I hate housework

[JennBob]

Well,I’m one of those “freaky” moms who actually likes housework,even though the drudgery of it is discouraging a lot of the time.

It does seem a little fruitless to work so hard and then 15 minutes later,the kids have messed it up and it looks like you haven’t done a thing all day!

And don’t get me started on the cooking part. I used to really enjoy cooking and couldn’t wait to have a large family to cook for.That honeymoon was short-lived lol.

Still,all in all, I am so thankful to have a husband and a big family to cook and clean for that I don’t mind all that much. One of these days,the kids will be grown and I won’t know what to do with myself. I imagine I’ll shed a few tears while sitting in my immaculately clean house.

My advice to get you through these tough times,is to do what absolutely has to be done (with help from hubby and kids) and the rest can wait. Once I got over having to have a spotless house all the time, it didn’t seem to matter so much that toys,clothes,shoes,pencils and what-not was lying on the floor. I try not to let every single room in the house get trashed,because it becomes overwhelming then and I just shut down and don’t want to do anything at all.

“This too shall pass”.
For now,enjoy the sweet fullness of your baby in your arms. There will be time for an immaculate house when all the kids are gone. Remember the truly important things in your life and go from there.

 

[gardenswithkids]

…I am tired of cooking dinner night after night after night…I’m really starting to repeat too much and seem to have forgotten all the things I know how to cook…I keep buying hamburger helper. … any suggestions to shake out of this funk would be appreciated…

…And don’t get me started on the cooking part. I used to really enjoy cooking …

LOL. I used to love cooking too, but now . Anyway, I cook just about every night still. For whatever it’s worth, here are my suggestion on how to organize dinner plans so you don’t resort ot hamburger helper every night, while giving yet more time to play time on the computer.

1)Make out a list of family favorites, (include where the recipe is, if needed.).
2) Create a general plan of what to cook on what day of the week, (i.e. fish on Friday, roast on Sunday, soup/salad, pasta, tacos, etc on other days. Just very general ideas, nothing specific.)

I created these lists on the computer–hey you fellow forum addicts can even create a thread and post them

3)Post both lists inside a kitchen cupboard.
4)When it’s time for dinner, consult the general plan to narrow the choices and then consult the family favorite list to select the specific meal to cook. Add new recipes and change the plan as desired (ie Fall/Winter, Spring/Sumer), but keep a basic structure to guide your meal plans.

1. When you grocery shop, keep the refrigerator, freezer and pantry supplied with the ingredients to make some family favorites for at least seven days of the week, maybe more. That way, when it’s time to cook you have the ingredients
   .

So, here’s an example, I make sure we have lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, tomato sauce, chicken breast, lean ground beef, tortillas, rice and pasta always on hand. Those ingredients can be made into dinners of speaghetti with meat sauce and salad, pasta with chicken and salad, chicken or beef tacos, chicken noodle soup, chicken rice soup, etc., etc. What I make the basic food staples into depends on the day of the week, what else we already had that week, and my mood. Variety, flexibility and yet some predictability.

 

[kage_ar]

Cooking… new recipes help me.

I love the Tast of Home, Quick Cooking, Light-N-Tasty magazines - you can pick them up at almost any store. They are full of REAL recipes, not a gob of ads or things you need to be a gourmet to do.

There are some great recipe web sites, I like allrecipes.com, they have it where you can scale recipes to fit your family size.

Plan, heck, plan your meals on a two week rotation even, and then thow in a “new recipe” night every couple of weeks. Some will be do-overs, some you will never do again - it keeps things interesting.

 

[masondoggy]

And the worst part about housework is that I haven’t figured out how to do it while playing on the computer!

RAISES HAND, RAISES HAND!!!

Oh man, I hope DH doesn’t see this…

 

[colleenanne]

My husband gave me an IPod, and we have both noticed that my productivity around the house has gone through the roof.

I still can’t cook worth a darn, though.

 

[puzzleannie]

I can tell you what helped me when I was in your shoes, and actually it still works on the rare occasions I do housework (DH is a WAHG-work at home grandpa-so he does most of it).

go to work, I mean treat it like any professional undertaking. Set regular hours, get dressed properly for the work, get the proper tools and take care of them, apply effeciency and organizational methods, there is all kind of help out there. Use professional tools and products, and professional methods. In the days when I used to get laid off periodically I worked for a prof cleaning firm and learned how to clean effectively with less time and effort than most housewives did. I can still do a 5 minute bathroom, and it is still the cleanest room in the house almost all the time (I don’t have kids here, obviously).

take pride in the work and try to do at least one job a day at a time (even if it is at night) when you get to see the results and enjoy them for a few minutes before the barbarians get to work.

I don’t like housework any better than I ever did, but when I do get cracking I can really burn it up, and when I tackle dirt I know how to get rid of it not just move it around. also check out a good h/w org site on how to keep dirt out of the house–good doormates, keeping fireplaces and ductwork clean, air cleaner and good filters, leaving shoes at the door etc.

buy and prepare food that your family actually eats, in the way they like it, you will also save money. the healthiest organic produce might as well be cardboard or twinkies if nobody eats it.

 

[leonie]

Sometimes, I have little tricks to help me get through the tedium.

For example, I write a little list down

1. clean kitchen for five minutes
2. put away laundry
3. one set of exercise

Then I repeat until the kitchen is clean. Then, I start a new list for another room.

Also, if I wear a pedometer, I find that I don’t mind housework as much because I think I’m getting a work out. I try to get in extra steps while cleaning.

I also like to listen to books on cd. But, I find that while I enjoy the housework more, I pay less attention to my kids.

sigh.

A priest told me to invite the Holy Spirit to be with me with each task. “Holy Spirit, let’s mop the floor.”

And, sometimes, I pray, “I unite this work with the humble work that Jesus did during the first thirty years of his life.”

For some odd reason, I get a rush when I declutter something. So, cleaning out a shelf or drawer can pick me up.

Housework is so tedious. I get so tired of it. My husband has a physically demanding job, but he

gets paid for it.
can walk away from it at quitting time
has lots of variation
doesn’t have interruptions from kids

Just got to keep trudging on!

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

And the worst part about housework is that I haven’t figured out how to do it while playing on the computer!

You can listen to music and even watch television while doing housework. There are even books on tape/CD.

But I haven’t figured out how to “work” on the computer while doing housework. Maybe some sort of surgical wireless implant?

For decades, I have been trying to train inanimate objects to clean themselves and put themselves away. I have tried coaxing, bribing, promising them treats and better positions in closets, drawers and shelves. None of it worked. I then tried ignorring them. The ones in contact with food grew fur, but otherwise, they all just sat there, staring at me.

 

[bly]

And I’m completely bored with it. I walk through my routine thinking of ten other things, so consequently I loose things 'cause of my absentmindedness…I am tired of washing the same dishes…I am tired of cooking dinner night after night after night…I’m really starting to repeat too much and seem to have forgotten all the things I know how to cook…I keep buying hamburger helper. If I don’t wash two loads a day of clothing I get backed up…I don’t want to make my bed or run the vacuum (If I don’t run it every day it feels gross to me)

I’m going nuts. any suggestions to shake out of this funk would be appreciated…

I had the same experience before. What I did was I plugged my ipod to my ears played my favorite songs, popped up the volume, and no longer was I bored while doing the chores. It worked for me.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

And I’m completely bored with it. I walk through my routine thinking of ten other things, so consequently I loose things 'cause of my absentmindedness…I am tired of washing the same dishes…I am tired of cooking dinner night after night after night…I’m really starting to repeat too much and seem to have forgotten all the things I know how to cook…I keep buying hamburger helper. If I don’t wash two loads a day of clothing I get backed up…I don’t want to make my bed or run the vacuum (If I don’t run it every day it feels gross to me)

I’m going nuts. any suggestions to shake out of this funk would be appreciated…

Sounds like you need a vacation!

I get the same way. And I always mean to say some prayers during all that tedious stuff but I get to puffing and panting and I forget.

 

[deb1]

For some odd reason, I get a rush when I declutter something. So, cleaning out a shelf or drawer can pick me up.

Please come live with me. No matter how much clutter we throw away, we seem to accumalate more. Really, my walk in closet is very hard to walk into now.

I can’t pay you but I will make you a big batch of your favorite cookies.

 

[Belle10]

For now,enjoy the sweet fullness of your baby in your arms. There will be time for an immaculate house when all the kids are gone. Remember the truly important things in your life and go from there.

Beautifully said. That’s why I don’t care too much that my house is a wreck, because after working all day all I want to do is hold my little girl in my arms. She’s changing every day and I’m missing it while I’m at work :crying: so the mess can wait…

 

[shannyk]

Holy Catfish!
As I write this in my living room I can look on the floor at a church missal, an Easter hat (Easter was early this year ) 2 boxes to take to the post office, an empty cardboard coffee cup, a lantern from last weekend when we lost power, a pool arm floatie and a watermelon. These are just the items that do not fall under the clothes-toys-books category.
Should I pick it up? I suppose, but my 6 m/o baby girl is asleep in my arm and I cannot bear to put her down while everyone else is outside with Daddy.

If I had a 6 month old I wouldn’t even consider putting her down to clean. That’s insane. You have the perfect excuse not to clean, milk it as long as humanly possible. That’s what God invented husbands for…:yup:

 

[gardenswithkids]

Sounds like you need a vacation! …

For me, vacations mean days of packing and preparation, then coming home to all the housework that was neglected while I packed for the vacation and that didn’t get done while we were gone. Plus the piles of laundry that we created while we were on vacation need to be washed unless I do laundry while on vacation. To solve my concern of returning home to piles of laundry (and the cost and challenges of eating at restaurants with a large family with young children), my husband frequently suggests that we stay at places that have laundry and kitchen facilities :banghead:

After a family vacation, I need a vacation.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Well,I’m one of those “freaky” moms who actually likes housework,even though the drudgery of it is discouraging a lot of the time.

It does seem a little fruitless to work so hard and then 15 minutes later,the kids have messed it up and it looks like you haven’t done a thing all day!

And don’t get me started on the cooking part. I used to really enjoy cooking and couldn’t wait to have a large family to cook for.That honeymoon was short-lived lol.

Still,all in all, I am so thankful to have a husband and a big family to cook and clean for that I don’t mind all that much. One of these days,the kids will be grown and I won’t know what to do with myself. I imagine I’ll shed a few tears while sitting in my immaculately clean house.

My advice to get you through these tough times,is to do what absolutely has to be done (with help from hubby and kids) and the rest can wait. Once I got over having to have a spotless house all the time, it didn’t seem to matter so much that toys,clothes,shoes,pencils and what-not was lying on the floor. I try not to let every single room in the house get trashed,because it becomes overwhelming then and I just shut down and don’t want to do anything at all.

“This too shall pass”.
For now,enjoy the sweet fullness of your baby in your arms. There will be time for an immaculate house when all the kids are gone. Remember the truly important things in your life and go from there.

:clapping:

Well-said! A little gratitude definitely helps.

Today I couldn’t sleep so I got up at like 5 am and dusted in the dark!

 

[Magicsilence]

For decades, I have been trying to train inanimate objects to clean themselves and put themselves away. I have tried coaxing, bribing, promising them treats and better positions in closets, drawers and shelves. None of it worked. I then tried ignorring them. The ones in contact with food grew fur, but otherwise, they all just sat there, staring at me.

I loved this