Do you do most of your cleaning because people are coming round

[Twiglett]

and live in a slovenly mess the rest of the time

... so people think you're super tidy and have a perfect home

.. even close friends?

just wondering

gawd yes.

Of course . Have completed exactly that today as I have visitors this week. Really should take more notice of the Fly threads

my dh has just read this and wants to know if he can come and live with fuzzywuzzy? Needless to say i'm glad to know that we are in the majority and are normal after all!

yes

Yes definitely

Oh Yes!

I only clean when people are coming round (and they don't get invited that often )

Even then, I only clean the rooms that they are likely to see.

Life is way too short to be doing housework.

When the kids have left home (which I sincerely hope doesn't happen for a very very long time, I will do a 'top to bottom' clean, because then it will be worth it, but don't see the point at the moment with 4 children.

Was a relief to see this thread as I too live in an absolute slovenly mess. I don't do cleaning unless I know someone is coming over. My heart races when the doorbell rings and I don't usually answer it in case it is someone hoping to come in for a cuppa.

I find living in this state a bit embarrassing but when do people find the time to "vaccuum after every meal" etc? There's no way I can do any housework when ds is awake. He sleeps for 2 hours in the afternoon, during which I need to relax not get the hoover out or put on the marigolds!!

I tend to try to invite people round only when the cleaner's been. Thus scoring high on the cleanliness front without actually doing anything.

Although my really closest friends accept that the Inferiority Complex is perhaps never going to be a vision of sparkliness.

I still suspect that some rather more finicky relatives left our house a day early on account of the state of our shower.

I have a tidy house most of the time, but it usually has biscuit crumbs scattered about 2 mins after I have hoovered. And toys everywhere.

But if people come round to inspect my house, they are most certainly not friends imo.

Has anyone seen that really annoying advert for Harpic or something (with the newborn baby) and her friend goes inspecting the toilet?

yes
in fact we have been known to specifically invite people just to motivate ourselves to clean

Actually when FIL last visited (after a marathon cleaning and tidying session, all surfaces clear, all crap put away, nice flowers etc) he said that it looked a bit 'sparse'. I nearly asked if he'd rather I got the clothes horses, piles of paperwork, discarded socks etc out again...

nope!
always try to have downstairs loo clean and kitchen is usually ok. dd's bedroom too. anything else I just shut the doors!

no coz i like cleaning all the time

My bedroom constantly looks like a chineese laundry recently visited by a whirl wind. I'ts all clean - I just never get the chance to put it away (Says she sitting chatting on the computer!)

mmm, when we were kids and our mum got us to clean up/tidy our house it was ALWAYS because Aunty Anne was coming round.
Most days when I'm straightening up the house stuff goes behind the couch because if I put everything away it would be evening time before I was done.
I am saving for a tumble-drier and it is going to change my life and my house is going to be 100x tidier, with no laundry on display.