House work

Saram

Saram

Regular Poster
MBTI
INFJ
Enneagram
9/4
How do you feel about house work? It seems I'm not a natural.
 
I hated it until I found a strange type of peace in the monotony. Especially with laundry, its therapeutic. I just quiet my mind and think about positive things while I do it. But doing other people's housework still seems so much easier and rewarding, doesn't it?
 
My mom calls it her scullery maid duties and I feel the same way most of the time.
 
I hate housework and let me tell you the Caribbean's dusty! It's a daily struggle. I am tempted to never open the doors or windows. I've all ready banned rugs, carpets, ornamentals, carved surfaces and I'm seriously thinking of banning people. I like laundry but I despise ironing. However, on occasion if I'm very stressed, I will engage in a housecleaning marathon. Like [MENTION=3900]Chamomile[/MENTION] says it's strangely calming. Anyway, I operate on the premise that if you have less then you'll have less to do. Plus a clean house makes up for the intense boredom of house chores. I'm also thinking of banning the lawn but the alternatives look like just as much work. :(
 
I had someone I shared an office with and when she was upset she cleaned. I mean she pulled everything out, mopped, dusted, walls--it made the office look great. However, it is impossible to just sit and let someone clean around you--so I would end up cleaning myself. Our boss came in during one of these sessions and asked us what was going on--I said "Margaret is upset so we are cleaning". Group cleaning is funner no matter what. Doing it solo just sucks.
 
I dislike housework too, but do it because I have to. Keeping up on it regularly is a necessity as I am a single mother working full time and too broke to hire a maid.

Doing it myself is often easier than arguing with my kids to help me out. They have their set chores, but obviously I have more to do, more often.

I also find that it gives me time to mentally unwind. I usually end up being creative with it. (I get rather OCD with the dishes, and itemize the dishes, glasses and cutlery in order of importance by which one I feel is less offensive than the others. The less offensive items get washed last, with fresh dishwater because they are special).
 
I don't mind most chores. I hate doing the dishes if they've been piling up for days and there is slimy bits of food floating around in luke warm stinky water at the bottom of the sink. So disgusting. I would seriously rather scrub the toilet. I also hate folding clothes. UGH. Clean pile, dirty pile. Good enough for me.
 
There is no way around since I do most of the cleaning...I can't go to sleep with a dirty house or I will think about it and stay awake half the night. It is pretty theraputic and I clean well especially when pissed off but I think I would rather wipe someone's ass than do laundry.
 
I am horrible about housework. I usually come home from work and do what I absolutely have to, like the dishes and laundry, but the rest like vacuuming, mopping, cleaning the bathroom, etc. usually waits until the weekend. I dust only when I absolutely have to. We (me, 3 kids, a dog and a cat) live in such a small house that clutter is completely unavoidable and it kind of gets on my nerves, but there is nothing I can really do about it, besides make it slightly more organized clutter. It's never filthy though...nothing disgusts me more than a filthy house (I remember going to a former friend's house and it was gross. Cat crap everywhere, a pile of used kleenex, garbage all over, everything smelled like cat urine. Just sick.)...but mine will never look like a house from Better Homes and Gardens, no matter how hard I try. Susie Homemaker, I am not.
 
Sonyab said:
I had someone I shared an office with and when she was upset she cleaned. I mean she pulled everything out, mopped, dusted, walls--it made the office look great. However, it is impossible to just sit and let someone clean around you--so I would end up cleaning myself. Our boss came in during one of these sessions and asked us what was going on--I said "Margaret is upset so we are cleaning". Group cleaning is funner no matter what. Doing it solo just sucks.
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This is why I hate clean freaks. I end up guilt cleaning.

I hate cleaning. I hate housework. I feel like its one part of reality I could do without.
 
I suck at it. I'm too OCD, and get stuck trying to make it perfect. And when it isn't I just give up. And with 2 kids, 2 cats, a slobbery dog, a guinea pig, my magazine standards just don't mesh. Plus i am naturally messy, a total conumdrum.
 
Blind Bandit said:
This is why I hate clean freaks. I end up guilt cleaning.

I hate cleaning. I hate housework. I feel like its one part of reality I could do without.
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Maybe she wasn't a clean freak. I do a similar thing when I'm very upset and I'm not a clean freak nor am I a slob. Mental noise and clutter, at the same time, are just too much for me to handle sometimes. My whole body gets tense and I feel like I'm going to lose it. The repetitive nature of chores silences that mental noise and the cleaned room physically relaxes me. She probably doesn't care if anyone helps or not. The motivation is to regain some sort of control when you feel out of control. On another day that same clutter wouldn't have the same effect on me.

I don't like clean freaks. I think a house should be tidy but not to the point of making your guests uncomfortable.
 
I put it off for a while and then go overload. Like, I'm gonna take baby wipes to my dorm floor in a bit.
 
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enigma said:
I suck at it. I'm too OCD, and get stuck trying to make it perfect. And when it isn't I just give up. And with 2 kids, 2 cats, a slobbery dog, a guinea pig, my magazine standards just don't mesh. Plus i am naturally messy, a total conumdrum.
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Seconded I'm a slob yet I'm also OCD. It must be a common INFJ trait.
 
In general I dislike housework. But I do like having a clean house. So, I must do housework.
 
Blind Bandit said:
Seconded I'm a slob yet I'm also OCD. It must be a common INFJ trait.
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LOL...I just try to not let anything get messy.
I'm also of the opinion--why bother doing it
if I'm only going to do a half-assed job?

I really like a clean house, though, and cleaned to me
also means organized a certain way.

My kids even laugh at how I shovel snow...
the edges of the driveway and sidewalks have to be even.
If they're not, I'm not satisfied with my work. LOL
 
dream echo said:
LOL...I just try to not let anything get messy.
I'm also of the opinion--why bother doing it
if I'm only going to do a half-assed job?

I really like a clean house, though, and cleaned to me
also means organized a certain way.

My kids even laugh at how I shovel snow...
the edges of the driveway and sidewalks have to be even.
If they're not, I'm not satisfied with my work. LOL
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I can relate. I get really annoyed when i go into a cabinet and something isn't put away exactly right. There are some things i'm really relaxed about but there are certain things I'm so anal about. One is my kitchen. Everything in it's right place.

I often "correct" things. If someone did a chore "wrong" lol.
I've tried to get more relaxed about that stuff but it's hard.
I'm really good at organizing things ....and when others can't figure out how my organizational systems work it's sooo frustrating.
 
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I find cleaning therapeutic with the exceptions of laundry and unloading the dishwasher. My lower back also starts to hurt from washing dishes, and vacuuming for long periods, but the reward is well worth the pain. Just don't ask me how I feel the next day. :p When I clean, I like to REALLY clean.
 
I'm really messy but I also like to clean. I guess I like to clean other people's stuff more than I care about cleaning my own.
 
Elowen said:
I'm really messy but I also like to clean. I guess I like to clean other people's stuff more than I care about cleaning my own.
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Same here my space always gets taken care of last. As I worry about the main parts of the house that everyone uses. Dishes for example.
 
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