How Clean Is Your House?

[Zoe]

I know that those of us who are licensed need to have some level of cleanliness to our daycare spaces. As a type-A neat freak, this does cause me stress at times trying to keep everything clean. Not clutter free mind you, but the floors swept, surfaces wiped down, dishes out of the sink, etc. You get the drill.

Well I've been super stressed lately and I'm trying to find ways to lower that level of stress. Just how clean does your daycare space stay? If the hubby fails to clean up after himself do I really need to worry about this?! Should I chill?! Leave some of the dog hair?!

Sigh....it's been a hard day ladies. Bottom line....how often do you clean and do you ever just not do a certain task and leave it for a day?

[DCMom]

This is a big part of the reason I moved the entire daycare to it's own space. My family got tired of everything having to be 'just so' because I'm a bit OCD

My daycare space? Very clean ~ there is always the scent of Mr Clean or Clorox Wipes in the air. My own/family space? Pretty clean but it doesn't smell like Clorox Wipes

[dEHmom]

I am feeling ya today too. I had a house full today, and they kept me on my toes that's for sure!

My house is always "Clean" just not always tidy.

Without carpets I am literally sweeping/vacuuming the floors 10 times a day.

Stuff like dusting happens once or twice a week. I do it as I see it because it bothers me to see finger prints/swipes in the dust. But we are very dusty here. With the backlane being gravel and the furnace on now, we are always battling the dust. I try to keep it minimal, but I can't say I am a dusting freak.

Sanitary always. Counters, toys, chairs, etc wiped and disinfected regularly (varying from several times a day to several times a month depending on what it is).

p.s. I am currently not licensed.

[pfund2233]

I'm a neat freak, perfectionist, and super anal about my house and how clean it is. You don't want to know what I do in a day as far as cleaning. I don't keep anything for to long. When I was younger I didn't realize I was to be keeping my taxes... yes my taxes... and well out to the curb they went. I clean and perfect everything to the point where I wonder if I need help. My husband is the opposite of me and I think that balances life a little... I hope.

[Christian Mother]

I feel like I clean every day...all day long. After my "little" after my own, after my husband....sniker...I finally finally told him that since he gets to sleep in bc he doesn't have a full time job he can start helping me around the house..
He's been good about it but now instead of waiting for him to do something I am telling him to make plans later on doing something to help me..hahah!! Bless him I do love him so and he is a huge help but I can never understand how I pick up and make the house so nice and clean and neat and then I walk away and it's completely a mess...and I turn around..there's my husband..hmmm!

[Zoe]

Originally Posted by Christian Mother

Bless him I do love him so and he is a huge help but I can never understand how I pick up and make the house so nice and clean and neat and then I walk away and it's completely a mess...and I turn around..there's my husband..hmmm!

Yes! This exactly! I keep my house borderline OCD tidy and clean and then DH comes home and within 5 minutes....bam! It's like why do I bother?! He tries so hard, but I think he's part tornado and just can't help it.

My annual unannounced licensing visit is sometime this month so I've been on overdrive in keeping everything mega clean but I was curious as to whether I was getting a little too crazy about it. Doesn't really sound like it from the responses!

[dEHmom]

you know what???? my husband complains my house isn't clean enough. He can always point out something that isn't right. To me, I don't care if the bins are perfectly straight, as long as they are not dumped out on the floor. I also don't care if the dishes are sitting in the dish rack, as long as they are clean and my sink is not over flowing with dirty dishes.

To my husband....if the rack is on the counter, the kitchen is messy, if there is a fur ball floating around the edge of the wall, the house is messy. But also, to my husband....if there are no toys on the floor the floor is clean, even if it's covered in muddy shoe prints. So it's really hit and miss with him. All my dcp's have said they are amazed at how tidy I keep the house (and I've seen a few of their houses, they are not clean at all!).

[Zoe]

It does balance a person out having a spouse who thinks differently doesn't it?!? Because I'd be right there with your hubby!

I do feel a lot better when I see other people's houses aren't as clean as mine, cuz I know how clean I keep it. I just wish I could not stress about it!

[SilverSabre25]

Not clean enough for my own standards, but I'm fighting an uphill battle where it comes to cleanliness, tidiness, clutter, etc. An icy uphill battle. The really, really slippery kind of ice. With a 60 mile an hour wind blowing me back down every time I manage to make some progress. The icy hill is my husband and his differing opinions of what "neat and clean" means and the 60 mile an hour wind is the ADD I fight all day every day.

But, it's getting better. Every day, every week, I make more progress. I'm winning the battle

[Zoe]

Good for you! And thanks for the laugh!

[AmandasFCC]

I used to clean like a madwoman every day. I gave up. I was working too hard and it was too stressful. Now I do a major clean on the weekend, and touch up here and there over the week. The kids clean up their toys at each transition. I clean the bathrooms when they need it (no set schedule, but I'm at least wiping down once a day). I sweep while the kids eat. I refuse to stress myself out over the level of cleanliness of my house. I know my house is cleaner than the kids' homes are lol.

[sharlan]

I normally try to keep things picked up, dishes in dishwasher, floors swept and vacuumed.

Today, I swear there isn't a square inch of clean downstairs. I took advantage of no kids, until now and worked on upstairs. If licensing showed up today, they'd probably call in the health dept.

[laundrymom]

Flylady. I love her

[Zoe]

flylady?

[laundrymom]

Google her. :-)

[Michelle]

Originally Posted by sharlan

I normally try to keep things picked up, dishes in dishwasher, floors swept and vacuumed.

Today, I swear there isn't a square inch of clean downstairs. I took advantage of no kids, until now and worked on upstairs. If licensing showed up today, they'd probably call in the health dept.

This is the time that your mother in law will come or some other "surprise" visitor

One time my sil showed up on Easter Sunday and my 6 kids had easter grass and wrappings EVERYWHERE, I was trying to cook dinner and she just sat on the couch with a smirk on her face... fast forward 10 years, she has 2 boys now, crayon art all over her walls, carpet tore up, trash, toys, and dishes everywhere!
Do you know what I did?
I cleaned her house. Helped her organize, and helped her with the kids that day.
Now, my house stays clean most of the time, I have hard wood floors but that's a blessing and a curse.
I run the dishwasher fully loaded 4 times a day, and sometimes fall asleep at 8pm because I do not get much help from my family.
I have ready that book, "The Little Red Hen" to them in the past and it doesn't work. Oh well!

[sharlan]

Originally Posted by Michelle

This is the time that your mother in law will come or some other "surprise" visitor

One time my sil showed up on Easter Sunday and my 6 kids had easter grass and wrappings EVERYWHERE, I was trying to cook dinner and she just sat on the couch with a smirk on her face... fast forward 10 years, she has 2 boys now, crayon art all over her walls, carpet tore up, trash, toys, and dishes everywhere!
Do you know what I did?
I cleaned her house. Helped her organize, and helped her with the kids that day.
Now, my house stays clean most of the time, I have hard wood floors but that's a blessing and a curse.
I run the dishwasher fully loaded 4 times a day, and sometimes fall asleep at 8pm because I do not get much help from my family.
I have ready that book, "The Little Red Hen" to them in the past and it doesn't work. Oh well!

It would be very difficult for her to show up, deceased for 13 yrs. BUT, she did show up shortly after the birth of my second dd along with her best friend. Dh and I had had the flu for 3 days, 2 yo had had it the previous 2 days. My house was filthy, stunk of puke and dirty diapers, and every dish in the house was dirty. She never showed up uninvited again.

[hoopinglady]

My daycare area and kitchen are pretty well tidy and clean which takes a substantial amount of dilegence. My poor basement and bedroom are total disasters. By the time I finish all the upkeep for the main part of the house I run out of energy...or motivation.

I have mountains of clean clothes in my room. I'll eventually get sick of it and bust it out all in an afternoon. A large portion of what's in there can go in summer storage, donations or trash. Most of what's in the basement (extra toys mostly) can be tossed out too. (why do i keep this stuff??)

It really sucks too, because my bedroom is the only place that is not daycare...although I share my room with my two babies too. It'd be nice if I could have a tidy little getaway...eventually.

God forbid I have a lazy day though....it all goes to hell very quickly, doesn't it?

[melskids]

my house clean enough to be healthy,
and messy enough to be happy.

...and i make no apologies for any of it

[Zoe]

Originally Posted by hoopinglady

It really sucks too, because my bedroom is the only place that is not daycare...although I share my room with my two babies too. It'd be nice if I could have a tidy little getaway...eventually.

God forbid I have a lazy day though....it all goes to hell very quickly, doesn't it?

I know what you mean. My bedroom and the upstairs bathroom are the only rooms in my house not used for daycare and thus are the ones that suffer. I don't care enough (or have enough energy) to keep them very clean. Which stinks because I'd love to have a great bedroom!

Originally Posted by melskids

my house clean enough to be healthy,
and messy enough to be happy.

...and i make no apologies for any of it

Love it! I'm baking applesauce muffins tonight while the hubby is at dance with DD and I'm cleaning as I go along so that I don't have to worry about it when he gets home.

[familyschoolcare]

My house is very clean once every bussines day. Before, day care kids get here, after that no promises.

[dave4him]

Seems like if im not cleaning every moment then it gets crazy pretty fast

[wdmmom]

I'm pretty OCD when it comes to cleaning. The kitchen may not always be in order at drop off because my own kids are making crumbs and spills throughout but the dedicated daycare areas are 100% cleaned 100% of the day. The floors are free of debris and vacuumed twice daily. Toys are sorted, examined and sanitized once per week along with everything else.

[thecrazyisout]

I admire all of you ladies that are OCD...I am ADHD and everything is so overwhelming some days...I can keep up one day and the next I have clutter and messes everywhere......I wish I had some sort of more thorough system to keep me up on things.....I do wish I was better. I think at some point we will hire someone to come twice a month to help me with the deep cleaning...

[SilverSabre25]

Originally Posted by thecrazyisout

I admire all of you ladies that are OCD...I am ADHD and everything is so overwhelming some days...I can keep up one day and the next I have clutter and messes everywhere......I wish I had some sort of more thorough system to keep me up on things.....I do wish I was better. I think at some point we will hire someone to come twice a month to help me with the deep cleaning...

oh trust me I feel your pain. Every single itty bitty bit of it.

Flylady is a BIG help...really big. At the core of her "system" is the idea that you can do ANYTHING for 15 minutes--perfect for those of us whose brains can't focus on boring things for very long! I can hyperfocus when it's something I'm really into, and so the 15 minutes is a good tool for me to both "just get it done" and to "do only what I have time for".

You don't have to follow her system to the littlest detail to get a lot of good out of it. I got the emails for years, 6 or 7 years maybe, and read them and got a lot of the basic tenets into my head. I have never been able to follow it to the T, but I did get a lot of good out of it. 15 minutes, the idea that it didn't get messy in a day and it's not going to get clean in a day, a solid morning routine being key to the day, and more, but those are the main ones that float through my head all the time.

[littlemissmuffet]

Originally Posted by Zoe

I know that those of us who are licensed need to have some level of cleanliness to our daycare spaces. As a type-A neat freak, this does cause me stress at times trying to keep everything clean. Not clutter free mind you, but the floors swept, surfaces wiped down, dishes out of the sink, etc. You get the drill.

Well I've been super stressed lately and I'm trying to find ways to lower that level of stress. Just how clean does your daycare space stay? If the hubby fails to clean up after himself do I really need to worry about this?! Should I chill?! Leave some of the dog hair?!

Sigh....it's been a hard day ladies. Bottom line....how often do you clean and do you ever just not do a certain task and leave it for a day?

My house is immaculate. I need it to be in order to function.
I clean every area, every day. The bathrooms get wiped down each day and a deep clean once a week. The floors are vaccumed, swept and washed every day. Dishes never sit in the sink, they are done immediately after all meals. All surfaces are dusted and wiped down daily. I do laundry each day and the daycare toys are cleaned thouroughly once per week. I make all the beds as soon as I wake up. I do a deep clean once per month... and even then, the house is relatively spotless because I clean each day. I just work my chores into my daily routine.

I think leaving a couple suppoer dishes over night, or leaving the laundry to be folded for the morning on occasion is fine... but that can get out of control for some people and then the whole house goes down hill.

Originally Posted by thecrazyisout

I admire all of you ladies that are OCD...I am ADHD and everything is so overwhelming some days...I can keep up one day and the next I have clutter and messes everywhere......I wish I had some sort of more thorough system to keep me up on things.....I do wish I was better. I think at some point we will hire someone to come twice a month to help me with the deep cleaning...

I have ADHD and I struggle with being organized. My home isn't dirty, it's just not organized too well. I don't know if anyone else does this, but I start working on organizing projects and then I find something else to distract myself with and by the time I get back on track, I've made more clutter than I had before and then I'm too overwhelmed to finish it. Then I just put it all in piles!

My daycare area, however, is much more organized because my assistant is awesome with organizational skills!

[iheartkids]

Originally Posted by dEHmom

you know what???? my husband complains my house isn't clean enough. He can always point out something that isn't right. To me, I don't care if the bins are perfectly straight, as long as they are not dumped out on the floor. I also don't care if the dishes are sitting in the dish rack, as long as they are clean and my sink is not over flowing with dirty dishes.

To my husband....if the rack is on the counter, the kitchen is messy, if there is a fur ball floating around the edge of the wall, the house is messy. But also, to my husband....if there are no toys on the floor the floor is clean, even if it's covered in muddy shoe prints. So it's really hit and miss with him. All my dcp's have said they are amazed at how tidy I keep the house (and I've seen a few of their houses, they are not clean at all!).

Oh my gosh this is my husband also! He could care less if there are doggy mud prints all over the floor or cobwebs hanging from the ceiling fans but he will PITCH A FIT if I leave a pile of mail on the table! I am the opposite...there may be crap on my table and toys all over the floor but as along as the actual FLOOR doesn't look like a barn floor then I'm happy.

I feel like my house always looks cluttered and I SWEAR I always have family or friends pop in when it looks it's worse. My 3 worst areas I just can't seem to keep looking nice and clear...the kitchen sink (I don't have a dishwasher and the dishes seem to pile up instantly after I wash them!), my kitchen table and the "drop off" zone by my door. Basically...my whole kitchen. As far as the daycare area, it will get cluttered up then I'll go on a cleaning frenzy. It's like I go in waves...

[kendallina]

Originally Posted by melskids

my house clean enough to be healthy,
and messy enough to be happy.

...and i make no apologies for any of it

This. No one will ever accuse me of being OCD about cleaning...lol. But, my tables are clean enough to eat from and my floors are clean enough to walk on.

[Stacy214]

Originally Posted by Christian Mother

I feel like I clean every day...all day long. After my "little" after my own, after my husband....sniker...I finally finally told him that since he gets to sleep in bc he doesn't have a full time job he can start helping me around the house..
He's been good about it but now instead of waiting for him to do something I am telling him to make plans later on doing something to help me..hahah!! Bless him I do love him so and he is a huge help but I can never understand how I pick up and make the house so nice and clean and neat and then I walk away and it's completely a mess...and I turn around..there's my husband..hmmm!

YES! This is mine too! He leaves everything out! I feel like I go behind him and pick up (just like the children)...it doesn't matter what or how much I say he always says "i'll try I promise" He's a wonderful provider and husband and seriously that's the only thing I can ever find wrong with him...


As far as my house, I have 2 infants , 2 1yr olds and a 2 yr old and am constantly picking up but I do leave alot for nap time...then when they leave I feel like it starts all over, ugh.
I am normally very anal but since I have mostly tiny guys I have let go of a lot, except the floors, I hate to see dirty floors, especially with crawling babies