to wonder if there is a mimum standard of housework to be done each day

[ben10isgr8]

I am just being nosey really .

I am aware everyone has different time, responsibilities, capabilities etc but is there a generally agreed minimum expectation of what should be done daily?

I have ds (3yr 6mo)and dd (15mo) DH works m-f 06:30 till 19:00 and I work one 13hr shift at the weekend.

For various reasons I like my house to be tidy...I don't mean totally gleaming palace like...just tidy!.

Every day I get up tidy the beds and see to the childrens breakfast, get them washed and dressed then leave them playing about while I empty/fill the dishwasher, (just got one and I am very overexcited about it so had to fit it in somewhere)sort washing, read mail and watch The Wright Stuff

By the time that is done, (with stops to sort out squabbles, get toys, wipe noses, change poo nappies etc) It is time to make lunch 11:00 so they are fed and tidied again by 12:00 ready to take ds to nursery at 12:30.

Then it's home to settle dd for nap and I get my lunch then spend the 1 hr remaining before I wake dd up to collect ds watching CSI/ reading a book/ going on MN or something I want to do

After school activity depends on what needs done, e.g shopping, tidy the house, change beds, updating a topic on MN . The kids have a snack then play outside/ do arts and crafts etc while I get stuff done.

At 17:00ish I cook our dinner and they play while I sort the kitchen and cook dh dinner. When dh comes home he plays with the kids then has dinner and catches up with email while I tidy the toys and get the kids ready for bed.

20:00 the kids go to bed and I load the dishwasher, tidy the books, clothes etc then we sit with a cuppa T and catch up.

Cleaning wise I spend my days keeping on top of things so the house stays relatively tidy and over two afternoons I do a full clean: dusting cellings and skirtings, washing fingerprints off doors, (lot's of glass doors) and windows, change beds, thorough bathroom clean, brush and wash floors.

This week I haven't been feeling well, (bad cold) so haven't bothered with the big clean and holy crap my floors look minging, (which makes my house look dirty despite the frequent tidying), and I feel really guilty...and feel guilty for feeling guilty.

Do you try for a daily minimum or just go with the flow? Am I a crazy ott person or just average? and Why do I feel so guilty when my house isn't clean?

my house generally looks tidy ( just don't open any cupboards
I hoover downstairs every day if time, as wooden floors seem to gather loads of dust, keep on top of the washing up and try and do laundry most days, and make beds, but I have very little time for things like washing the floors and dusting, in my pre kids and not juggling 3 jobs days, I would blitz the house at least 3 time a week. I have my friends round for coffee every 3 weeks so my floors etc all get a good blast then.
Its nice to relax in a clean tidy house, but quite often I have to just settle for tidy.
I don't think you are crazy, just average family life does take over, but hey just watch how clean is your house, it certainly puts cleaning in perspective.

Sounds like you do way more than the minimum.

Minimum level to me means putting on a dishwasher load and a laundry load each day.

Nothing else on a daily basis. Whip the hoover round once a week.

Maybe I'm a slut

I do it when I can be bothered, am a mingy cow, and am thoroughly ashamed of myself. Have 2 kids and 4 jobs so that's my excuse! Really I am rebelling against my mother, she is totally OCD, hoovers twice a day, can't leave home in a hurry as has to wipe worktops, Hoover, put bleach down the toilet and hang out the washing. You can't wear shoes in the house, eat ANYTHING without a plate, and can't go round if you are doggy, horsy or have dirt/mud on your clothes!

hmm, I have a cleaner for 2 hours a week.
Other than that on a daily basis I do ticking over stuff (wipe down kitchen surfaces, dishwasher, washing machine).

Things like skirtings, doors etc get done 1 or 2 times a year. Windows, umm probably less. Ceilings - when the cobwebs get noticable.

OP our days seem pretty similar. Except I have two toddler boys (4 and 3 ) and they dont, ahem, aim well sometimes so i have to do the toilets daily as well. Oh, but I dont do windows!

I think we all just do what we need to, iykwim?

my house is a shit hole. I would love it to be tidy and nice but dd wont let me..... she crys if I leave her alone or fights with her brother. Onnce theyre in bed I have to di uni work.

Have just come to terms with the fact tht untill they are a bit older this is how we have to live

Oh, xposted with LeQueen, but I agree about the beds. I wake up, make bed and straighten the room, washing off floor etc and then do the boys rooms and straighten the bathroom and carry the washing straight downstairs to the washer and whack that on as I make my morning coffee. Then upstairs is done, ready for the day all nice and tidy. We too are lucky enough to have a playroom so it stays this way pretty much al day as we dont go upstairs much. It is lovely having half the house tidy as soon as you wake up and staying that way all the time! !LOVE it!!

I'm watching the dust bunnies roll by on my wooden floor as we speak. As long as there arent wildebeast nosing around in my kitchen, and i'm not getting social servers round because my kids are dressed in old sacks, it'll do

LOL sits in the slut corner with Violet

Every day (5 days a week) hoover all rooms, mop floors in bathrooms and kitchen and tiled hallways.

Tidy up all toys and put away (usually all over the place by the end of the day)

Every day washing and ironing (for 2 adults and 2 - 4 DC depending on whether DC1 and 2 are here)

All washing up of dishes from night before and putting away.

Once a week change bedding on all beds

Usually takes between 7am and 11 to 12pm depending on amount of ironing.

Thankfully I don't do it, we have a 'houseboy' employed by my DH's company, one of the perks of his grade.

Yes, I know how lucky I am.

erm. laundry twice or three times a week. vacuum once a week. kitchen cleaning - everyday. dishwasher loading- once a day (unless not those many dishes). making the bed- usually when i get back from work.
i think i'm in the lazy ass corner too

PS, when I'm back in my home in the UK, I'm a slut

I will join the slut corner I think!

I do the bare minimun throught the week due to work etc and then blitz things on Saturday morning while dd indulges in kids telly.

I have a list of things that I do as a bare minimum every day - vacuuming, floor mopping, general tidying, washing up, putting washing on - stuff that keeps the house ticking over and tidy.

I also try to do other things - surplus stuff like cleaning windows, mowing the lawn, organising paperwork, each day to keep up with the massive pile of things that never get done.

I definitely belong in the sluts corner at the moment

I usually concentrate my efforts on the living room so that, at least if I get visitors, they're shielded from the worst of it! I make the beds and do laundry every day and I try to hoover every other day around the ground floor and once a week upstairs.

The kitchen is the real war zone. We always had a dishwasher before but don't have one in our new house (yet) and the dishes are definitely the battle. I've just fallen pregnant again and the nausea has arrived with gusto so I have been quite lazy of late...

Another one for the slut's corner here.

To be fair, there is a massive about of cleaning and tidying up to be done after dd2, as her autism means the way she plays is basically wrecking stuff, ripping up bits of paper and cellophane to flutter down the stairwell, and this morning, finding some paints of DP's and re-decorating the new sofa in the backroom. The cover is in the washing machine now, but I don't hold out much hope...

I do laundry and clean the kitchen every day, but the rest is crisis management really.

daily -
hoover downstairs
make beds (just throw the duvet back and puff pillows)
empty /load diswasher
get a wash on and hung out
pick up laundry and put in basket
wipe toliet round with wipes

Everyother day-
Dust

Weekly-
change all beds
hoover throughout the house
ironing of uniforms (the rest of the clothes are ironed by all members of the household as and when they want them)
wash floors upstairs and downstairs
clean bathroom and toliet

Washing up is the main thing, at least an hour every day (there are 7 of us.) No point in doing washing if it's pouring and there are already wet clothes hanging in the house, but if it's not raining 2 loads or more a day. I don't do enough ironing so there are baskets of clean, dry, crumpled clothes in every bedroom. Hoovering ought to be done everyday but isn't always. My roomba charger has broken and I miss it.

I have never in my life dusted a ceiling I don't have a daily minimum - just try to clean whatever looks dirty and keep the washing and dishes ticking over. I'm too busy having fun with DS to worry about housework. When he's big and sulky and doesn't want to spend his time with me then I might get around to those ceilings.

Fellow slut here.
Ds is four months and 'daily minimum' in our house is mainly done by dh: washing up after dinner, wiping down surfaces.

During the day, I try to keep the toys/nappies/clothes in their rightful places but don't always manage. I will, obviously, clean up after any errant pee streams/leaky poo pants/gurgly tummy evacuations and keep kitchen ticking over, living room if I can manage. Hoover downstairs if there is a spectacular nap going on upstairs or vice versa.

Mainly, I entertain and care for the boy (no daytime tv for us), choose something to cook and cook it.

i am in the middle i would say, with four boys ihave to keep on top of the housework, so tidy as the day goes on,hoover everyday, mop floors every other day, sort beds in the morning, do laundry every day, clean kitchen as i go along and then do a big clean when it needs it. ditto the bathroom, i wipe round the sink, toilet, tiles etc everday and then do a big clean once a week or when it needs it.

i dust a couple of times a week and hoover cobwebs off the ceiling etc when i notice them!

cleaning windows doesnt get done as often as it should do tho!

change bedsheets once a weekish.

i just try and do little and often and then a big blitz when necessary!