To be mildly irritated when people say 'don't worry about the housework...''?

[poshsinglemum]

Concentrate on your dc instead.

Lovely idea if dc didn't generate the kind of housework that cannot be left. Unlike the old days it's no longer about dusting a few corners is it?

Newborns bring poo stained baby gros, reusable nappies have to be washed and milk-stained bedding has to be dealt with.

Whilst weaning there's all the cooking, blending and cleaning thrown food off the floor and high chair.

Toddlers generate more mess than I ever thought possible. My carpet is heinous and I hoover every day at least. Nothing stays tidy.It's carnage.

I don't mind a bit of mess and I don't want a show home but I don't want to live in squalid filth. It's not like I can just leave that wee and ground in cheese to fester in the carpet.

I guess my point is that I can leave low level housework like polishing but I cannot afford to do no housework and just concentrate solely on palying with dd. I would enjoy being a mum so much more if it wasn't for the drudgery. A cleaner is the answer I think.

should be in aibu sorry!

Oh I agree wholeheartedly. Living in chaos and squalor is awful and quickly drags you further and further down into despondency.

i agree with Bonsoir!!

Agree. With small kids you'd need a daily cleaner I think if you were hoping to save yourself the drudge. Never get round to polishing and shining personally - too busy firefighting the worst areas. One day ....

Ime people who say "don't worry about the housework" either don't have dcs/have a cleaner/are frantically keeping their own homes smugly up to show home perfection.

OR they fall completely into the other camp, i.e. they live in a tip and don't care.

As you so rightly say, one cannot realistically leave puddles of wee in the carpet. Also I find that if laundry is left for even a day or two some of the stains will not come out. If we have had a good day out (i.e. grass stains, icecream, general dirt) then I put the clothes in that same evening!

As with most things, there has to be some middle ground. Personally I don't tend to clean many windows. However I cannot stand a filthy (or even slightly grubby bathroom) or laundry left in heaps with smelly wet towels etc.

Ooooh yes I hear you! I have never ever understoond the 'don't worry about the housework' advice.
I am so far from precious when it comes to the house being clean but you just can't down tools completely, even I couldn't.

tbh I think that even leaving it for a day or two is a complete recipe for disaster. I always regret the times (1-2 a week) when I leave some of the dishes til the morning. Stuff is harder to scrub off hours later. (thankfully we have a dishwasher which most of the stuff goes in)

Oh, it's so nice to read this! I totally agree! MIL, If I sit down and have a cup of tea with you now and leave unloading the dishwasher to later then either it won't happen until tomorrow which'll wind me up as dishes accumulate to go in it, or I'll have to do it when the kids are grouchy and that'll make me grouchy!

I don;t say "don;t worry about the houseowrk" I say "lower your standards" ie don;t live in squalor but th ebare minimum and spending more time enjoying your children is (IMVHO) the wya for a lower stress life (at least as a single parent).

Unless dusty bookshelves stress you out.

Not bothered about a bit of dust; just grime and don't get me started on stains!

This is one of my real pet hates... alongside that Pussycat Dolls Jai Ho song (why did they release it when she CAN'T EVEN PRONOUNCE THE MAIN BLOODY WORDS and breathe).

Where is the housework supposed to go then? Will the housey fairy come in the night and make it disappear? Will the socks just start crawling out of the rooms and throwing themselves desperately into the washing machine if left to mature for long enough? I suppose rats might come and eat the old bits of food off the kitchen floor but it's not exactly hygienic...