Monday, January 26, 2009

A Dish A Day




I have a confession to make: I’m not the world’s best housekeeper. Shhh… don’t tell anyone. :)

Whenever life gets hectic, cleaning is one of the first things to get shoved off the priority list, right after exercise. So you can imagine what my house looks like after 3 wild and crazy weeks (not to mention my waistline). And I’ve had no company to speak of since New Year’s, which is usually how I force myself to get the house into shape. Not to mention that I’ve now had to start doing Drama Queen’s chores again too, just when I finally had her trained in a few things. FYI: I really hate unloading the dishwasher again.

There are a few constants I continue to do, even while the rest of the house goes to pot. 1. Laundry—because I can usually do this while I’m doing something else. It doesn’t require my full concentration. 2. Vacuuming—I’m really funny about the carpet. It drives me crazy for it to be dirty, and it gets dirty a lot when you have 2 kids. 3. Dishes—I hate doing dishes, but here there is no choice. Eventually the kitchen counters can no longer be seen and/or you run out of dishes to eat with. Usually spoons or glasses are the first to disappear around here.

So I spent yesterday attempting to disseminate the dirty dish population around here, but even after running the dishwasher, it took me several hours to finish. There was lots of soaking involved, besides the fact that I can think of many more fun things than standing at the sink all day. And it wasn’t like I hadn’t washed dishes 2 days before. (Yes, I know I should do them every day, but that just ain’t happenin’.)

So, what’s your most hated household chore? What's the one thing you accomplish, no matter how hectic life may be? Make this horrible housekeeper feel a little better about herself.

I have to give a quick shout out to my hubby, who was wonderful enough to keep the kids occupied for several hours over the weekend while I worked in the office. Thanks, baby!

Angel

13 comments:

Playground Monitor said...

Bon bini from not-so-sunny-right-now Curacao. It's 7:40 AM here and we're having the usual morning rain shower. The sun will come out in a bit and it'll be about 85 degrees.

Dusting. I hate to dust, and sadly I have a lot of wood furniture. As long as no one runs a finger through the dust, you can't tell just how dusty it is. But inevitably the DH or I will touch something and it becomes quite apparent I haven't dusted for a while. Plus, we have several TVs and computers and they are just dust magnets.

I do try to keep the kitchen and bathrooms clean because I read somewhere if those are clean, folks will overlook other stuff. I also run a dust mop or Swiffer over the hardwood and tile floors once a day. With just the two of us, the carpets don't get too bad.

Adios for now. Not sure when I'll get to check back in. The DH brought his laptop and the resort has free wifi in the rec room, but he's put me on internet restriction since it's vacation.

Problem Child said...

Rub it in, PM...

I hate to dust, too, but cleaning bathrooms is probably my least fave. Goodness, they get dirty...

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

I don't mind cleaning bathrooms. I hate dishes and laundry only because it seems like the chore than never ends.

I do hate to dust, though. Even with those Swifer wands. My old furniture was light and it didn't look too bad if I was lazy. I shouldn't have bought dark wood furniture for the new house. It shows everything.

I also hate to make the bed. I don't know why.

Linda Winstead Jones said...

Ironing. Not that I love any kind of housework, but ironing is the worst.

Housework is never high on my list of priorities, but wen I get to the point where I'm having nightmares that people stop by and the house is a mess, I know it's time to dedicate a day to getting the place in shape.

Katherine Bone said...

Oh! I hate to mop, but I love a clean floor. Which means sadly my floors are never clean. (sigh)

I also hate to iron. Ironing is like taking fingernails down a chalkboard for me. Blech! Thankfully, the DH doesn't mind, or if does he keeps mum while ironing his own shirts every morning.

I can handle bathrooms and laundry. Dusting isn't one of my favorite things to do, but I'll dust before I'll mop or iron. ;)

Christine said...

Bathrooms--hate cleaning them but they must be cleaned on a regular basis. If I didn't pay myself once a month for cleaning this house, I'd farm it out to someone.

I hate laundry--it's also one of those chores that must be done and never ends. The only good thing about it is I can do a load and write as soon as the washer is on.

Dusting is low on my priority list. Not that I hate doing it, but it's so time consuming.

Basically, I don't like housework. It is the bane of my existence, but I've learned that having a maid service doesn't rid me of the day to day chores, and the service doesn't do a good job or keep up the good work and they break stuff. So, I do it myself.

At least I am paying myself to do it. I tell myself that every time I clean the toilets.

Kira Sinclair - AKA Instigator said...

I HATE ironing. I mean, I own an iron and board but...I don't think they've been out of the closet in years. I have discovered a short cut...throwing whatever it is into the drier with a wet towel. 20 minutes later what it is is wrinkle free enough for me to wear it ;-D

Bathrooms aren't my favorite either...or scrubbing yucky pots and pans.

We miss you, PM!

Instigator - who must say THANK YOU to Zilla for hiring a maid (who is FABULOUS by the way!) :-)

Anonymous said...

Dusting or cleaning bathrooms, no thank you!!! I will take ironing any day, I can turn the tv on & watch it while ironing. And washing dishes, I ususally let them soak for about 30 minutes, turn my kitchen counter tv on and go to town.
robertsonreads

mslizalou said...

I hate cleaning the kitchen and the bathroom, but I can't stand for them to be dirty, so they get cleaned more than any other room. I do all of my laundry on the weekend, and normally nap or read between loads. Dusting only happens after I've had allergy shots as I'm highly allergic to dust(doesn't seem to bother me as much if it's just sitting on the furniture, at least allergy wise). I also tend to vacuum when I do laundry. My biggest problem is I tend to let clutter build up in my living room next to my sofa. I normally get it all cleaned up on the weekend just to re-clutter during the week.

BTW, I never make my bed, unless my nieces are in for a visit. I'm just getting right back in at night, so I don't do it.

Sherry Werth said...

I hate housework in general too but dirty dishes are at the top of the list. I think they reproduce in the sink! And of course you can see my kitchen when you walk in the front door. And why is it when things are nice and tidy no one shows up?? But just let it be messy with a sink full of dirty dishes and everybody stops by!

Lynn Raye Harris said...

I'm not into housework of any kind. But I do keep the dishes done because I *feel* like the house is cleaner if they aren't cluttering the sink. Like PM, I read that if the kitchen and bathrooms are done, most people overlook the more minor stuff (dusting -- amen on all that dust around here).

Just the other day, my mom was dropping by to bring me something. Though I really didn't have time to clean, I did this:

1. put stray dishes in dishwasher
2. wipe counter
3. clean bathroom sink
4. put papers in one pile
5. fluff pillows on couch
6. done

It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't so bad. The reason we have a lot of hardwood now, though, is because I hate carpet. It gets dirty too fast, IMO, and I felt like I was constantly vacuuming. Now, the rooms with carpet are ones we don't use very often (except my office).

(Back to work now...closing in on The End.)

Anonymous said...

yeah -- everything everyone else said. I really HATE all housework. And why I ever bought glass top tables I don't know.

Angel said...

I find it funny that so many of you hate to dust! :) If I could choose one thing I don't mind doing, that would be it. Mostly because with a Swiffer it is fast, and shows results quick (not because I enjoy it or anything).

I'd never heard that about keeping the kitchen and bathrooms clean. I'll have to keep that in mind. Maybe it will motivate me.

Instigator, I'm so jealous of your maid!!!!

Angel