Why do I do this every year? Housekeeping hell

[CheeryCat]

Why, every single year, do I attempt to combine Christmas with spring cleaning and clearing out of spare rooms ready for guests and addressing my laundry mountain and general clutter?

Why can’t I either (a) have better housekeeping standards all year round or (b) have a more ‘take us as you find us’ attitude?

I feel like my own worst enemy as Christmas always seems to merge Christmas into some major life laundry event.

Anyone else do this? I wonder what the answer is. I wish I could have the ‘just one day’ Christmas attitude. I’m making this harder than it needs to be, I suspect.

I’ve realised that all the cleaning I do before is completely ruined about 6 hours in so there’s just no point; this year I’ll make sure bathrooms are clean and hoover before guests come and that’s it. I do want to get on top of washing though so that I don’t need to think about it too much with guests here

We don't have a spare room big enough for guests so it becomes the clutter room.
At the moment it has 3 washing baskets of clothes to sort and put away along with wrapped and unwrapped presents for family, DS and DH gifts are hidden in there too. I also have the normal table clutter in a box up there and my work stuff in a separate box. Hamster is going up there soon so we've got more space in the dining room to dish up Christmas snacks.

Just embrace the festive mess!

My MIL keeps all the random clutter in the bath at hers. Everyone just uses the separate shower so the bath is essentially a cupboard

I've solved this entirely by not inviting anyone and handing the dc over to their dad for Xmas day. Not the right path for everyone, of course...

@Lkydfju most of my work has been in the bedrooms and bathrooms actually. We keep the open plan living rooms more tidily than bedrooms all year round so they don’t descend into chaos in that part of the house so easily!

@EmergentThoughts are you happy with that set up? Hope you have a good Christmas x

Loving this thread! I did huge decluttering end October, a solid week of work. It was great. I combined it with getting many small-but-really-needed jobs done that I had put off for years. Felt amazing. Due to marriage ending, have not been in a position to do anything to house for over 9 years. My dad passed away, sadly, and I got a small amount of money to do basics.

Gradually getting through important but not very exciting jobs.

Then a few weeks ago my heating really started acting up. Tried countless plumbers. Finally got someone who tried so many things to resolve it; culminating in a new boiler being installed today. We have been so cold. Due to the steady progression of men through the house, the place is in bits, filthy, stuff all over the place.

I feel like all my great decluttering was for nothing (I'd more to do anyway).

Heating is still not resolved despite plumber's best efforts. So I'm looking at a house in chaos, not even properly decorated as there was so much work going on, and I'm exhausted, cold, and surveying the mess & wondering where to start.

I am reminding myself I made great strides, that the heating will definitely be sorted first week Jan, and I can put the house to rights easily enough in the next 2 days.

I just really wanted some relaxed time in the run up to Christmas, never anticipated all this!

Thanks OP for starting this thread!

I sound quite flippant, but I don't really want the dc at their dad's, but I've decided to let it go. It's only one day, and they'll be home again soon enough. I have the next 2 weeks off work, so I'll get plenty of time with them.

God, I would do that if I had a separate shower.........bloody brilliant!

This is me! I haven't even started yet and I'm depending on the mad panic to push me through dealing with it tomorrow!

It's very early Friday morning here, I've been doing the exact same thing, but because of medical stuff, I can do about 3-4 hours and then need to sleep.

Thank you so much for posting, it's been great to see I'm not the only one.

I do frame it more positively though - once everyone has gone, the house is still 100 times cleaner than it was last week. So apart from vacuum and laundry, I really love the days after where I've got organised/ clean cupboards, fridge, etc. That's my favourite part!! Maybe I'll diarise a blitz weekend in another 6 weeks, and see what that does....

Happy Christmas!

This made me howl 🤣

Oh god, I’ve found my people. Went to 2 friends’ houses today, both immaculate, gorgeously scented and tastefully decorated. Returned home and was so depressed by the comparison that I shouted at poor DH to tidy up when he’s spent most of the day cooking to help me out 🙈.

I do this every year. No wonder I hate Christmas.
I have excelled myself this year. Ordered sofa( delayed arrival) only to find sofa too large for angle into living room from hall.
Today had window taken out … and put back in, so sofa is finally in living room .
Every room is a total mess, because we have also painted the living room ( I like to up the ante with a bit of last minute decorating thrown in)
I am writing this in Dunelm car par as I pressed “ click and fucking collect “ rather than deliver.
I don’t want to go home 😂

This is my annual Christmas tradition. It's also my pre holiday tradition.

My other pre Christmas and pre holiday tradition is to have a good old shout at the other family members who are not pulling their weight to tackle the (self imposed) mammoth To Do list. They know to expect it and to look suitably apologetic while rolling their eyes at each other.

I need a van. That’s all I have to add to this thread 🤣

It's delightful reading this thread as it makes me look forward to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in (different) nursing homes. At least someone else does the hoovering there 😁

@Tootyfilou and @Gazelda i properly laughed at your posts. Can really relate 🤣
@PermanentTemporary what a fantastic glass half full attitude!
@NeedingCoffee theyre probably just like us only a day ahead 😉

I could have written this myself. I've just spent two hours finishing the glossing I started on the bedroom doors 5 weeks ago. Tomorrow I've got TWO "spare" bedrooms to sort out that are in fact dumping grounds and are full to the rafters of crap I don't need. My garden needs to be tidied up and the patio and drive way desperately need to be jet washed as they are green and slimy. I've got washing coming out of my ears and am cooking roast dinners for charity on Xmas eve day so where the hell am I going to find the time? Good knows my arsehole teenagers won't help me.

@glasshole if it makes you feel any better, we haven’t even finished the little bit of painting and carpet laying that we were rushing to get finished in time for Christmas (2021) 🤣🤣

Feel much better after reading this thread. Every year I say never again and yet here I am stuffing things in cupboards/beds/behind the sofa/in the shed one year loads got chewed by vermin in the shed but I still didn't learn.

@Ducksurprise I’m with you there. We’ve had similar with vermin but it’s the Xmas decorations that have got eaten, in our case.

My dh has just got home from a six hour boozy work lunch and has another tomorrow afternoon. Meanwhile, I’m stuck doing the wife work. No wonder he never wants to go on holiday at Christmas (which I suggest every year).

I had planned so much cleaning this week but I've had the flu so it's going to end up being a take it as we come situation! I'm going to try really hard to clean grubby kids hand marks off of chairs that people will be sitting on but that will be it 😂. Just hoping I'm better for the actual day!!

Me too!

Last year I decided the month before Christmas would be a really good time to take up the ancient carpet on our stairs/landing and to sand and paint the stairs white. Then the week before I decided I should really strip the wallpaper off the walls and paint them, too.

This year I ordered my DD a new flat-pack wardrobe on the 20th and we put it up yesterday, triggering a wholesale reorganisation/deep clean of her room. I've been painting the kitchen and there is something just nudging at me to put up a load of pictures that have been languishing unframed. Absolutely necessary jobs, not!

Bloody hell! That’s annoying to say the least. Have you got any other heating?
Well done on your declutter, I was getting a lot of vicarious pleasure reading that
I hope you have a lovely Christmas despite it all.

@SarahAndQuack thats hilarious. And just the sort of thing we’d do. What do we do this to ourselves?!