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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

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Original poster

i could cry!!

65 replies

IAmBooyhoo · 07/04/2012 19:01

eugh!

i visited my aunt today. her home is immaculate. now, yes it is brand new (moved in 3 weeks ago, new build) and yes she doesn't work and yes she has a partner to help her and no she doesn't have small children or pets but my god that house was clean. and to make matters worse, it was a surprise visit ( i know, i know i should have called first) so she had no warning and no time to tidy up but there wasn't even a water mark on her sink. everything was sitting perfectly like just out of a magazine shoot. even her teenagers' bedrooms were sitting perfectly as though they had never been slept in. not even a hairbrush sitting on the dressing table.. she showed me round the house and i admired everything a set of drawers that she had, assuming they had been bought for the house. "no", she said, "they were bought when dd3 was in nursery, so about 13 years ago" there wasn't a scratch or nail varnish stain on it. same with all the rest of the furniture. this woman raised six children. how is that possible that her furniture is all still so immaculate? it has made me want to sell recycle all my scuffed and stained furniture and start all over again (couldn't afford to) but i know that as soon as a new coffee table even looked at my 2 year old it would develop a scratch. how is that fair? i can say now with 100% certainty that my home will never ever reach that level of perfectness, no matter how much i want it to. i feel really crap about my 'well worn' home now.

OP posts:

CruciFlisspaps · 07/04/2012 19:09

That level of cleanliness makes me feel very uncomfortable. I cannot relax in a spotless house.

I'm much more at ease in a slightly tatty home, and I would never even think about wanting to live somewhere that was like a showhome.

Original poster

IAmBooyhoo · 07/04/2012 19:19

well i brought my dcs with me and i was very edgy incase they damaged anything. DAunt was very relaxed and kept telling me to relax and that it they're only kids, they're fine. she didn't seem to mind at all that they were touching stuff but i was very nervous. if i had been there without dcs i would have been in heaven. i feel very comfortable in spotless homes, just not when my dcs are with me

OP posts:

mumblejumble · 07/04/2012 21:38

I reckon she is fibbing about her chest of drawers, and her teenaged children are freakishly tidy, having learned from her.

Original poster

IAmBooyhoo · 07/04/2012 21:54

she is a really genuine, humble person so i dont think she would lie about the drawers to impress anyone. there was other furniture in the room that was new that she pointed out to me.

OP posts:

mumblejumble · 08/04/2012 00:17

Sorry Iam, was just kidding...

Original poster

IAmBooyhoo · 08/04/2012 12:17

sorry. sense of humour fail.

OP posts:

HansieMom · 09/04/2012 00:55

Why not tell her how impressed you are and ask her how she does it and then tell us.

CeliaFate · 09/04/2012 08:19

I know what you mean. I told my dc yesterday that if someone called unannounced we'd have to hide rather than open the door. Still it spurred me into nagging us into tidying up. My house is always clean, but rarely tidy.
I don't feel entirely comfortable in pristine homes either, I feel as though my presence somehow sullies the perfection.

Sparklingbrook · 09/04/2012 08:22

Hate pristine cream homes. i sit on the edge of the settee and refuse all hot drinks-in fact any drinks.

amillionyears · 09/04/2012 08:25

I was in a B&B like that once, with 2 of my children.Couldnt wait to leave.Kept talking in whispers not to break anything, touch anything...

Nat38 · 09/04/2012 08:41

OCD seems to spring to mind[bugrin] could you not invite her to your house hoping she would get to work a bit while there?[bublush][buwink][bugrin]

Sorry joking aside, I would not feel comfortable either, your house sounds like mine-I think Id have to hide aswell sometimes rather than answer the door & on the good days its still messy[bugrin] but my attitude is they take me as they find me[bugrin][bugrin]

CailinDana · 09/04/2012 08:48

If she kept her home immaculate while her children were young then it's pretty much guaranteed that they got very little attention. I'd rather have a sticky mess of a home and a child that has plenty of fun and freedom than a perfect home and bored children who can't relax in their own home.

rubyrubyruby · 09/04/2012 08:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

anniewoo · 09/04/2012 10:15

How have her children turned out? My sil has a really tidy, perfect house but a fd up home life. Mind you that's not to say you could have a really untidy house and a fd up home life also

Original poster

IAmBooyhoo · 09/04/2012 11:47

well two of her children are still at home and are as tidy as her from what i saw, unless she goes into their rooms and tdies them although i couldn't imagine that of her. i dont know about her grown up sons as have never seen their homes but her grown up daughter is also immaculate. her chldren are a really lovely lot, but you never can tell if behind that smile they're screaming "please rescue me from this hell" can you? my mum says she was always like this even when the DC were small. i could never invite her to my house. i actally have hidden on a couple of occasions when people have knocked the door.

OP posts:

Original poster

IAmBooyhoo · 09/04/2012 11:49

when i used to only have one dc and one cat my house was almost as clean and tidy as my aunts. i think that's what annoys me more about it is that i know i was once capable of it. i just can't seem to get back to that level. i blame the children and the pets.

OP posts:

HaggisandTatties · 09/04/2012 11:52

That old saying is so true...........A CLEAN HOUSE IS A SIGN OF A WASTED LIFE.

I used to be ott in keeping my house clean - now I dont. House is tidy and clean but not perfect and hasnt been in years. I couldnt relax when it was spotless and neither could visitors! As am typing this my old dog is lying on sofa with arse in the air sound asleep and letting out random farts - so be it :)

5madthings · 09/04/2012 11:57

i have a sign on my fridge that says 'cleaning the house whilst the kids are growing is like shovelling the snow whilst its still snowing'

and that is my moto, i do tidy and hoover everyday and wipe round the bathroom etc, but i am fighting a loosing battle ( 5 children here) and teens with tidy bedrooms?!! well that is an anomoly but they have obviously learnt from their mum.

fine if they are happy with it, but i want a house people can be relaxed in, so my friends can bring round their kids and not worry about them making a mess, it tidies at the end of the day and they are only little once.

and yes i need notice beofre visitors, tho depending on WHO is visting some will see my house less tidy than others, ie friends who i know wont give a dam etc.

but yes do ask her HOW she does it!!

Original poster

IAmBooyhoo · 09/04/2012 12:02

@ your farty dog!! yuck. i also have a farty dog.

i would usually agree with you on the wasted life thing but she has lead a pretty full life. untl about 7/8 years ago she ran a successful business, her and her family travel every year for up to a month at a time. her children are all really close to each other and to their parents (far closer than am with my parents) and the ones that live away are always in touch all the time. she has small grandchildren who love coming to see her and she is a real children sort of person, well she is with mine when they were there. am starting to think maybe she is not real and i have made her up?

OP posts:

Original poster

IAmBooyhoo · 09/04/2012 12:06

i think if i asked her how she does it she would look at me like and just say something like, she doens't even think about it, it just always has been that way. she's has never been in my house and i would hate to shatter any illusions she has about me beng tidy by asking her how she does it.

OP posts:

NagooBunnytail · 09/04/2012 12:12

A snapshot of anyone's life on the right day would make it all look beautiful.

You'll have your turn of having grown up children and a house that stays tidy.

Little children and pets are not compatible with an immaculate home unless that is all you have to do :)

DedalusDigglesPocketWatch · 09/04/2012 12:13

Tbh, I think some people are naturally tidy people. Some make tidying a priority before they sit down in an evening, and will get up earlier to get washing done, bathrooms cleaned etc.

I am not one of those people though sadly :o

Original poster

IAmBooyhoo · 09/04/2012 12:22

"Little children and pets are not compatible with an immaculate home unless that is all you have to do "

that is all i have to do.

OP posts:

NagooBunnytail · 09/04/2012 12:27

rofl [bugrin] Sorry booyhoo....

[comfortfail]

look, if you thought it was that important then you'd be doing it. You'd rather be swigging and MNing and squidging children than buffing finger prints off the coffee table, so be comfortable in that choice! [bugrin]

BackforGood · 09/04/2012 12:29

I agree with Cruci, SparklingBrook, AMillion Years, Nat38, Cailin, Haggis, 5madthings, and Nagoo
See - we are the 'normal majority'.

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