If I had a house it would always be tidy?

[flamesoffire]

Colleague asked what I was doing at the weekend and I just gave the generic answer of meeting a friend for coffee and I really need to clean the house.

(For reference I mean hoover, put clean washing away, clean the bathroom, my house isn’t a state but I’ve been a bit lazy this week).

She responded with “if I had a house it would always be clean”

Shes late 20s and still lives in her bedroom, which is fine as the housing situation is shit but if you’ve never had to run a house on your own then you have no idea what it takes.

I could have a clean and tidy house if I wanted to but I prioritise lying in bed, having sex, reading, going on my phone, hanging out with my kids, going out playing sport, watch sport, going to gigs, walking my dogs, working, cooking, drinking beer, playing games etc etc. My house is tidyish and cleanish.
She can go what she likes.

My house would be so clean if I lived alone 🤣

Haven't read all the responses, but my thoughts are, your house is only clean if you clean it.
Whether that happens at the weekend or otherwise...
Op is cleaning her house at the weekend. No biggie...

Same

See, comments like this annoy me because they imply that everyone who has a clean and tidy house must be achieving it at the expense of "having a life".

It's perfectly possible to have both. My house is always clean and tidy. I also work, have multiple animals, have a social life and spend my weekends doing whatever I fancy.

One of the nice things about owning your own home is you can keep it as tidy or messy as you like. I'm not that fussed by a bit of mess and I like to spend a lot of my free time on projects rather than housework. If others are more minimalist that's fine too.

Some people are naturally tidy others not.
I’m not but I don’t like mess so I clean everyday.

Dh would say he’s tidier than me. He tidies away as he goes. However if he makes the bed it’s never very neat and the bathroom cupboard is never fully closed because his toilet bag is not put properly away.

I know lots of tidy people but it’s all superficial, their skirtings are dusty and cupboards rammed.
My mil was like this. Everything looked clean as long as you didn’t delve.

If it was just me, I would to be fair.

@fieldsofbutterflies

BringMeSunshineAllDayLong
I could have a clean and tidy house if I wanted to but I prioritise lying in bed, having sex, reading, going on my phone, hanging out with my kids, going out playing sport, watch sport, going to gigs, walking my dogs, working, cooking, drinking beer, playing games etc etc. My house is tidyish and cleanish.
She can go what she likes.

See, comments like this annoy me because they imply that everyone who has a clean and tidy house must be achieving it at the expense of "having a life".

It's perfectly possible to have both. My house is always clean and tidy. I also work, have multiple animals, have a social life and spend my weekends doing whatever I fancy.

*
Totally agree @fieldsofbutterflies
That post implies because me and dh spent an hour 15 between us cleaning the house yesterday, we haven't got a life.
Couldn't be further from the truth
I can still lay in bed till lunch, have sex, work full time, party , exercise, garden
Even if you get up at noon- there is still a good 8 hours to do stuff.
Anyway, was up at 9am today , so off to live life

Tidy and clean are different. My house is always clean (unless something has just happened in the minutes beforehand) but that’s because I have a cleaner three times a week. However, I have young children and pets, so it often has toys, art work etc out.

Snap. My parents were/are utter slobs. I hated it growing up. My house is always tidy, if you are a naturally tidy person and have routines in place it's not hard to stay on top off

My mum thinks I spend all my time cleaning, I really don't I'm just tidy.

I hate quotes like this
What's the other one, my floor might be dirty but my kids are making memories!

It's more than possible to have each tidy clean home and a full life

@cadygal257

Snap. My parents were/are utter slobs. I hated it growing up. My house is always tidy, if you are a naturally tidy person and have routines in place it's not hard to stay on top off

My mum thinks I spend all my time cleaning, I really don't I'm just tidy.

-////:::

Maybe that's why people think that, people with clean tidy houses are obsessed with cleaning - when we are so not

I have a house and it's always clean and tidy. I have two children.

Christ, I'm naturally stressed out by mess and chaos but I'm not able to have perfect control over every single member of my household, every single minute of every single day! People say it's so easy if you tiday as you go but there are six of us and three big dogs in our house. It's a big house and I also work - going to bed late just isn't enough to cover all that needs to be done to keep it in showroom condition.

I have spent the morning putting together Ikea furniture for the playroom (just having a quick break before I have to get back to it). While I've been doing this, my mother has been baking God knows what in the kitchen with my young children. She has dementia and has lost any sense of neat and tidy, plus her sense of smell. When she attempts to clean and tidy, the chaos leaves me far more work than if she's just left it alone. Therefore, by the time I get to the kitchen in a couple of hours it will have been a disaster area all day. I mean serious 'let's bring in the specialist cleaners' territory. Therefore my house is not always clean and tidy, as much as I would like it to be. There's no realistic way to avoid this apart from to ban them all from using the kitchen, which is unpleasant and unrealistic. And that's just one example of how it's ridiculous to be quite so fucking smug. I wonder what all of those 'oh no, it' so easy to keep it clean and tidy' people would like to suggest? And the OP's colleague sounds like she's in for a big shock when real life hits.

I live alone and it's fairly clean. Always thought lack of time was the reason I hadn't done a deep clean then lockdown hit and I realised it wasn't lack of time

But even if you do tidy up as you go (which i try to do!) You still need to hoover, dust, mop, clean the shower, do laundry, sort out outgrown clothes etc, do the garden... thats what I count as cleaning!

Like with tidying, I do all those things "as I go" so it never builds up to a massive job that takes over a weekend.

I hoover and sweep the floors everyday. We have a washer/dryer so doing laundry only takes a matter of minutes. The shower gets sprayed and rinsed after every use, the same with the sink etc. To me, it's all part of "having a shower" rather than a separate job I need to make time for, if that makes sense.

Sorting clothes is only something that gets done once or twice a year and I generally do it in front of the TV or something on a rainy afternoon when I can be bothered. The garden just involves us running the mower round twice a week in summer and picking up the dog poo daily. We picked "very low maintenance" for a reason

Other people prefer not to do housework everyday and choose to leave it all until the weekend. I personally would hate doing that as I like having my weekends completely free.

Sometimes I wish we could go back to little house on the prairie times where every kid had two dresses and one doll and cleaning their bedroom just meant making the bed. Except the kids probably shared a bed so they could make it together.

Your poor friend, does she know this is why you won't visit her?

Not as bad as the people who say shit like "if I had kids I would be strict" etc

I don't think she meant it in a bad way. But some people really are clean and tidy at all times.

My house is normally pretty tidy we put things back in their proper place when we're done with it. Dishes in the dishwasher etc, laundry every other day.

We clean as we go too (DH not as thorough as me) so kitchen wiped down after use, shower sprayed down etc.

We do have a robotic hoover which is an amazing help too. I clean the toilets daily before bed. Then when it comes to a full clean it only takes a couple hours. If everything's in its place then it doesn't take long to dust and Hoover.

My parents were always untidy and would take mum hours to tidy and clean the house.

I'm naturally tidy and can't settle with mess around. Also hate coming home to an untidy house or getting up to mess. Have had to train DH to be the same.

I don’t understand the issue, maybe she’s tidy, I’m sure she knows herself. She wasn’t putting you down, you always so sensitive?

Just like someone who clutches their pregnant belly and declares with a serene smile that their children will never eat sweets before age 5 or watch TV for more than ten minutes in one go.

Yeah, yeah. Come back in ten years and tell me how that worked out 😁

Smile and nod territory.

Oh no that does sound extremely difficult for you.
We were ok with 6 abs stayed tidie of but no dogs (yiu could keep them in certain areas - no upstairs)
I suppose you could stop your mum from baking with kids but where's the fun in that.
It is just easier for me to live happily from a tidy house than a messy one, so do whatever it takes.
Not always easy, but easier.
Hope your mums ok