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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Original poster

Pointy sticks at the ready... and a few choc biscuits and brews too.

999 replies

carrotsandcelery · 26/01/2012 14:29

OP posts:
BlackCatTryingToFly · 08/02/2012 09:50

Right I'm off to get started! Will pop back in around 11.00am.

Scout19075 · 08/02/2012 09:53

Turns out our afternoon meet-up is cancelled. It was in a village hall in the country with ungritted/unplowed roads so there's the safety concern. My friend who's organizing it said her road (and the village roads) is a sheet of ice and she hasn't been out in the car since Saturday. Shock

We'll still go to Tots this morning, TS and I. And I still have Seniors tonight (crochet lessons! Grin). I'll do a bit more round here this afternoon. Will anyone be around for the 1 o'clock cleaning club?

liveinazoo · 08/02/2012 09:53

posted same timesbefor scuttling off to skivvyGrin

BlackCatTryingToFly · 08/02/2012 09:53
BlackCatTryingToFly · 08/02/2012 09:55

Yep, I'm hopefully in for the 1.00 club. Smile

Dlamis · 08/02/2012 11:44

. It's mentally exhausting isn't it! My dh is not as bad as yours but I would say 90% of the clutter in this house is his, although he would deny it. He is a collector as well as a hoarder. What i mean is whatever his current interest is he has to have all the stuff/books that goes with it regardless of whether that stuff will get used/read before he moves on to the next craze. Eg We still have unopened cd's from his 'classical music' phase. And he can't build up to something slowly, he goes hurtling into it a full speed, (with all the associated expensive equipment in some cases) only to get bored and move onto the next craze a few months later leaving homeless, abandoned, barely used items/equipment in his wake. I could go on!

To be fair he is getting better after constant years of nagging and casually mentioning that i was close to having had enough and had entertained the idea of leaving if it didn't stop/slow down We are currently adopting the one box at a time method which so far is being quite successful and he is quite happy to let me sell some exercise/keep fit stuff on ebay without much persuasion so there's hope yet.

Slow morning today. Won't be around for the 1 o'clock club as going round to a friends for tea/biccies and gossip :o. Should be back after the school run. I really should get of MN and clear the bed. We are still moving furniture around and it's taken a bit longer than expected. Our bed was covered with the contents of 2 wardrobes and all the crap on top of them and it's still there. And although it was fun to sleep with the ds's last night, I fancy sleeping in my own bed again tonight :o

liveinazoo · 08/02/2012 12:30

ta das
made beds
s+s bathroom
school run
15 mins ironing
15mins decluttering understairs(4 carrier bags for dustbin!!!!)
put rubbish in bin/recycling outside
wipe and kinda buffed kitchen surfaces(look shiny and lovely)
scrubbed taps/reshined sink and drainer
wiped all splash back tiles that run along worktops
cleaned hob
wiped kettle/toaster etc
washed kitchen floor
went bank to pay bills
quick pop shops
picked up dd3 from nursery
made soup

just about to sit down til 1 and eat itGrin

i kept warm running around cleaning.

must remember to soak/rinse bowls/pan after making porridgeHmm

BlackCatTryingToFly · 08/02/2012 12:54

Good list Zoo Grin.

I am still eating lunch and lurking.

liveinazoo · 08/02/2012 12:54

anyone around?

ive just iced a bun on AIBU-an attack on SAHM who "rattle of lists what they achieved"

gave them a sarcastic piece my mind

liveinazoo · 08/02/2012 12:56

we posting simultaneously a lot lately blackcat

does that make us psychics psychotics???Grin

bessie26 · 08/02/2012 12:57

dlamis my DH is a bit like that too, once he decides he's doing something (golf, running, gym are the usual interests) he will have to buy everything possible to go with it. I find gentle (loving) ridicule works well Grin - when he brought home a "training aid" to improve his golf swing (a kind of squishy ball you have to hold between your arms while you swing) I immediately asked if I should put it in the charity pile now, or wait a few weeks! He still has it (it is in his allotted junk area under the bed) but has never, ever used it!

BlackCatTryingToFly · 08/02/2012 12:58

Spooky! Grin

Scout19075 · 08/02/2012 12:58

Well done, zoo! Turns out we will be out this afternoon so I won't be joining in the 1 o'clock clean club.

Good luck, everyone!

BlackCatTryingToFly · 08/02/2012 12:59

My last post was meant for Zoo

Have we lost Carrots again?

liveinazoo · 08/02/2012 13:02

shall we make a start then?
-----> to all who need it
back at 2

Original poster
carrotsandcelery · 08/02/2012 13:03

Hello everyone.

I wrote a big long post last night and Mumsnet swallowed it and I was so exhausted I gave up.

I have been off to see my dparents so they could meet Twilight and then for a romp in the woods with the dogs. I also went to the local pet shop and got her a new bed and some dog food. She seems to like the new bed as she has flaked out on it already Grin

I have A LOT to do as Mon and Tues have been extremely minimal. Our cupboards are full to bursting but the dcs start mid term tomorrow so I need to get as much done as I can today so I can play Grin

I am off to start by hanging a wash and rescuing the kitchen.

Scout I really feel for you. My dparents still have my toys from when I was a dc and I am 39. My ddad was so worried they would get broken that he wouldn't let dd play with some of them. Who exactly they were being preserved for I have no idea. He has sort of seen the madness of his ways but struggles with it.

That said, it dawned on my ddad that when he shuffles off this mortal coil it is my dbro and myself who will have the task of clearing his house so he has, over the last few years, made a massive effort to empty the loft etc.

I think for my dparents is brewed from being babies born at the very end of the war and therefore having so little as children. They then didn't have much money when we were wee so all our toys were hard earned and therefore really precious. They hate waste and it feels like waste to them to throw things out.

I have some of the same traits and ebaying things seems to help as I don't feel they are being wasted so much. Charity shops and giving to friends also helps.

The papers and magazines is something we suffer from in this house too. Dh is a member of many professional bodies and gets all their journals and also golf and running magazines. He can't see that this is clutter as he is not going to go back and reread them, yet my Weight Watcher magazines, which I keep for recipes, are clutter in his eyes. Hmm

Everything moved from my dparents loft into ours is just clutter but the box of notes from when he was at Uni moved from his dmum's loft into ours is precious Hmm

I have battled my hoarding and try harder and harder to get rid of things. I have had to do it the way bessie mentioned yesterday - going round and round a pile whittling it down. I find it hard to just chuck the lot, even though somewhere in me I know I won't use/reread/listen to the stuff again. The more I do it the better I get though.

Your idea sounds a good one. Keep one box down and get him to do, as zoo says, a small declutter every day. You can reward him with a Brew or choc biscuit or in any other way you choose Wink I know I respond well to praise and encouragement even at my age.

OP posts:
Original poster
carrotsandcelery · 08/02/2012 13:06

I posted that before mumsnet ate it again.

Let him go round and round the box for a while and when you are happy he had reduced it as much as he can, put it aside and get the next box down. Hopefully you will get to the stage where boxes can be reduced from 3 to 1 but it will take him a while.

I really feel for you. We lived in a one bedroom flat before we came here and it was really difficult to contain everything and keep the place looking calm and controlled. We didn't have a toddler then either. (((hugs))) and buckets of gentle pushing patience headed your way.

OP posts:
Original poster
carrotsandcelery · 08/02/2012 13:08

Oooh! Massive cross posting from me.

I am still totally with the thread - just had a bit of a manic couple of days. Jumping in to big clean now Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
carrotsandcelery · 08/02/2012 13:08

Will be back at 2 as well if I can join in too please?

OP posts:
BlackCatTryingToFly · 08/02/2012 13:32

Hi all, I have failed the 1.00 club today!

I think I am still feeling a bit ill as I just can't seem to get going on anything.
My kitchen is a tip and there are various things need sorting in other rooms.
Poor DS room is a mess! and neither DS or DH bother to tidy it. They both go in there at bedtime cause DH helps DS with his reading and it just doesn't enter his head that he could tidy it while he is there. I just feel to tired and fed up to do anything!Sad

bessie26 · 08/02/2012 13:42

BlackCat did you ever get that blood test done? Remember Wednesdays are Anti-procrastination Days!

bessie26 · 08/02/2012 13:46

zoo - just read your post on that other thread Grin

bessie26 · 08/02/2012 13:59

DD2 & I went swimming this morning so couldn't do much until she went for her nap, when I made a Brew and sat on my arse for a bit. (obvs I've got WM, TD & DW on) I'm off now to finish my "home blessing" & do some missions

BlackCatTryingToFly · 08/02/2012 14:00

I have phoned up for a doctors appointment and was lucky, they have one tomorrow morning while DD is at nursery. I think DH might have tomorrow off too so he is around if needed.

I'm just so fed up of feeling like this! I'm really feeling quite down but I think it's all linked to my monthly's. They cause nothing but problems for me.Sad

bessie26 · 08/02/2012 14:04

Glad you've got yourself an appointment so quickly. Are you eating & sleeping ok?