House cleaner when out or when staying home....

[WI Mama05]

I had posted on my local meetup board about how when we are busy and out of the house a lot, my house goes to POT! I was surprised to see many moms post that their houses are actually CLEANER when they are busy, so they keep themselves scheduled! :jawdrop

I cannot seem to find that line of reasoning around here. It seems if the house is clean and we have one week of busy-ness, it's done. Gone. Start over from scratch! We've been really busy for the last SIX WEEKS and I am digging out this week. We live very rural, so going out is an all day event and when we get home it's drop the bags where they lie, make dinner and go to bed. Six weeks of "dropping it at the door" has really put a strain on the house!:P~ Nothing really has gotten done except for the child maintenance :giggle.

We've been home two days in a row now and I have gotten SO MUCH DONE! :rockon I never want to leave home again! I feel so accomplished and have so much more energy! I'm thinking hermitage is next on my list of accomplishments. :sillygrin Truly, if we had grocery delivery in the sticks, it might be an option :think. :grin

I dunno. I'm liking the extra time I find I have with the girls too. I have more time to get housework done, so there is actually time to focus on sitting with them and reading, playing, helping me in the kitchen and all that instead of rushing to pick up before bed or having to hurry to make dinner and shooing them out of my way, KWIM? :shrug3

[loveberry]

My place was consistently cleaner when I was working, but once it got bad it took forever to get back on track. Now it varies widely but I have more time to do maintenance so it never gets quite as disgusting as before.

[JJsMom]

It's much cleaner when we stay home. :yes I have also noticed a huge change in my house since staying home.
Hey, you can't be a hermit! Who will bring me eggs and rice milk so I can be a hermit? :snooty

[daffodil]

Well it depends. If I can get stuff done BEFORE we leave then all's well. If not............then like you said, drop the bags and go to bed. The whole mess just multyplies.

[MarynMunchkins]

It stays cleaner and we eat better when I stay at home. :)

[Benjaminswife]

When we are super busier it gets more messy. The kids tend to mess it more in the mornings while we are getting ready. So if I have no time to clean, then we come home late to a mess and it just adds up. Plus the laundry piles up and so do the dishes. If I am home I can be on top of it :)

[Marsha]

My house is cleaner when we are gone more. But due to my ADD or whatever issues, I can't be gone all day....ever. I mean, an hour here and there is fine, or two or three hours, but I'd rather leave in short bursts than be gone all day.

But when the kids are more occupied outside the house, then the house is cleaner, obviously. I always keep laundry and dishes up, so that stays the same. But no playdough crumbs on the floor, no dress up clothes strewn hither and yon, no puzzles and puzzle pieces lying around, the cushions remaining on my couch? Yeah, it looks cleaner.

[RealLifeMama]

Definitely cleaner the days we are able to stay home!
Otherwise, we are home long enough just to make messes!
That is what we are dealing with now.
I can't stand it!!!!!

[Eowyn]

Mine's definitely cleaner when we're out. We aren't home to mess it up. :giggle

[WI Mama05]

Definitely cleaner the days we are able to stay home!
Otherwise, we are home long enough just to make messes!


:yes Yup, that's our problem. We live about 45 min from everything, so to ensure we get places we have to plan on leaving 15 min early, so that's an hour. Soooooo if I have to be somewhere at, say, 9:00, we have to leave at 8:00. We get up and the girls want to play so, honestly, I let them do whatever they want (within reason) so that I can shower/dress/get bags packed and lists together and then get them ready and in the car.

We usually run all day (errands, meetings, play dates, whatever) and end up home around 3:00-4:00 where I enter with EXTREMELY crabby kids and a van full (usually) of groceries and odds'n'ends from our trips around town. Unload car (enter bags lying on the floor), get the kids happy and start dinner (it's usally around 4:30 by now). I'm lucky to have dinner done by 5:00, when we typically eat. While the girls are eating, I *try* to put the groceries away, load/unload the dishwasher and uncover the counters. I usually get caught up in this and before I know it, it's 6:00 and time to go upstairs for bed! Bath, quiet play, jammies, books, etc. and it's suddenly 7:00. Girls in bed, pay some bills, make some phone calls and collapse.

That's how it works around here. It just builds. The last few weeks it's been CONSTANT with a lot going on. I don't want to get that busy ever again. I'm still not dug out! :no2

[RiverRock]

I just had a thought while reading this thread...the messes in my home don't necessarily come from being out all day, but from shopping. It's things like buying curtains that need to be hemmed and hung, or a new shelf unit that needs to be assembled, that clutter up my space and mind (since I'm making more work for myself). :scratch

[RealLifeMama]

Definitely cleaner the days we are able to stay home!
Otherwise, we are home long enough just to make messes!


:yes Yup, that's our problem. We live about 45 min from everything, so to ensure we get places we have to plan on leaving 15 min early, so that's an hour. Soooooo if I have to be somewhere at, say, 9:00, we have to leave at 8:00. We get up and the girls want to play so, honestly, I let them do whatever they want (within reason) so that I can shower/dress/get bags packed and lists together and then get them ready and in the car.

We usually run all day (errands, meetings, play dates, whatever) and end up home around 3:00-4:00 where I enter with EXTREMELY crabby kids and a van full (usually) of groceries and odds'n'ends from our trips around town. Unload car (enter bags lying on the floor), get the kids happy and start dinner (it's usally around 4:30 by now). I'm lucky to have dinner done by 5:00, when we typically eat. While the girls are eating, I *try* to put the groceries away, load/unload the dishwasher and uncover the counters. I usually get caught up in this and before I know it, it's 6:00 and time to go upstairs for bed! Bath, quiet play, jammies, books, etc. and it's suddenly 7:00. Girls in bed, pay some bills, make some phone calls and collapse.

That's how it works around here. It just builds. The last few weeks it's been CONSTANT with a lot going on. I don't want to get that busy ever again. I'm still not dug out! :no2


You just described my life, except we do not go to bed as early!
And we live closer to home, so we will come home, scrounge in the kitchen for something to eat between activities, and eat in a hurry, leaving the mess behind us.

No more! I am camping out at home all week next week!!!! As soon as we get through the busy weekend!

[crunchymum]

Mine's definitely cleaner when we're out. We aren't home to mess it up. :giggle

:yes here, too!

[RachamMama]

Mine's definitely cleaner when we're out. We aren't home to mess it up. :giggle

:yes here, too!




Ditto that here... :shifty