely to strive not to replicate that environment. But those who's childhood homes were ruthlessly clean might equally want to avoid a similar scenario.

I did - but I was made to clean and tidy by my alcoholic father so I'm not so clean and tidy now!
It's enough for me, and my family! :)

What are housekeeping skills? Surely it's just running a hoover round and wiping stuff over. It's not rocket science, I'm not sure anyone needs teaching.

My mum is obsessively tidy, you put something down and you'll never find it again. I'm the opposite, stuff everywhere and 100 things more interesting to do than cleaning.

My home was super clean and tidy growing up (my mum still keeps her house that way in her 70s) but I’m the opposite!
I mean, I have certain standards that I won’t go below and I always clean and tidy when people come round but I’m naturally messy and don’t clean fastidiously - hoover once a week max!

Yes and now I'm a slob and I like it that way.

Yes and I was messy as hell before I had kids because I have ADHD. Now DH and I are ruthlessly tidy.

No idea definitely didn't.
My house is clean & usually tidy

Yes I did. Clean and tidy but a lot of stuff. And I'm the opposite. Not a lot of possessions but have to work really hard to stay cleanish.

I grew up in a clean but rather messy home and I'd say mine is the same now! That's fine with me - I don't aspire to an immaculate home.