The need to clean the house from top to bottom before xmas!

[BoozyBoots]

Does anyone else experience this?

I've even cleaned the oven & defrosted freezer!
I know at some point on xmas eve i'll be annoying the family with the hoover, putting clean sheets on beds etc, all for the house to be covered in food,wrapping paper, pine needles and god knows how many spilt drinks the next day.

[Butterytoast]

I shall do a good clean at the weekend- not because it's Christmas but because the house REALLY needs it! Not sure how long it will stay tidy tho unless I wax the dog and cocoon the sticky toddler in something...

[Ledkr]

I'm fast running out if time here. Dd2 has been ill and so any hope of getting Anything done in last two days was sabotaged.
We have nights out and panto rehearsals and shopping to do plus dd2 toddler group party today.
The best bit was yesterday when my retired father (who had just been shopping) brought money round so I can buy the girls something and wrap it for him to give them

[msmiggins]

I know what you mean Ledkr.

I am way behind and still have loads of gifts to buy. My kids were both off school for a week ill, then I was ill the following week, setting me a fortnight behind. I also work 30 hours a week so I'm struggling a bit atm.

[stickysausages]

Ledkr, give them the money & buy something in the sales for them. DS always gets "Christmas pennies" from papa :)

[OhYouMerryLittleKitten]

Ledkr - perhaps your girls would love the gift of a cleaner coming round, I'm sure thats what your Dad meant the money to be spent on

[stickysausages]

msmiggins I'd pop into the supermarket & buy gift cards, and sweets for everyone. You can't do it all

[Ledkr]

Me too. I'm working Monday and dh all weekend so no days with both of us till Xmas eve which is our wedding anniversary so was determined to leave it free but its looking less likely.
We always get invited to dh friends for dinner but it gets nearer and nearer Xmas each year.
This year in working all day before so I'm very tempted to fein illness and let him go with girls while I so some cleaning and wrapping. AIBU

[Ledkr]

Have to buy the gift cos he hauls his sorry arse over here Xmas day to give it to them

[msmiggins]

Thanks stickysausages but seeing the kids open their gift cards on christmas morning doesn't have the same impact I feel. I can take a few hours off work this morning and squeeze it in later this evening or tomorrow OH is off too so we will visit the shops this morning and hopefully get some christmas shopping done.

My mother is getting tetchy with me as she doesn't know what to get my kids- she wants me to go and buy that stuff so she can give me the money.

[raisah]

I spent an hour just washing the dishes last night. There's not much I can do with a sick child & an overactive toddler & a dh who likes to hoard.

Would any of you lovely ladies with supersensitive cleaning traits come & clean my house please?! I will cook you a chicken curry & chocolate brownies.

[Ledkr]

Id get a cleaner but its more tidying and jobs like bed changing that need doing.
I looked at dd2 stocking last night and its crap!
That's another thing to add to my list!

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

ledkr I agree, it's the tidying.
I had my first ever day off from both DCs yesterday (with CM) and blitzed the house (post decorators). Vacuuming and dusting took less than an hour, it was moving stuff about/ putting laundry away/ shifting furniture and toys that took all the time.Little blighters have messed it up again now.
And I haven't finished my shopping yet.

[Madmog]

I like to feel it's clean and tidy for us and visitors, only to find that come Boxing Day it's a real tip again and my mother-in-law is coming. I get on well with her, but she's always criticizing her other daughter-in-law's standard of cleaniness and so I will find myself quickly wiping the bathroom around, hovering again downstairs and moving presents upstairs before she arrives on Boxing Day.

Bother someone mentioned cleaning the cooker, I forgot about that!

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

Just cleaned the fridge.
That's it. Normal daily housework duties only now.

[MincedMuffPies]

Can I write my list of house cleaning jobs for today and tomorrow here, it might motivate me to get up and do it.

polish sofa
polish all surfaces inc my bedside table.
all mirrors and picture frames
sort out the piles of paperwork creeping in on the kitchen side
sort out my cupboards and meal plan instead of just buying more food.
change all the beds
sort out the big pile of washing that needs to be washed, dried, put away/ironed
wash all the cushion covers, throw, table cloth and maybe living room nets and curtains.
sort out the desk thats looking messy

and thats on top of my normal cleaning that still needs to be done.

[InternationalMuslinMountain]

Didn't think I had been affected by this strange affliction but reading about it, it does sound strangely necessary attractive. scurries off to clean oven before DS wakes up from nap

[brainwashed]

Fridge already done. Oven cleaned by a lovely man from ovenu . Freezer defrosted but only because it needed to be repaired. Fingers crossed it is actually going to work properly now as I need to fill it up. Repair guy told me not to put too much in it "just in case"....doesn't fill me with confidence!
Perhaps I should get off mn and tackle the living room...

[Nix01]

Definitely. Today I'm de-weeding the garden and tomorrow I shall start upstairs room by room.

The kids and I sorted out their playroom about 2 weeks ago so now it's just general maintenance.

[Lottiegal]

Seriously I cannot believe you do all this! you will have to do it again before Christmas! I only clean once a week anyway, and it's a generally whip round, nothing major. My house looks tidy, why make more work for yourself? Why clean the oven before Christmas? are you worried someone might walk in the kitchen and chide you as you open the oven door to baste the turkey?

[Lottiegal]

You almost seem proud! I hate cleaning

[Nix01]

Not really, we do a proper clean weekly and just tidy up behind ourselves during the week.

I don't like mess and clutter.

[msmiggins]

Lottiegal- each to their own. I wish I could get away with cleaning the house once a week. i serioulsy hate houusework, but stuff has to be done or it becomes a health or tripping hazard.
The kitchen surfaces need a wipe down every day- my kitchen gets in quite a mess after cooking a meal.
You only do housework once a weeK? You are lucky.
With active teenagers in my house everything gets mucky and untidy, the toilet needs cleaning at least once a day ( those of you with teenage boys will understand).

[VerySmallSqueak]

I have just discovered three piles of cat sick underneath the Christmas tree.....

It's just not helpful.It really isn't.

[MincedMuffPies]

Oh I wish I could only clean once a week. Only last saturday I had dd scrubbing my skirting boards and polishing while ds scrubbed the tiles, bath, sink and the floor.

my house was blitzed but it needs doing again.