To ask how and when to keep on top of housework!

[Jessthemess38]

Boring thread for Mother's Day, sorry!

Moved into a new house recently and am struggling with the upkeep. It was pristine when we moved in, bought off a very well to-do SAHM who seemed to love cleaning! In my old house I was guilty of not moving or cleaning behind sofas for several months or years and ignoring things like windows and skirting boards until they were visibly dirty. When we left the old house it became apparent just how grubby the place was and I don't want the same to happen here.

On a daily basis I keep on top of the bathroom and kitchen, they are always wiped down after use. But dusting, skirtings, windows, gardening, wiping down of walls/doors/inside cupboards and moving furniture to clean behind it rarely happens.

Firstly, am I slovenly? Or is this pretty normal? And if I am slovenly can you tell me your schedule and how you manage to keep on top of everything? Worth noting I work 30 hours a week (although currently on maternity leave) and have 2 dc and a dog to contend with. I have considered getting a cleaner in even once a fortnight or once a month to help me stay afloat. Any advice welcome!

@ImplementingTheDennisSystem

I don't have kids, so appreciate I have more time. But I keep on top of the house by doing one self contained chore, but in every room of the house. So I'll clean the skirting boards in every room, all in one go, but do nothing else. Then the next day I might polish all wooden surfaces, but nothing else. Then the next, bleach and scrub every toilet, but nothing else (not even clean the sinks in the same rooms). Then the next, walk round with a feather duster and remove cobwebs from every room, but nothing else, and so on. I never say "I'm going to clean the bathroom", or set time aside for cleaning. I just incrementally chip away at it like a jigsaw.

I like that.

It depends how much of your one and only lifetime you want to spend scrubbing things, really. I don't get why you'd feel guilty or embarrassed. And outdoor things are not half the load, that's occasional and interesting not daily and monotonous.

Cleaner, robot hoover, lower your standards and don't do it all yourself. There's a lower level of cleaning for health and sanitation, that's non-negotiable. Then there's a level for personal comfort, you decide what that is. Then there's a level that's trying to attain perfection to impress visitors and that's a mug's game.