So no, the title, "DOING IT ALL AND MAKE SURE IT SHOWS" is not something I'm very good at. In fact, i struggle daily with the fact that hubby feels like the house is always a mess, he's exhausted from putting in LONG days at work (it's 7pm now and he hasn't left the office), and due to his exhaustion and being over-worked and over-stressed, he makes me feel like he feels that I don't do squat, or at least not as much as he does in his day. I think it's an age-old problem, each spouse thinking they're doing more and resenting the other one for whatever it may be that they aren't able to do in the day.....if resent is truly the word, I'm not fully sure.
But how does one do it ALL??? About 2 months ago, we canceled our house cleaners who were coming once every 2 weeks. It was just getting too expensive. Instead, I ATTEMPT to clean different parts of the house each day, and for the most part, I do do something every day. For example, today I did TONS of laundry, and I vacuumed the living room carpet. I also cleaned the kitchen a bit, took the kids to camp, picked them up, and in between went to the pharmacy, the post office, and to the mall to return an outfit. Oh, and dinner is ready and waiting on the stove even though hubby hasn't left the office which is an hour away.
Last weekend, when the baby was having an especially fussy week which continued into the weekend (which was good cuz hubby was able to see her in rare form), hubby got fed up and "cleaned the house". Mind you, he gathered some piles of stuff from the dining room table, vacuumed, swept the floors, and did sponga (mopped), but honestly, he didn't do much more. AND, he had the audacity a few nights later to mention that when HE cleaned the house, it hadn't been cleaned in 3 weeks! (he got a dirty look and a slight setting straight with a not nice word for that one............especially since it was in front of his sister!)
So this week he asked if I thought maybe we should get the cleaners back once a month. I explained that it wouldn't really be worth it. Plus I explained, it's not that the house isn't clean.....it's just that it is clean in a rotation........and therefore doesn't truly feel clean. Which in essence, it isn't 100% clean cuz in essence, the day I'm cleaning the toilets, the dusting might be due for the following day and therefore the only thing that will feel clean that day is the toilets.
Anyway...........I'm getting over it. I made a chart of what needs to be done for each WEEK. I'm thinking if I hang it on the fridge and literally check off and date what has been done, then he can see it and at least know that certain parts of the house are clean that day. And one day, when we win the lottery I'll have the cleaners start to come twice a week.........it might help though if we ever bought the lottery tickets.
