# dust if you must



## no1cowboy (May 2, 2004)




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## BetsyK in Mich (May 14, 2002)

Oh my gosh, I haven't seen that poem in years. I remember reading it and deciding "living life" with my kids was more important than the dust and dishes. My mom was the other half of a team that farmed 300+ acres and I learned my priorities from her, work and family first.


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

Ehh. I _like _a tidy house, myself. It doesn't really take long to clean, either, if you get down to business and keep it up. I think most of these "I have more important things to do" types are just lazy! ound:


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## Guest (May 6, 2013)

Dusting, sweeping, window washing....I enjoy having my home look and "feel" nice..after my chores are done, then I can dance in the rain..


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## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Ya gotta love a woman who can get down to business and keep it up LOL.


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## BetsyK in Mich (May 14, 2002)

willow_girl said:


> Ehh. I _like _a tidy house, myself. It doesn't really take long to clean, either, if you get down to business and keep it up. I think most of these "I have more important things to do" types are just lazy! ound:


Thanks Willow for the judgement call. Sometimes people have a lot on their plate and only so many hours in the day and their priorities are different.


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## doodlemom (Apr 4, 2006)

BetsyK in Mich said:


> Thanks Willow for the judgement call. Sometimes people have a lot on their plate and only so many hours in the day and their priorities are different.


My mom worked 2 jobs to raise us and then she'd be taking us in the yard, to libraries, dancing school, swim team, gymnastics, roller skating, sledding, to parks. She took care of everything that needed to be done around the property and didn't need a man to do it for her.


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## mickm (Jul 23, 2010)

Cleaning just isn't a priority for some . my house is never nasty, but dust on my bookcase is not a worry. i would rather be doing a lot of things then cleaning.

Saying someone is lazy who doesn't stress overer a little dust, is no more accurate then saying someone with a clean house was potty trained too early.


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## cindilu (Jan 27, 2008)

Because of my job I get to dust, wipe down bathrooms, light switches, make beds, mop and vacuum on a daily basis. You really do want to put your children in the care of someone who keeps their house clean. It helps keep the kiddos healthy as well.


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## Tommyice (Dec 5, 2010)

Cindy want to open a temporary day in my house? LOL It needs a good cleaning. And yes, I'm lazy about it. Oh well. There is a difference between untidy and dirty. I'm untidy (especially right now).


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## cindilu (Jan 27, 2008)

Leslie, you have GOOD reason to be lazy right now and just take care of you. Making sure you are healthy from the inside out is your priority right now. And if I lived closer to you I would come help out because I consider you a friend and that is what friends do for each other. They keep each others backs so to speak.


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## GeorgiaLady (Jul 18, 2012)

My mother spent so much of her life making a spotless home for a man that treated her like dirt, that she ignored her kids 99% of the time. We entertained ourselves. We raised ourselves. We put up with her yelling and screaming and throwing our things away because they were on the wrong shelf or the wrong drawer in our dresser. We were belittled for being "lazy" because we were "too stupid" to put our clothes away properly and she had to come behind us and do it herself. I dont recall my mother ever taking a single minute of her day to play with us or to take us swimming, biking, hiking, flower picking, berry picking or really ANYTHING because she was too busy scrubbing floors and dusting. She refused help because, like I said, we were "too stupid" to do it right....right meaning HER way. So no, housework is not, has never been, will never be...more important than spending time with my kids or those I care about. I do however try to keep a tidy home and garden. :bouncy:


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

oh yeah i'd like a nice tidy clean house too if somebody else would do it. that's why i've been out in the yard most of the day gardening and talking to the neighbors.i hate dusting! the thing is my neighbors all have housekeepers!i managed to stay in long enough to make a few hermits . i got to get at it tomorrow though. if i dont venture out in the garden until it's all finished i'll be okay. supposed to be 22C tomorrow. i'd better get up at 5 for housework because before long the garden will be calling. ~Georgia.


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## GeorgiaLady (Jul 18, 2012)

My daughter complains that I dont clean enough. She says.."If you would stay out of the garden for more than 5 minutes, you could get some cleaning done!" My eyes glaze over and then a spark comes to my brain and I say "Hey kiddo, wanna walk with me and the baby to check on the blueberry bushes?" Always she says..."yeah, I guess so. I can pick up later." LOL....never fails!


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## SimplerTimez (Jan 20, 2008)

I go in spurts, sometimes spotless is good, other times, just less spots is good.

I hate dusting, such a useless endeavor. 

I also procrastinate (which I'm doing right this moment as I post instead of pack!)

~ST (runs off before she gets called lazy or sumpin' else!)


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

> Thanks Willow for the judgement call. Sometimes people have a lot on their plate and only so many hours in the day and their priorities are different.


Ehh. I'm not buying it, except in the case of illness or disability, etc. I work as a housecleaner. Every day, I clean a two- to three-story, 2,500- to 4,000-square-foot house from top to bottom. All the beds changed, dishes washes, floors mopped or vacuumed, kitchens and bathrooms cleaned, furniture wiped down or dusted, windows washed as needed and little fingerprints removed from the walls and trim. The house basically is spotless when I'm done, and usually it takes me 4 or 5 hours, tops. (Then I go and milk 100 cows at my night job!)

Of course most people can't devote 4 hours a day to housekeeping, but the same amount of work stretched over a seven-day period would amount to about a half-hour per day. Meanwhile, Nielsen researchers tell us that the average American watches 4 hours and 35 minutes of TV every day!

So, yes, their priorities probably are different -- I'll grant you that.


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

I have found that the inside of someones home, is a reflection of the inside of THEM.

For me personally, when my house is disheveled, 99% of the time so is my head/heart.
Working 35 hours a week outside the home, 14 credit hours of schooling, and the fact that everywhere I go is no less than a 30 min drive? 
Pretty busy gal.
But coming home to an unkept home unravels me.
Walking into someones home that is disheveled, makes me a nervous wreck.
It doesn't have to be museum quality....but a kept home is 'welcoming'. IMHO
PS: I can't wait to down size. 4K square feet is too much.


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## cindilu (Jan 27, 2008)

willow_girl said:


> Ehh. I'm not buying it, except in the case of illness or disability, etc. I work as a housecleaner. Every day, I clean a two- to three-story, 2,500- to 4,000-square-foot house from top to bottom. All the beds changed, dishes washes, floors mopped or vacuumed, kitchens and bathrooms cleaned, furniture wiped down or dusted, windows washed as needed and little fingerprints removed from the walls and trim. The house basically is spotless when I'm done, and usually it takes me 4 or 5 hours, tops. (Then I go and milk 100 cows at my night job!)
> 
> Of course most people can't devote 4 hours a day to housekeeping, but the same amount of work stretched over a seven-day period would amount to about a half-hour per day. Meanwhile, Nielsen researchers tell us that the average American watches 4 hours and 35 minutes of TV every day!
> 
> So, yes, their priorities probably are different -- I'll grant you that.


Girlie, I sure wish you lived closer. I would hire you to do a top to bottom cleaning of mine. You are detailed and I need detailed. And you are good, I can tell that right off. Ya want to make a trip to Oregon some time, LOL.


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## Jaclynne (May 14, 2002)

Laura Zone 5 said:


> I have found that the inside of someones home, is a reflection of the inside of THEM.


 
I don't believe this at all.
Its been my experience that those people that keep an extremely ordered house can't function unless everything is in order. So when anything in their life isn't just exactly in its place, they are the ones that get frazzled and fall apart first. Personally, I think messy people roll with the punches of life better, they're more adaptable/acceptable to life's changes - planned and unplanned. There are always exceptions and this is just my opinion. Life is messy.

Jackie


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## cindilu (Jan 27, 2008)

Jaclynne said:


> I don't believe this at all.
> Its been my experience that those people that keep an extremely ordered house can't function unless everything is in order. So when anything in their life isn't just exactly in its place, they are the ones that get frazzled and fall apart first. Personally, I think messy people roll with the punches of life better, they're more adaptable/acceptable to life's changes - planned and unplanned. Their are always exceptions and this is just my opinion. Life is messy.
> 
> Jackie


The motto I have with my kiddos is.. We take chances, we get messy and we make mistakes. But we do all of this in a very clean house. What that translates is that I am always cleaning up after them. But that isn't a bad thing either. It just means I am a workaholic.


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## Raeven (Oct 11, 2011)

My birth mother was a hoarder on an order of magnitude that is impossible to describe. She saved literally everything. She sorted the garbage. Then she stopped sorting it and just kept everything. Put it this way: When my ex-husband saw the scope of her âcollections,â he had nightmares for 3 days running. It was a dreadful way to live.

My stepmom was just the opposite. Every week, we cleaned house top to bottom â including sponge-mopping the ceilings and walls in the bathrooms with bleach to prevent mold and mildew. She wasnât a wicked stepmother. We worked side by side to do the whole routine: Strip all linens off the beds and towels from the bathrooms and wash; dust top to bottom; sweep and mop all hard floor surfaces, vacuum all the soft ones; flap all the throw rugs; scour all sinks, toilets and tubs; sponge-mop the ceilings in the bathrooms; disinfect all the indoor trash bins; wax at least once a month; polish furniture the same. A week never went by that I didnât think how stupid it was to do work that didnât yet need doing. The house gleamed, but she worked full time and the housecleaning routine took up one full day of her weekend.

I like to think Iâve struck a happy medium. I detest unintended clutter, keep things picked up. Deep clean each room every couple of months. Wonât live in a sty but wonât be a slave to household chores, either. Everything gets done as it needs doing. If I notice dirt, it gets cleaned. But I will never pass up an opportunity to do something wonderful because of housework. Housework will ALWAYS wait!! 

Personally, I dislike going to a home that is so perfectly clean that one wonders if one should throw down a little disinfected doily before having a sit. Thereâs a big difference between comfortably tidy and pathologically spotless.


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## Jaclynne (May 14, 2002)

Raeven said:


> Personally, I dislike going to a home that is so perfectly clean that one wonders if one should throw down a little disinfected doily before having a sit. Thereâs a big difference between comfortably tidy and pathologically spotless.


 
Yes, there is a big difference between comfortably tidy and pathologically spotless. There is also a big difference between a little messy or dusty and a nasty sty.


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## shanzone2001 (Dec 3, 2009)

The best thing I have done for myself lately is hiring a housekeeper. She comes on the weekend and dusts, mops, vacuums, and cleans the bathrooms.

I do the laundry and keep the house up throughout the week, but it is sure nice to have the help.

PS She does not clean my kids' rooms. I won't pay someone to do that!


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## feelingsheepish (Jan 18, 2008)

8 hour work day, 1 hour commute each way. Basic chores take 2 hours a day. = 12 hours
Haying season +3-7 hours after work or 7-10 on days off.
Garden needs tilling, planting, weeding, mulching, harvesting, preserving, marketed.
Shearing, fencing, lambing, cleaning out deep bedded pens, fixing the endless list of house/farm/vehicle/equipment breakdowns, tending sick critters.
Dealing with customers for lamb sales, maintenance of good relationships with neighbors.
Helping my family as needed. 10 hours a week average volunteering on an organizing committee for a large regional festival. And on and on. When I am the only one running a farm inside and out and working to pay the mortgage, I don't worry about washing the floor or dusting every day.


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## mickm (Jul 23, 2010)

How many young children do you have?

I am always amazed that folks are bothered if another house is not spotless. I can totally understand wanting your own home clean.

I do service work, and i hate going in to a pig sty . I also hate going somewhere that they are cleaning, while i am working!




willow_girl said:


> Ehh. I'm not buying it, except in the case of illness or disability, etc. I work as a housecleaner. Every day, I clean a two- to three-story, 2,500- to 4,000-square-foot house from top to bottom. All the beds changed, dishes washes, floors mopped or vacuumed, kitchens and bathrooms cleaned, furniture wiped down or dusted, windows washed as needed and little fingerprints removed from the walls and trim. The house basically is spotless when I'm done, and usually it takes me 4 or 5 hours, tops. (Then I go and milk 100 cows at my night job!)
> 
> Of course most people can't devote 4 hours a day to housekeeping, but the same amount of work stretched over a seven-day period would amount to about a half-hour per day. Meanwhile, Nielsen researchers tell us that the average American watches 4 hours and 35 minutes of TV every day!
> 
> So, yes, their priorities probably are different -- I'll grant you that.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

i never did get to my dusting today. i started 6:30 . dug over all my flower beds. transplanted strawberries. 7:30 i took off for the plant/hardware store. loaded 20 bags sheep manure and garden soil and numerous plants on (couldn't find anyone to help) pushed that big cart all the way down through the garden center up to the front checkouts(no garden gates open full time until Mothers day) pushed it out to the car. loaded up. unloaded to the wheelbarrow by the sidewalk. unloaded to the yard. mixed up manure and soil in the WB. took it around to the beds shovelful by shovelful .

these are perennials so i couldn't just sling it anywhere. had to be placed just so. finished around 4. in the meantime i was going in and out trying to get my bread baked. by the time i put everything away last thing on my mind was dust although i had probably added a half inch with all the coming and going. i crawled into the tub and crawled out before i fell asleep and drowned. i did find one thing today though. my long handled duster. i might even use it tomorrow. ~Georgia.


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## Shygal (May 26, 2003)

mickm said:


> How many young children do you have?
> 
> I am always amazed that folks are bothered if another house is not spotless. I can totally understand wanting your own home clean.
> 
> I do service work, and i hate going in to a pig sty . I also hate going somewhere that they are cleaning, while i am working!



She has none


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

Shygal is correct. 

Funny, just the other day, I joked to DBF that for someone who never aspired to be a mother, I sure do clean a lot of crusty highchairs! (Many of my clients have young children. I view them as job security.) ound:


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

For the record, I'm not "bothered" if someone else's house isn't spotless. It's a free country ... people can live however they choose.

Just don't tell me that you're too busy to dust if you spend the average 4.5 hours a day watching TV!


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## no1cowboy (May 2, 2004)

*Im busy watching TV *


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## mickm (Jul 23, 2010)

willow_girl said:


> For the record, I'm not "bothered" if someone else's house isn't spotless. It's a free country ... people can live however they choose.
> 
> Just don't tell me that you're too busy to dust if you spend the average 4.5 hours a day watching TV!



I don't own a tv.

I for have a son and a life. I have a garden, chickens, fish in the freezer and meat. I have my own business . I have beehives , chicken coops, bird houses, Viking chairs etc built and more to build. I have grass to mow and many more things to do..

I don't have a tv, but i am lazy, because my house isn't spotless.


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## NoClue (Jan 22, 2007)

I'm not lazy, the dust just isn't that important to me. On those occasions when it is important to me, I take care of it.


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

> I don't own a tv.
> 
> I for have a son and a life. I have a garden, chickens, fish in the freezer and meat. I have my own business . I have beehives , chicken coops, bird houses, Viking chairs etc built and more to build. I have grass to mow and many more things to do..
> 
> I don't have a tv, but i am lazy, because my house isn't spotless.


You probably are an exception to the rule -- a person who genuinely is too busy doing productive things to clean. But I suspect most people who live in dirty houses aren't obsessed with trying to find a cure for cancer, or some such. They don't clean because they prefer to spend their discretionary time being entertained by something that has a screen. Which certainly is their prerogative -- but if that's the case, please don't say it's because you're too busy.

Heck, last week a SAHM paid me $18 an hour to tidy her house while she watched soap operas all day! (Her kids were in school and her husband was at work.) And I didn't mind a bit ... I was happy to take her money.


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## mickm (Jul 23, 2010)

I suppose you are probably correct that most people have different priorities , and i am aware some are lazy.

One of the things i do is paint houses. I don't brand folks who hire me to paint as lazy, and anyone can paint.

I just think judging people by dust on the mantle is a slippery slope, and "lazy"is a harsh judgment.


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

I love lazy people! If it weren't for lazy people, I'd be out of a job! :bouncy:


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

willow_girl said:


> I love lazy people! If it weren't for lazy people, I'd be out of a job! :bouncy:


I love folks who have FABULOUS kitchens, that don't want to cook.
They come see me and tip me well!!


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## mickm (Jul 23, 2010)

Well i don't get lazy folks, i do get different priorities.

Itsunami raining here today. i should be doing paperwork, but i am doing anything i can do to ignore it. strongly considering going fishing in the rain. 

i hate paperwork. its right up there with cleaning, mowing and dental work without sedative.


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

Well, my last comment was somewhat in jest.

I don't think all of my clients are lazy -- I have some elderly folks, dual-income couples with kids, and people with disabilities. 

At any rate, I don't question _why_ they need me -- I want their money! :grin:


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

i been shamed into doing a bit of dusting today! not too much mind you because i spent 4 hours digging out weeds and spreading soil in my perennial bed. then i made 2 pies,raisin buns, a batch of hermits and some cheese scones but i did do a little dusting and cleaning. ~Georgia.


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Hey Willow! Do you have houses that you just do once a month? I'm thinking of having someone come in once a month and kinda "top off" things...dust/clean the blinds, the fans, the woodwork, kinda clean where I can't, or where it just takes me too long. Do people who clean mind doing something like that?

Mon


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

> Hey Willow! Do you have houses that you just do once a month? I'm thinking of having someone come in once a month and kinda "top off" things...dust/clean the blinds, the fans, the woodwork, kinda clean where I can't, or where it just takes me too long. Do people who clean mind doing something like that?


Yes, I have a couple of clients who have me come in on a monthly basis. I quote those jobs a little higher than my usual rate because there is a whole month's worth of grunge to clean up! I also have one client who has me in to do specific things, not a whole-house cleaning. She wants stuff like her refrigerator cleaned out, or help going through her closets switching from summer to winter clothes. I'm happy to give people whatever they want. The customer is always right! 

So yes, check with some cleaners and surely you'll find one willing to accommodate.


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## doodlemom (Apr 4, 2006)

A vacuum cleaner salesman came to my house in 2005 and said I was recommended to him by so and so and called ahead to see if he could clean my house for free as a demonstration. I had my house very clean and vacuumed every day, but the Kirby vacuum he was selling blew any vacuum I've ever had out of the water. There's a dusting attachment that does the blinds and the bags are HEPA filters so once you vacuum that's it. You don't have to worry about much dusting. There's an extender attachment to do ceiling fans and the option of a very long hose to do an entire flight of stairs without having to lug the vacuum halfway. It's great on rugs and bare floors as an upright and has steam cleaning/floor bare cleaning inter attachments. It was very expensive, but well worth it. It's like going from a push mower to a lawn tractor as it cuts so much time for the results.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

a clean house is a sure sign of a misspent life.....lol


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## no1cowboy (May 2, 2004)

Always keep your home presentable, assuming you keep a home for purposes of presentation.


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Well, I mainly strive to see the floor.

Mon


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## barnyardgal (Sep 21, 2009)

Am sorry to say but dusting is my weakness-could care less if things get dusted on a regular basis as long as the rest of the house is tidy & presentable-with burning wood during the winter-you guessed it-creates LOTS of dust & no way to avoid this-try to get things dusted in the spring at least but other wise just a quick 'go over'-

Country living makes the carpets dirtier than usual-that's my concern & wish i did not have carpets but i do & have to deal with it-so try to shampoo them a couple three time a year-makes house looks/smell cleaner-country living is hard to have a spotless house with gardening-animals/mowing/canning/etc/etc/-especially when going it alone & lots to do-i stay busy all day with part time working-some days are challenging to 'keep up' with it all & throw weather/rain/snow in there & then ya deal with mother nature to sometimes with an attitude~~

I DO NOT watch much tv either-try to catch the news sometimes-survivor/duck dynasty & that's my world-ha


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

> Am sorry to say but dusting is my weakness-could care less if things get dusted on a regular basis as long as the rest of the house is tidy & presentable-with burning wood during the winter-you guessed it-creates LOTS of dust & no way to avoid this-try to get things dusted in the spring at least but other wise just a quick 'go over'-


LOL ... when I first moved in here, and set about turning a bachelor pad into a respectable home, DBF used to tease me by saying things like, "Why are you vacuuming? It isn't spring yet ..." 

:shocked:

We burn wood, too, and yes it creates a mess ... coal is even worse! Grrr!


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Oh, gee...and here I was thinking, maybe I could have someone come in twice a year and dust everything...

Guess, that's not enough, huh?

Mon


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## Jenstc2003 (Apr 4, 2012)

You couldn't have said it better! I like to think that I am more adapatable than I am a slob- though in reality I am a bit of both. I do my best to clean up on my days off from work, and at least once a week. It's never perfect, but at least I wouldn't be embarrassed if one of my friends were to show up unexpectedly for a day or two after that. Today... well, let's say there's cleaning to be done. I may do it as a way of procrastinating over the growing stack of grading I have to do by Monday. 



Jaclynne said:


> I don't believe this at all.
> Its been my experience that those people that keep an extremely ordered house can't function unless everything is in order. So when anything in their life isn't just exactly in its place, they are the ones that get frazzled and fall apart first. Personally, I think messy people roll with the punches of life better, they're more adaptable/acceptable to life's changes - planned and unplanned. There are always exceptions and this is just my opinion. Life is messy.
> 
> Jackie


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## rkintn (Dec 12, 2002)

I don't mind a little clutter and I have been known to leave housework for another day to do some great stuff with my kids. For me, the key has been teaching the kids to pick up behind themselves. If everyone puts back what they get out and put up what they are done with it makes life a lot easier on everyone. Also, teaching the kids and then cleaning WITH them makes the bigger chores fly by and everyone loves the free time after. I HATE having to pick up behind anyone. I have been in a situation where I was the only one cleaning and the other grown adult in the house couldn't be bothered to pick up behind themselves. Takes a lot of self control to be in a situation like that for any length of time.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

i thought i would do a little more cleaning inside today. the thought was there because i took out the shampooer and cleaners etc. before i went shopping all morning for grub but the rain is coming down now and it's the right time to get out and transplant. soon as i finish my tea.  dust will have to wait a bit. ~Georgia.


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