Why do we clean like this?

[lipsticklovley]

Surely it's not only me, but in top of everything else I now have this ridiculous urge the the entire house needs to be cleaned, as if Father Christmas will be doing a cleanliness inspection.
Half of me is saying sod it, the other half is saying every inch of the house needs to be scrubbed within an inch of its life.
I have no visitors planned (of course) just DP and kids here.
I'm the same before I go on holiday!
Please tell me I'm not crazy 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm the same. I think I'll enjoy the day more if the place is clean and tidy. By 7am it'll be gone to shit again, don't know why I bother!

No one will notice here too, and I will spend today doing it, by tomorrow evening the kitchen will look like a bombs gone off and the living room will be full of presents.
But still, I'm looking at window ledges thinking YES, THEY ALL NEED CLEANING, ALONG WITH FRONT DOOR, ALL FLOORS, KITCHEN UNITS ETC ETC

Honestly ... I think you're mad (in a nice way). I mean, it's very sweet, but ... why? I've done sod all.

Yes- I did a good clean yesterday (23rd) but will rehoover & have a quick zhuzh tomorrow before I head to my parents. I want to come back and not be in a mess.

The worst bit tomorrow is the laundry for me. My cleaning cloths are due a wash, I'll do our towels and I've just realised I need to do a bra wash. However it's a perfect opportunity to come back to a load of dry laundry with nothing to be ironed!

My mum used to scrub the house within an inch of its life. Scrubbing skirting boards, paintwork, moving beds etc all on Christmas Eve. As a consequence of that, I was yelled at, hit and generally made really miserable all day, scared to move, but also scared not to. As a result, I clean the house from top to bottom but I don’t scrub everything like she did. I swore I would never put my DC through it. They have all left home now, so DH and I have decided who will do what tomorrow, just to make sure it’s clean and tidy.

I was about to scoff at this, but I paid my cleaner extra to come and do a deep clean today .

I'm not compelled to do it myself though...

Well one of the great things about being a single person household is that there is only me to please. I tidy and put things away as I go along and rarely have to "clean" anything. Being invited into my home is a privilege. You take it as you find it and if you dont like it there is the door.

I just love my home to look clean and cosy on Christmas Eve night. Candles lit, fairy lights, dishes of chocolates and satsumas, fire on, Christmas card-perfect.

It’s the only three hours of the year that it does, after all.

I’m not as bad as my mother though, God rest her soul. She used to redecorate.

To this day the smell of wallpaper paste and fresh paint reminds me of Christmas.

I had a two hour appointment at the dentist this morning for root canal work. Then I was working all afternoon so no time to clean [. Tomorrow I have the day off but Christma eve is cooking prep day and I won't be cleaning . Looks like the cleaning will have to wait

I worked nine days out of the last ten, and a half day today too, so I didn't get a chance to do a thorough cleaning job up to now, so today after I came home came home I cranked up my spotify disco playlist and did a massive clean all afternoon - so satisfying. The smell of polish on top of the fresh Christmas tree is wonderful.

We have a big family dinner on Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner the day after of course. Tomorrow morning I will be doing a final wet mopping before launching into pie baking.

I was thinking the exact same thing yesterday; “I hope I’m not the only one who does this!”.

I do a really deep clean on 18th/19th December, including windows, shutters, grouting, window ledges etc. Then yesterday I washed all the bedding and did 4/5 hours tidying and cleaning and emptied the laundry basket, ironed and put it all away. I just like everything to feel clean and fresh on Christmas Eve morning. I love our stairs and landings to look freshly vacuumed and I just can’t relax otherwise. It leaves Christmas Eve free for enjoyable prep like sorting the flowers, a bit of baking (made the cookie dough yesterday), decorating the Christmas cake, prepping some veg and laying the table for Christmas.

It’s all part of the build up for me, and I do it even if we aren’t having anyone else over.

Count me in. I'm on nights now and tomorrow but I'll be up about 3pm today to do the weekly clean. And yes I know within 10mins of the step kids arriving Xmas day it'll all be a state again but it makes me feel better that I'll get home Xmas morning to a clean house. I have been leaving the weekly clean to once a fortnight, because kids also I'm 33wks pregnant and still working. But it needs to at least start clean for Xmas when I've 6 nights off and plan to do very little.
I'm so glad its not just me. Thank you fellow mumsnetters

In an addendum to my observation about Aussies ensuring the nature strip is prefect (I can hear the leaf blowers now), the council send round a big street-sweeping lorry to clear the gutters of leaves. And the bin men empty the bins on their schedule, Christmas Day or no.

I hope they get double time for this, as mine are due on the 25th.

i've never felt like that so cannot quite empathise :-).

Good luck with it though.

I really can't be arsed this year with no one coming round. Definitely agree with the holiday clean. One year I got my carpets professionally cleaned before we went away for 2 weeks. It was lovely to come home to the house smelling so fresh and clean.

DH and I will put some Christmas music on and blitz the house this morning while 2 yr old DS 'helps', just hoover, dust, polish, clean kitchen and bathroom, mop floors, change the beds, couple of hours tips between the two of us. I won't clean the oven we have someone booked in for January to come and do it, I'm not having it cleaned then having the turkey ruin it! There's also no way I'd be running around doing it on my own while DH puts his feet up.

Well I have ot even easier today.. can't sweep (includes hoover and mop imo😁) and can't take a bin out. Otherwise I would take my luck out woth it. Not fucking risking it, especially this year.

To the posters who say "I need house clean and tidy". Yes, ot can affect mh, it does make person feel calmer, but it doesn't require hours of frantic coeaning.

I just shaved my legs for Santa.

@JesusInTheCabbageVan I'm doing mine later, too.

Me too. I haven't found anything about it bringing bad luck so.. yay😂

I don't generally bother for DH, but Santa's several hundred years old, so probably has some fairly traditional ideas.

Stop me if I'm starting to make anyone uncomfortable

Well I'm done, mops and cloths away.
House can be turned upside down tomorrow for all I care, poured myself a generous one!
Merry Christmas fellow seasonal tidiers, you certainly made me smile with these posts 😃

@JesusInTheCabbageVan

I just shaved my legs for Santa.

Lucky old Santa, I hope he was impressed. I've heard he likes a smoothie ;-).

(Love your name btw, presumably you had a spiritual encounter with an Ocado delivery man :-) ).