What emotions drive your housekeeping routine (or lack of one)?

[Vivacia]

I was reading a thread in Relationships about living with a hoarder, and the emotional roots of hoarding behaviour. It got me wondering about the opposite of hoarding - whats that called?

I'm very aware that what I prioritise in cleaning and tidying (or not) has fairly obvious links to my childhood and how I was raised. So, I'm curious, what outcomes and links to childhood do other people have when it comes to housekeeping?

Stress. I find I feel really stressed if certain things aren't done. Mostly the kitchen worktops & table being clean & tidy because I'm constantly thinking that I'll have it to sort out before I can make the next meal.

I too find that doing a bit everyday even if I don't feel like it helps to keep on top of things. There's certain quick things I'll make sure I do - make the bed in the morning, tidy the bathroom (usually just chucking kids toys into their room) and tidy the shoes (makes it easier to get up/down the stairs).

I grew up in a very, er, disorganised household with lots of clutter. It was important to some adults in my life that we had lots of Stuff, the kind of things they hadn't had, so quantity was far more important than quality.

I realise that I'm the opposite when it comes to belongings. I find more peace of mind in owning less.

I also recognise that stressed feeling of knowing that something needs doing. I would find it hard to sleep if there's a pile of laundry that needs putting away, for example.

When I was a child, I had relatives who were obsessed about housework, though not my own immediate family. My grandmother said she would rather collapse from exhaustion than go to bed leaving washing up. I also realised that for her the household tasks came before anything else at all. I told myself I'd never be like that. But I never really got taught what to do or how often and over the years I've realised that I didn't really do enough so I've gradually improved. Lots of things I never did as it never occurred to me that they should ever be done. My own childhood home was quite untidy and I was always tidyminded and liked to tidy up and still like a tidy home but I'm less aware of cleanliness. These days I keep a written schedule, but I get more satisfaction from ticking something off a list than actually from seeing the living room floor freshly hovered or whatever.

I do have issues around the opposite of hoarding (maybe an obsession with minimalism?) though if you saw my house you wouldn't think so (still too much stuff). I had years as a young adult in bedsits and with very few belongings and if some one bought me a present, I preferred it to be something you use up like writing paper rather than something you keep like an ornament which I'd be carrying in a suitcase to the next bedsit. After that I lived for years with my h (now ex) who tended to hoard through laziness and just kept piles of stuff, probably the opposite of what I wanted. I found it overwhelming and impossible to have a clean or tidy house). Now I'm keen on minimalism and I find it helpful to minimalise the amount of stuff that creates work such as ornaments that need dusting.

I sold my house last year and I really notice the difference in my new home with less stuff. It feels cleaner than our old home and there's less to do and I like it that way. I want cleaning and tidying to be a tiny part of my life rather than something that seems to take over and I think for that you need a fairly simple home with not too much stuff (or a paid cleaner!)

Sorry, that's hoovered not hovered. My living room floor doesn't float in the air.

I grew up in a tidy house, and my house is tidy. It's the thought that someone might drop in that drives me to keep it very clean and presentable. I feel happy when everything is fresh and tidy, and get a bit anxious when I can see clutter gathering.

I enjoy seeing the place look clean and tidy, but get frustrated and down that it only looks nice for a nano-second and then the dirt and mess begin again.

I like order and I like beauty, and I enjoy the creative processes involved in achieving both.

Great thread idea!

For me - lack of routine, brought up in chaotic/hoarder home, never learnt better (though always got yelled at etc). Although now it's not so much emotion as my disability since last year.

However the overwhelming emotion now is wanting things to get better, DD said the other week she doesn't like our house as "there's too many things in it mummy and I can't play properly" :( I am really trying to declutter now and start to get a level of tidiness we've never had before, though I have to take it really slowly due to my health. Maybe the biggest emotion is guilt!

It is interesting that for most people there is an obvious reason for being the way you are about housework. I am getting more house proud the older I get, I think it is to do with being judged by other people(so linked to self esteem really)

Also I grew up in quite a cluttered house and had a lot of stuff, as an adult I am the complete opposite, I hate clutter! My Mums house makes me feels very stressed as there is literally something on every surface. Strangely though my sister is the same as my parents and likes having stuff everywhere.

Oh I also clean when I'm stressed or anxious eg waiting for DH to get hone from driving in bad weather. Its a good way to get alot done in a short space of time though!

My mum was/ is incredibly fastidious about housework. I remember long summer holidays going nowhere and being bored, because she was busy cleaning.

I think this explains my 'stuff it the dirt will be there tomorrow' attitude!

My house isn't filthy, but it isn't very clean either!!

I grew up in a cluttered messy home and find that everytime I visit my mum I spend the whole weekend tidying/shredding junk mail/ dusting. I seem to get really stressed when im there and by the time i leave im more tired than when i arrived. The funny thing though is that I love visiting her and I get stressed if I don't visit once every 6wks. -Her updates on the latest gossip in the family must have something to do with it-

I find that my own place us tidier than I was when I lived at mum's. I don't clean much but I find that I put things away a lot more than I did before. However, I still hate ironing! I have piles and piles of it to do but the thought of doing it brings me out in a panic! Yet I refuse to wear clothes that have not been ironed( including underwear!) I don't think I can even go to sleep in un-ironed bed linen. I knew I had a problem when I was ironing bed sheets at 1.30am after suspecting that the hotel had not done it.

No - but it drives me to do it!