Is housekeeping the Achilles heel of working mothers?

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  Posted by rockin' mom Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:57pm PDT

  yes yes yes yes yes!!!! I HATE housework, but I love a clean house...guess I'm just screwed on that one! Have a great day!

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  Posted by CharliD Tue Sep 16, 2008 7:13am PDT

  Lylah,

  You have channeled me! The only difference is 4 kids & we have cats instead of the dog. Maybe there should be something to say for guys that actually know how to pick up a cleaning utinsil & use it!

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  Posted by Caramel Cake Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:18am PDT

  Amen sister! I have been feeling like this for months now. I have felt that somehow I failed. I rush in the morning to get to work, never having time to double check everything, and leaving my son to catch the bus wiht his step father. I can see the look in his eyes like mom don't leave, and every morning he chases me out the door and I have to rush and kiss him goodbye then hop in the van and be on my way. I have a daughter that was sick this morning that I had to give her some medicine and pushe her out the door, my 8 month old is trapped in the whirlwind too. He is constantly searching for me as I am busily trying to be on time and get everything done. I clean and flod clothes a few days a week, sweep, take out the trash, well my fiance does that. I just feel like that I don't take enough time to spend with my kids because we are always rushing to work or school. I have five kids too, and it can get really hard sometimes trying to be supermom. I promise you, when I got done dropping everyone off, I started singing Alicia Keys' song 'Superwoman', because I can get everyone ready and to school and work on time in a single bound!

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  Posted by Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:48am PDT

  Welcome to every good wife/ working mom in America that can't afford a maid. I will pass on something to you that my mother always says to me. "It's better to be remembered as a great mom than a great housekeeper". She is right, as long as you keep doing for your kids and family in general, it won't matter how much dog hair rolls by and gets stuck in the corners.

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  Posted by Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:56am PDT

  With all the demands of everyone in your life: bosses, husbands, children, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, neighbors, teachers, pets etc. it's easy to see why we all tend to slack a bit on the household chores, for one simple fact: it can't talk. You see, with your kids crying, your boss pestering, your husband questioning, your mother nagging and your dog barking, its hard to ignore them. Now, if your floors were screaming "Clean me!", the dirty laundry was yelling "Wash Me!", the plants were saying "I'm so thirsty!", things might be different. A working mother may have to walk around all day with ear plugs in!

  So I think yes, house work is the working mother's Achilles heel.

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  Posted by Dory Devlin, Shine staff Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:26pm PDT

  Lylah, I know just what you're saying. My kids are older, so I want them to help more around the house. My husband has always shared in the laundry, kitchen cleaning, recycling, food shopping, etc, responsibilities. We're all so busy now that the house falls into disarray pretty quickly. And yet...when my husband starts an organizing or cleaning project around the house, my first reaction is to feel bad I didn't get to it first. Why is that? I will say I am reacting less strongly to his initiative these days because I am so happy when anyone jumps in to tackle some housework!

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  Posted by Jess Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:51am PDT

  I know how you feel! It is just me, my husband and 2 cats and I can't keep the house clean! I feel horrible that counters are scrubbed and the baseboards are dirty. But there is only so much I can do. I just hope that when we do have kids I have some sort of handle on it.

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  Posted by Andrea B Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:53am PDT

  I hate cleaning. Let me tell you all something. Having a service come in once every 2 weeks can make all the difference in the world. For a two story 4 bedroom house, I pay $65 every time they come.

  Come on ladies, what can you give up that will net $130 a month? I gave up two eating out nights. Maybe streching out the time between haircuts? Buying shoes at payless instead of the mall? I can find $130 in ANY budget, I swear. It's worth it! It's worth it! It's worth it!!!!!

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  Posted by MistressMinx Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:16am PDT

  I don't worry about it. So long as the kitchen counters are wiped down, the bathrooms are clean and there isn't an inch of cat/dog hair on the carpet, I'm good. Once the kids are grown and out of the house, then I can worry about keeping it clean. Until then, whatever.

  And, I have let my subscriptions lapse for magazines and papers I don't have time to read. That solves a lot of clutter issues. Also, I try to open the mail right away, put the bills where they belong and the extra envelopes and stuff into the trash immediately.

  And Andrea B - if I could find $130 in my budget, I certainly wouldn't spend it on a cleaning service. I'm a single mom. We don't ever eat out two nights a week nor do I buy my shoes at the mall. Even $65 is more than what I could find in my budget.

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  Posted by Andrea B Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:01am PDT

  Minx, I am sorry. After I typed it, I realized that it would come out wrong. Sometimes it just isn't there. At one time I was always complaining about keeping the house clean, and my marriage suffered, and my kids were tired of getting yelled at. That was my solution, even though we had to cut out some things. And it was cutting out 2 eating out nights a month, not a week. I cut corners wherever I can, the cleaning service is my one luxury.

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