Is your house clean?

[Mike01075]

My wife and I always seem to have.....oh how do I say it.......a "debate" on what is a clean house?

What do you consider a clean house?

Is your house clean?

Is there any biblical references to keeping a clean house?

Any exceptions to the rule if you have three kids that are 4 years old and under? :

 

[Ana'riel]

Well me and Chris both work, so we're tired during the week. We keep the place picked up during the week and usually saturday we'll vacuum and clean the bathroom and stuff. It seems like our apartment is clean most of the time : and no one complains.

:Fade-color 3 small kids= messy house :Fade-color

 

[God's Child]

The men in my family are so messy!! They won't pick anything up. My mom and I always like everything to be clean and picked up though. It gets annoying.

Nikki: Your kids have to start school already?!! We don't start until September 3. It's always 1 or 2 days after labor Day. We get out about June 20th though. I wouldn't want to go to school in August. It's way to hot.

 

[Mike01075]

I guess it's the clutter that gets my goat. I like things organized and the wife doesn't mind leaving things piled up for days. :evil: Drives me nuts some times, but with the three kids on the rampage all day long, I can't expect much more than what we have.

I would also like to note (before someone assumes my wife does all the work) I help in any and all house tasks. From vacuming, dishes, laundry, scrub the bathtub, making beds, ect. I do not believe it's my primary role, but it's our (wife and I) responsibility and if it takes two........well it takes two.

 

[Ana'riel]

I guess it's the clutter that gets my goat. I like things organized and the wife doesn't mind leaving things piled up for days.

Ok, well why not just pick up the clutter then? You said you help so why not just focus on doing what's gonna make you feel more comfortable, instead of always doing the other stuff. It's like this: if she doesn't care but you do, you're going to end up being the one who has to do it, unless you want it left piled for days. : When me a Chris clean, like I said, we mostly just pick up during the week (I don't like clutter either lol) and deep clean (or attempt it anyway) some weekends. Like Nik I don't like grossness, as long as theres not dried up goop on everything and the house doesn't stink though I'm allright.

God's Child, when Chris was acting like he didn't want to do any housework I decided not to do any either until it got unbearable for Chris and he got up and cleaned the kitchen. Of course as soon as he did I started helping, but sometimes they have to see they're taking you for granted. I think ya'll should try it :

 

[Jack Lewis]

Something I've concluded is that when you have little children you have the option of having a cluttered home, or a stressed showcase. In order to keep the house looking nice you'd be spending 90% of your time griping at everybody to put it up, leave it alone, stop touching it, don't set that there, get your feet off that, use a coaster, clean that up, don't eat in here, watch out that's dripping, wipe your feet, make your bed, don't sit there, go make your bed again it's not done right, clean this room, put that in the hamper, quit leaving this out, just stay in there till it's clean, take your plate to the sink, and last but certainly not least -- clean this mess up right this minute!

A home has harmony. Being a complete mess will certain interfere with that harmony, but so will constantly griping. There's a balance. The balance isn't folloiwing your kids around and doing everything for them, because then they'd never learn to take care of themselves. The balance comes in delegating enough chores so that they will have a part in establishing the harmony. The trouble is, with kids, as with all people, the boundaries are constantly checked, which means there will always be some friction, but there will always almost always be some (usually more than just some) mess.

Some families grow accustome to the mess and choose it over the constention. Some families choose the friction over the clutter. Personally I would prefer a peaceful mess than a contentious museum any day of the week. My wife on the other hand gets frustrated at almost any mess, and can send the rest of us quickly scurrying for that corner of the rooftop. Slowly we are approaching a happy medium. She has learned to tolerate some clutter, and I have worked with the kids to make sure as much gets done as possible, so that I am the one dealing out the friction. It's not a percet solution, because they kids like to see what they can get away with. I'd prefer they learn to simply do what's expected of them, but they seem to think dragging their feet is preferable to getting it over with.

One thing to my advantage is that when I walk, I make absolutely no sound whatsoever. They never hear me coming. That keeps them on their toes, some, but they are risk takers, and will goof off if they think they can get away with it.

They are just beginning to learn the frustration of cleaning a room, only to find it a mess half an hour later. They've learned the frustration and I'm waiting for them to apply the lesson it to their own mess making potential, which they have yet to do.

In the end, I've been able to convince my wife that there's more to a home than clean floors and neat beds. There's love, and joy, and happiness, and belonging, and griping about a mess can be as offensive and disharmonious as the mess itself.

 

[Intoxicated by Life]

The area around my desk is covered in carbage, candy wrapers, sticky notes, articles of clothing, dishes, etc.

The rest of my house is immaculatly clean, excpet for the bed which is never made.

What does this tell you about me?

 

[Ana'riel]

LOL I will never make a bed and I will tell the kids they'e grounded if they do it! : Just playing around about the grounding stuff, but I've never understood why make a bed you're just going to get back into that night I refuse to do it! *laugh*

 

[lakesider]

The one question I always ask is "how/why do we have so much STUFF?"...I could get rid of 90% of the souvenirs, knick-knacks, photos, etc. in our house and get through life just fine. The more things you have, the more that can get messy. It takes an hour just to dust an entertainment center because of all the stuffed animals, photos, etc. Unreal. If it doesn't get used but once a year, get rid of it. I hate clutter.

 

[Nikki]

Ooohhhh...bed making is my weakness! If someone is coming over, then I make them. Other than that, I'll usually leave them alone or just throw the comforter over the sheets.

God's Child,

Yep. School started here August 11th and the last day of school is May 21st (unless there are a lot of snow days to be made up). Do you go to year round schools? They're making a lot of schools here year round. I thought it was dumb, but after looking at the year round calendar, it's not much of a difference. Just starting earlier and getting out later. But they have a lot longer and a lot more breaks thoughout the year.

 

[God's Child]

Where I live we start school at the beginning of September and end around June 20th. We get up to 4 snow days(?). Our Christmas and Easter break is 10 or 11 days long. and we get various other days off for teacher conferences and other holidays.

 

[baylok]

My house is a mess. Mess. Mess. Mess. My excuse is work. I am out of town from early Sunday evening to early evening on Friday. I have stacks of mail that need going over, a pile of unread (but wanting to read) magazines, and a bit of clutter. The problem is that on Saturday (the only full day I am home), I am more motivated to spend time with family and friends than to pick up clutter, so the clutter seems to grow a bit more from week to week.

In a few weeks, though, I will be sidelined for a while, so I am hoping to get things cleaned up then.

 

[HeatherJay]

Hi guys I have 2 small girls (also 2 cats and a messy husband) and I've found a website that has helped me organize my house and life.

http://www.flylady.net

It's wonderful and it makes getting organized SO SIMPLE! You'll be shocked, really, how the clutter just disappears. Hope this helps

Love, Heather

 

[HeatherJay]

Yes, it's wonderful. I wish I'd known about her years ago

Love, Heather

 

[Heidi Mighty Mo]

I will say that I DO disenfect though. I use Pine-sol all the time. My house mainly has a lot of clutter from the kids and dogs dragging toys out.

With kids, there will almost ALWAYS be stuff out of place. I think a house should be clean in the manner that there's not gross stuff in the sinks or yucky toilets....stuff like that. For instance, I can't STAND to go to someone's house and wash my hands in a sink with built up toothpaste all over the faucet and stuff! I guess that's my pet peeve.

I agree on all the above there. I like having a clean house and can't stand dirty sinks, tubs, toilets, etc... Though with kids around, there is never an end to the clutter. They get it picked up (sometimes after a good spanking and other times after being asked only once - that last one is always nice) but in a few minutes - there is another mess of some sort.

One thing that was told me that I found comforting is that "...an immaculate house means no one 'lives' there". Clean and immaculate are two different things and there needs to be a balance. Should haveing a spotless house be more important than people feeling comfortable in our homes or spending quality time with your kids - NO!

We also, however, need to teach ourselves and our children responsibility with what we own. I doubt God expects us to be immaculate at all times, but I believe we also need to show appreciation for His blessings to us by taking care of them properly.

 

[Mike01075]

Well, we had a major breakthrough last night in the monthly battle of clean vs. dirty.

I had talked about the days when my wife would go to work "on time" and be responsible for her job. She replied with enthusiasm, "I loved it there. I had responsibilites, I loved to help the customers and get them what they needed, and I liked getting paid, and I liked the recognition from others, and I liked being part of a coorporate goal. I wanted to do it.

Then I worded things a little different.....I said, "What if you had your supervisor look at the responsibilities and efforts of what you are accountable for now, what would they say?" She pasued for about 15 seconds....with tears in her eyes, she said with a crakeling voice...."......you're fired.." and sobbed.

So I tried to compare her joys of old to the joys of new. Be thankful we have customers (children) to take care of, be accountable for her responsibilities and the necessity for her timeliness, be aware of the coorporate goal here is to raise children up to glorify God, that her glory is no longer hers but to the Lord our God for her service in bringing these children up in the way of the Lord, and that her workload never ended there and will never end here. But it's not how much you do, it's how hard you try.

Another big point I found, is how reliant my wife is for daily praise, recognition, and support from me and I'll never forget it.

God Bless to you all for praying for me and my wife through this struggle.

Mikey