Your worth is not determined by how pristine your cupboard doors are. You have small children. Sticky paw prints are a fact of life. There’s a balance between perfect and squalor.
My stance on housework is that we have small kids, we both work with long commutes to nursery every day and we have very little free time. I’m also pregnant and unwell.
The laundry is done so that everyone has clean clothes daily and clean sheets once a week. The bathrooms and kitchen are done daily. It’s hygeinic. A quick whip round will sort it to the point I can cope with visitors.
There are also toys lying about, the fronts of the cupboards have the odd splat on, it just looks like people live here. There’s a pile of books under the coffee table, etc etc.
While it’d be lovely to have everything clean and perfect, i do t feel it’s realistic for us with life at the moment and it’s not high on my priority list. I get very little time to myself and I’d rather spend that reading than scrubbing. It’s clean enough. It’s hygienic.
It is you driving the need to clean or fear of judgement? If it’s the latter I say that those who kind don’t matter, and those that matter don’t mind.
I’ve had to put my foot down quite firmly with both DM and MIL who are aghast I don’t iron and put away mountains of laundry till 10pm and see our house as a state. It isn’t a state. Neither of them worked when their kids were small, and when they did work they didn’t have jobs that required emails answering at all hours, nor did they have commutes.
No one will die from cupboard splats. If everyone is in clean clothes and has a clean bathroom and a clean kitchen, and the house is fairly liveable, you’re winning,
Do you know how many men are agonising over dumping the washing in the spare bed in the uk at this very moment ?
absolutely fucking none
I’m sure your house is fine. Go have a cup of tea and sod the ironing.