Anyone really, really hate housework?

[Lori]

I have tried valiantly to derive some sort of satisfaction or enjoyment out of housework. I really have. I've tried schedules, routines, gadgets, you name it, but I've decided I need to accept the fact that I just hate housework. I mean no disrespect or disparagement to people who enjoy housework, or find it fulfilling or at least satisfying, but I'm not one of them.

It's not that I can't understand there being a satisfaction in doing things that are not fun. I hate grading, but because it's part of teaching, which I enjoy, when I do it I do find it somewhat gratifying. I've decided that's because once I hand back a stack of papers, I have at least 2-3 weeks before I have to grade another one. My house, on the other hand, has to be cleaned constantly. Even if I were to take a clean house as the pay-off to housework, which I suppose it is but I'm not particularly affected by it either way, if I'm lucky, my house will stay clean for 12 hours after a cleaning. Then I just have to clean all the same crap I cleaned the day before. I would be like having to grade the same stack of awful papers every single day. And at least with my job I get the weekends off. If I take the weekend off from cleaning, my house looks like a tornado rolled through it. At least I know I'll get to retire from my job one day. It struck me a couple of months ago that, for the rest of my life, at least until the time when I end up in a nursing home, I'm going to have to clean every single day. There is no time off.

So I've decided I'm not going to try to convince myself it's fun or fulfilling or satisfying anymore, because I honestly don't think it is. It's drudgery, like changing diapers. You don't want to do it, but you just do because you have to. I've decided the best plan for me is just to try to figure out how to make housework as quick and easy as possible, and to hold out hope for housecleaning robots.

[Sam]

I hate it so I do the bare minimum. As long as it is safe and hygienic we are all good. I don't spend much time doing it either. I just wash the dishes after use,pick up when things are on the floor etc etc I never spend a long amount of time on it. It is messy at times,but not a disaster. I think it looks good for having 4 kids,2 adults,4 cats,and reptiles when I hardly spend any time on it LOL

[Brooke]

I have tried valiantly to derive some sort of satisfaction or enjoyment out of housework. I really have. I've tried schedules, routines, gadgets, you name it, but I've decided I need to accept the fact that I just hate housework. I mean no disrespect or disparagement to people who enjoy housework, or find it fulfilling or at least satisfying, but I'm not one of them.

It's not that I can't understand there being a satisfaction in doing things that are not fun. I hate grading, but because it's part of teaching, which I enjoy, when I do it I do find it somewhat gratifying. I've decided that's because once I hand back a stack of papers, I have at least 2-3 weeks before I have to grade another one. My house, on the other hand, has to be cleaned constantly. Even if I were to take a clean house as the pay-off to housework, which I suppose it is but I'm not particularly affected by it either way, if I'm lucky, my house will stay clean for 12 hours after a cleaning. Then I just have to clean all the same crap I cleaned the day before. I would be like having to grade the same stack of awful papers every single day. And at least with my job I get the weekends off. If I take the weekend off from cleaning, my house looks like a tornado rolled through it. At least I know I'll get to retire from my job one day. It struck me a couple of months ago that, for the rest of my life, at least until the time when I end up in a nursing home, I'm going to have to clean every single day. There is no time off.

So I've decided I'm not going to try to convince myself it's fun or fulfilling or satisfying anymore, because I honestly don't think it is. It's drudgery, like changing diapers. You don't want to do it, but you just do because you have to. I've decided the best plan for me is just to try to figure out how to make housework as quick and easy as possible, and to hold out hope for housecleaning robots.

THat is SO me. I hate cleaning. I truly do. It's one of the things I absolutely hate doing. It sucks. Last night, when I left to go out and came home, my house was clean. Right now? You couldn't tell that it was cleaned yesterday. I hate cleaning the same crap over and over. I hate having a 5 year old that refuses to clean. So to get him to clean even a little bit is like pulling teeth. At least I know I have to do it, so I'll suck it up and do it. Getting him to be responsible for himself and his toys (the 500 pieces of Legos that get strewn on the floor every day, for instance) sucks.

Let me know when the housecleaning robots come out. I need a few. ;)

[Heather]

Meeee me! I know I'm annoying, but can I join the "I can't stand housework" club? Pleeease? I need to be accepted somewhere!

Ok.. now to be serious.. yes, I totally know what you're talking about. And I'm with Brooke in the sense that I just can't stand having to do the same stuff over and over and over again! I like to think it wouldn't be AS bad, if the rest of the people in this house would just pick up after themselves, instead of seeming to make messes on purpose just because they don't think that I don't already have Enough to do!

Example.. you'll love this one! DH has a fetish for pulling crap out of the garage, the van, the backyard.. you name it. He gets in moods where he thinks he's going to do all of this great organizing.. yet it Never, ever happens. So! I'll get sick to death of going out front of our house and seeing stuff sitting around and will comment on him putting it all away. Of course, this will go on for days and I'm incredibly anal about how the outside of our house looks. Backyard? I don't give a damn.. no one see's it. But for our neighbors' sake I like to at least keep the outside front cleaned up.. know what I'm saying? So dh, when I tend to gripe about this very thing, will eventually get annoyed enough to say "if you don't like it, clean it yourself"(he can be a jackass as some of you have witnessed in the past.. he's rather close minded these days). So! What do I do? Say f*** him and I clean up MY yard and MY driveway. And what do you think he does within DAYS of me cleaning up????? Yep.. pulls aaaaaall that stuff out again. And then he'll talk about how he had intentions of organizing and sorting and throwing out..... yet he never gets past the first part of pulling everything out and making an enormous mess in our driveway. And then LEAVES it there. Uh-uh. LOL I played the game and we went a few rounds with this but this past week I put my foot down and we had a bit of a .. umm.. Loud discussion regarding it lol. I told him it feels like he's just determined to make more and more messes for me to clean. How dare he do that? I told him he has no right to do that. If he's going to clean out.. fine.. but DO IT! Don't leave crap sitting around outside and then tell me if I don't like it that I have to clean your bs mess. That's not how Heather rolls and I won't be degraded like that.

Hm.. that was a bit off topic now, wasn't it. Shoot me lol.. I needed to get that one out for awhile LOL
Back to the original question though.. yeah.. I really, really can't stand housework.

[Christine]

I'm right there with you guys!!

I was just crying inside today over it. We spent all day out of the house and when we got home, I was the one running around trying to make the house look decent. Not cleaning, really - just picking it up. I don't want to look at tomorrow's chores while I'm trying to relax tonight, you know? I'm exhausted, we're all exhausted. But every one of them is sitting in front of the TV enjoying a show together. *sigh*

Like you all said - if I could get SOME satisfaction out of it staying clean, that would be different. Or if I had SOME help getting it clean, I could handle the messes. But every time I see a mess, I know full well the only person cleaning it is ME!! My girls help out some, but how much can they really do, you know?

Heather - reading your rant, all I could think was "garbage bags". Next time he pulls that crap on you, bag it ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL up and tell him he has one day and you're taking it to the dump. Would that work? ;)

[SabrinaJL]

It sucks muchly. I HATE cleaning, but there are some things that are worse than others. Mopping and laundry being the worst.

[Lori]

This makes me feel better. Sean always makes me feel like I'm the only person in the world who hates housework, because he thinks it's "not that bad." Well, yeah. If I cleaned a few times a month, I might think it wasn't that bad, either, because the whole reason it's so unpleasant is that it has to be done every single day. :shakehead

[Christine]

I've tried to put it into perspective for Dave.

"Imagine you work all day putting up a new wall. You frame it in, put up the drywall, mud the seams, etc. Then the next day you come back and you start from scratch, doing it all over again. Imagine that every single project you do, you have to repeat over and over again - with no help and no end in sight. Wonder how long it would take before it would get to you?"

[Brooke]

I've tried to put it into perspective for Dave.

"Imagine you work all day putting up a new wall. You frame it in, put up the drywall, mud the seams, etc. Then the next day you come back and you start from scratch, doing it all over again. Imagine that every single project you do, you have to repeat over and over again - with no help and no end in sight. Wonder how long it would take before it would get to you?"

That is a GREAT way to put it Christine.

[wendygrace]

I can't stand it either. Dh and I sent the kids off to my mother's to get the downstairs cleaned up for company tomorrow. I'm dreading tomorrow because I know it won't stay this clean until the company comes. I'm just going to have to do most of it again (pick up toys, clean dishes, wipe tables, etc). At least the place is vacuumed and the floor was washed.

Besides, I also have to focus on the upstairs because my MIL is coming over this weekend. I hate cleaning.

One thing though. We have noticed that when the house is clean, we get along better. We feel better. I'm more organized internally so I suppose that would be something. Nah, I still hate cleaning.

[Mary]

I am right there with you, Lori! I love having my house clean but I hate doing the work to get it looking that way. When I do manage to force myself to do it I'm thrilled with the end result but I don't feel any special sense of satisfaction for having done it. It's more like I'm happy it's clean but irritated that I had to waste part of my life making it so. LOL This is why we are getting a cleaning lady. I know lots of people say, "Why would I pay someone to do something I can do myself?" but I don't see it that way. My attitude is, if I can afford it why would I spend time doing something I hate if someone else is willing to do it for me? ;)

[malcontent]

I hate housework, but I hate having a messy house even more. I have some new people coming by to clean today. It's worth it to me to pay for a little extra help at this point. I just can't keep up with the toddler whirlwind otherwise.

[Kate]

I can definitely think of, oh...at least a million other things I would rather do, and to be honest, I think one of those things would be watching paint dry. So from that, I guess it's fair to say that I hate housework too.

[Kami]

I am right there with you Lori! I despise cleaning the house! I can spend all day cleaning and within 5 minutes of the kids being home, it looks as if we never clean our house! We have been having lots of nights of me nagging at the kids to help clean up or atleast take their bag & shoes to their rooms. It usually results in me just doing it myself and stomping around the house mad!

[Amy J]

I don't enjoy it, like most people but if I have to get it done, I will do it. That reminds me, I need to vaccum the basement and clean the bathroom!

[Desirae]

Add me to the list! I was all but in tears yesterday strainghtening up after everyone.:sigh

[Heather]

LOL Mary.. by the time I can afford to pay someone to come clean up after my darling family, they'll all be out of the house and I won't need to bother hiring anyone lol.

Christine.. it's nice in theory, but if I were to do something like that today, after he's been working non-stop this past week, it wouldn't really be fair to him (he's decided to sign up for tons of OT to help our financial situation) because he's going to be dog tired when he gets home tonight. At least I can rest assured that he's not going to be pulling stuff out anytime soon with the amount he's going to be working.
But in the future.. yes, I will be using that plan for sure lol.

[Val]

Ummm yeah! In my house it's a one person job that is entirely thankless and seemingly pointless. the best I seem to be able to do lately is maintain ONE stinking room- if I try to increase it to 2 rooms, then the first room goes to he!! It's tedious and boring, not to mention the fact that it's never just DONE for more than a minute. The clutter factor in this house is also out of control, which makes an already annoying job next to impossible- but unless my husband suddenly gives up his pack rat ways or we win the lottery and can afford a bigger place, I'll just have to deal with it.

[Erika]

I utterly despise housework. I now use the excuse of a clingy baby to get out of doing it :lmao James is pretty good at taking care of the kitchen because that is the one place I hate beyond all having to clean.

The only bit of housework I don't mind is laundry.

And Christine, that is probably the best analogy I've heard yet!