There are things…
…things that many normal, well-adjusted adults do. Maybe all of America do these things but they are things that when I stop and think about it, I just don’t do and some of these things never even cross my mind.
I’m not talking about life shattering things although when you read my list you may think, “Really Cathy? Really?”
But last weekend, as I tackled a project that I hadn’t even considered doing since 2003, it got me thinking: what other things don’t I do that many people typically do when they grow up?
The project in question? Cleaning my oven door.
I had not cleaned my oven door (the inside glass part) since it was installed in 2003.
Over the years, I vaguely recall thinking: I can’t see through the door to what’s cooking. Hmmm. What’s on TV?
And that was all the thought I gave it.
Keep in mind I do have a modern, self-cleaning oven and yes, I’ve run the cycle a handful of times over the years. But the door? Meh. I simply adjusted my opacity expectations.
Once I had to have the oven fixed and the repair guy said, “You can clean that door with a razor blade,” and I remember thinking, “Yeah. Right. I’m going risk my life to scrape off that muck? I don’t think so.”
Then last week, I was Googling how to really clean the Ceran glass cooktop (part of the oven I’m forced to clean weekly) when the term “painter’s blade” came up.
Painter’s blade? Dan, do we have a painter’s blade?
Within 3 minutes, he produced a silvery object that holds, you guessed it, a razor blade.
All of a sudden I heard the voice: “You can clean that door with a razor blade.”
And that’s exactly what I did and now you can see the lasagna as it cooks.
It felt miraculous.
I felt so grown up. I did this!
I’m sure my mother is reading this thinking, “I didn’t raise my daughter to not clean an oven door for 10 years,” and perhaps she’s right, but the reality is, she did. It’s how I turned out. But it’s certainly not any fault of hers. It’s what I choose to do or not to do.
Here are some more things I don’t do: I don’t make beds (unless the sheets have just come out of the dryer or company is coming). I don’t clean windows with any regularity. I don’t have the cleanest bathroom in the land. I don’t use bleach on my whites. Hell, I don’t even separate out my whites 95% of the time.
I guess it goes without saying I don’t have a cleaning lady. I wish I did but there are places where my dollars are better spent (read: therapy). So for the forseeable future, all these things I don’t do, well, they remain firmly in the I Don’t Do column.
It comes down to what you value. I do value time spent with my family versus time spent making every physical aspect of my life perfect. I do value those minutes I save not making my bed every day.
At the end of my life, I don’t want people standing around at my funeral saying, “You know, she always made the beds and had a really clean oven door.”
What are the things you don’t do? And why?
By all means, use the comments as your confessional. I am all ears.
Terri Torrez says
I don’t make beds or separate whites. Honestly the only thing I separate are new reds and the occasional green. Turns out, separating the rest was a complete waste if time.
I also stopped mating socks because I rarely actually did it anyway. My son only has one style so they all match. I bought small baskets for mine and my husbands and put them in the laundry room as a permanent fixture. They can stay there or we can mate our own. Done.
Harmony says
I don’t put my own things away. I have dreamy visions of a perfectly organized house when my littles are older but then I come back to reality – half the stuff not put away is mine.
cake says
You know … even in Europe women don’t DO beds an clean the oven on a weekly schedule (well, excepted my mom of course who NEVER leaves ANYTHING N O T done 😉 she will probably have this engraved on her tombstone 😉 )
With three kids growing up too fast I’ve skipped most of the DO’s for exactly what You do, spending time with them, so more important than this clean oven (but when the oven IS clean, I’m really happy and satisfied of my work and at least, when you clean it out only once a year you CAN SEE the change *hahahahaha*)
Greetings from a small country on the other side of the earth
cathy says
Cake, what small country are you in? Hello from this big country over here.
Kristi K says
Ah geez, there is SO much I don’t do. Clean my oven door (haven’t done that in nine years), baseboards, windows, vacuum or sweep that often (we have a shoe-free house and no pets), wash walls. People usually remark that my house is clean, but I’m good at putting stuff away because I’m an organization nerd.
I once read an article in Real Simple about how to systematically clean your house, and it was kinda ridiculous. I’d have to quit my full-time job to keep up with it. Later on, I read an article in Redbook about what really needs to be clean, and what you can “cheat on” that stuck with me. I don’t run a hospital.
Something I’ve noticed about friends and homes: They tend to hang out and feel most comfortable in places that are lived in. Not showplaces. Have a musty basement with beat-up furniture? I bet you have teenagers hanging out there (remember That 70’s Show?). A garage with tools strewn everywhere and a car being wrenched on? There’s probably guys around, beer in hand,. Kitchen with dirty dishes and papers all over the counter? Kids cooking.
Believe me, I LOVE the feeling of a deep-clean house. The sense of accomplishment is bar none. But trust me, that never happens. Life does, and I’d rather have a welcoming home than a clean one. I wish that I would have realized this sooner.
Katie B says
I am so glad you posted this adults don’t do list. I am in the same camp. All of the things you don’t do I don’t do either.
Though I do separate the lights and darks. I had just enough room in the bathroom for 2 Ikea open hampers. If they were closed we would never put anything in them.
I also don’t mop floors regularly, unless there is a spill or persnickity company is coming.
Jeannie says
Almost 30 years ago I read and then framed a quote (from where? I don’t know) that is the motto of my life. “Cleaning and scrubbing can wait til tomorrow, for babies grow up we’ve learned through our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep, I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.” Now, my ‘baby’ is 26, but I still believe this. My house is company appropriate. I do my beds- only because I think it makes the whole room look clean. But oven doors- it has probably been 20 years! Windows- next to never. There will always be other babies in my life that are more important. It might be a scrapbook page, a walk in the woods, a last minute lunch with a friend. ‘But she had a clean house’ will never be on my tombstone!
Kirsten says
I’m just so glad to know there are others like me out there! My mother swears there aren’t… and bemoans my “grey” whites while trying (and failing) to teach my kids how to mitre the corners on bedsheets.
MichelleB says
I love you. 🙂 Thank you for making me feel normal.
Annet M says
I LOVE this! My husband and I differ so much on housework. Drives us crazy. His mother was an ultra-clean is the only way woman and his sister is the same. Me? I grew up that if there was a chance to play a game (or 5) against mom or to clean the house, the game(s) won almost every time.
And so my son and I play all the time. He’s 5.5 and is a total Uno-card-shark and loves all manner of games – our few purchases around here are all for new games!
And sure I should do housework and do things like make beds and put stuff away, but husband does the laundry (and you best believe that he sorts) and the floors. In return, I’m a damn fine cook and buy all the groceries. Seems fair to me. 🙂
Sherry Eckblad says
We must be related in some sort of Minnesotan way as I don’t do those either!
Briel Schmitz says
I laughed right along with you when I read your post. Not long after we got our new stove (kitchen remodel) I had the grand idea of cooking a goose for Christmas dinner (sounds so romantic or something). It was a fun experience, and mostly we liked the goose but it KILLED my oven. Buckets of goose fat. After that I kind of lost interest in keeping the oven clean.
Fast forward SIX years. New Years Day. I woke up and wanted to cook a dutch baby for breakfast (baked pancake-yum!) and smoke came out of the oven when I turned it on. We had had house-sitters in the house the previous two weeks so I wanted to blame them…but really, I think I helped create the mess.
Anyway I was totally inspired and cleaned every inch of that oven until it was sparkling. I started my year feeling so accomplished. Now, every time I open the oven I smile. Nope, I don’t plan to do it often, but sometimes the delayed gratification makes it feel even better.
Thanks for (always) keeping it real.
Amy says
You mean running the self cleaning cycle, which I’ve done twice in the 10 years we’ve lived in our house, doesn’t clean the window on the over door?
dettaowens says
I have been married for 37 years. The only time the beds were made on a regular basis were when the two previous houses we lived in were for sale. I did not clean the oven at all until the last house we lived in for 20 years was for sale. I also did not wash windows until I hired someone when the last house was for sale. I only cleaned the shower when the bottom was getting kind of dark. However, we built the house we are in now. It was completely brand new when we moved in. There are no longer children living with us. I have cleaned the oven door once and we have been here for a whole 6 months. We make the bed cause I have pretty new linens and pillows. We squeegee the shower every time we get out. (my husband even does it!)
Christine says
There is a way to clean the oven door? Huh. I love your posts. You are so real, girl. I don’t go in my 19 year son’s room. What happens in there, stays in there. I also don’t clean out the kitchen junk drawer. There, I said it!
Donna A says
Color Catchers….they look like dryer sheets and you put them in the washer. They “catch” all the dye in the water. Great for college students and busy adults alike.
Everybody has a comforter on their bed that you just throw in the general direction of the top of the bed and call it good. Bunk and loft beds are also great cuz you can’t see what is going on up there 🙂
Each family member has their own kind of athletic socks…and only one kind. This was especially handy when my son began wearing the same size as my husband. Find a hole in a sock? Pitch it and it will find a mate sooner or later…
I have made a point of not collecting things that you have to dust…much easier to wipe a clear surface…when you finally get around to it.
Leslie M. says
Good morning All! Yes the only time the beds are made regularly is when the house is for sale. Which until this current house was about everyone 5 years. Now it’s been 13 years and we have no plans for selling – no no made beds! I have often felt guilty because I have two slobs for adult kids so I clearly didn’t teach them much about putting things away.
But they are happy and well adjusted and they love their mom! So life is good and they will decide to clean up when it’s important to them.
Thank goodness I have a self cleaning oven. ART is so much more fun and fulfilling than cleaning!
Amy says
Wait a sec. Stop the presses. The oven cleaning cycle doesn’t do the door? What good is it then? Out of curiousity, I turned on my oven light. What do you know…I have some film on there. Oh well. Cathy, I’m following your schedule. The oven was installed five years ago that leaves me at least another five, right?
I’d rather do my nails and my daughter’ snails, scrapbook, or play the Disney Princess Cupcake Game than clean my oven door. Or fold underwear. Or vacuum the room we are rarely in (or the rooms we are usually in for that matter). My house isn’t a showcase. It can be that when my five year little girl no longer thinks I hung the moon and is off to college. I won’t have her nails to paint or dolls to play with then. Clearly, I’ll have enough time to take care of dusting then too. Until then, Disney Jr, Legos, and scrapping with my daughter await.
Kay says
Many, many years ago I bought a lovely framed quote “Dull women have immaculate homes” . I strive to be anything but dull, so you can guess the rest 🙂
Heather B says
I do none of those things either! I don’t even know how to run the self clean on the oven ;). I scrub my counters frequently and like things organized, sweeping and vacuuming downstairs I do a lot. I don’t vacuum up by the bedrooms very often though.
All that said – for your glass cooktop – try Norwex cleaning paste and spiri sponge. Kinda pricey but OMG easy and super clean! No more razors or stinky goofy chemical mess that only half worked! I have a few friends who recently started selling it – I don’t…. But it’s awesome!
Cricket Rawlins says
I don’t clean my oven door either! I used to be obsessed with cleaning my house and keeping it spotless, as I’ve gotten older…nah, not so much anymore, in fact, while I do keep it picked up, I clean it maybe once a month or if company is coming, LOL! But, I do make the bed each and every morning…it’s a thing from my childhood, my dad (a very clean and organized type fellow), wouldn’t allow my sister or I to come downstairs for breakfast without our beds made and it’s just stuck with me..LOL!
Blessings,
dawn says
I don’t cook. We eat out everyday. I dislike cooking intensely. I am a stay-at-home mum.
Stacey says
Another reason to love you Cathy Zielske!
Ilona says
Hahaha, ok, now I feel much much better!
I don’t do beds and I don’t clean my windows on reagular basis! Yepp, that’s me! Well, and sometimes I can write names in the dust on our low cabinets 🙂
Thanks Cathy!!! You are my hero! 😉
Christine says
When I read this I immediately thought about my mother. My mother was unfortunately a toxic person in my life. From a very young age she drilled her system in me. As far as I know and maybe ‘Cake’ who posted earlier and maybe is from the same small country as I came from, maybe she can acknowledge that this was a very common system in my little world and the people around me.
Monday – laundry day
Tuesday – vacuuming and Ironing day,
Wednesday – vacuuming, window washing and grocery shopping day, also known as ‘ground beef day’. It was always on sale on Wednesday and most of the households ate meatballs on Wednesday.:-)
Thursday vacuuming and bed changing day, plus an extra like oven cleaning
Friday – whole house from top to bottom bedrooms, bath rooms, kitchen etc deep cleaning for the weekend.
Every day she cooked dinner and dessert, on Sunday we always had a full dinner, soup, entree and dessert.no sleeping in on weekends. Breakfast must be eaten as a family at 7:30.
She drilled this so I to me that later when I had a home and a baby and a job of my own I was riddled with guilt plus exhausted that I could not keep up with this schedule. I never crossed my mind to NOT do it. At that time we still were in contact and she would check in on me and if things were not in order as she taught me I got the silent treatment and ‘that’ look. You know the one that makes you feel like a worthless piece of ….
After I got a neurological illness I made big changes and started to NOT follow the schedule anymore! Plus I removed my mother from my life. Best decision ever, should have done that much sooner. And you know what? By not following the schedule nothing bad happened to me. Well a bit, there were neighbors who gossiped that the windows weren’t done and laundry wasn’t out on the line at Mondays.
I moved. Solved that problem too.
Now, I do have a bi-weekly cleaning lady because I can’t do anything and need my energy for different things, being creative for instance:-) But still that old guilt feeling creeps up on me every now and than, that I need to have someone else cleaning my house! It is as if my mother whispers in my ear. Luckily I have a husband who is a rationalist and brings me back to earth in no time. He folds his own t-shirts. My daughter on the other hand irons her t-shirts., makes me cringe! But I will not ever tell her what to do, if that makes her happy than bless her heart!
StephJ says
My thought exactly when I read this!! I was like — clean the oven door??!! What?
Cheryl says
Clean the oven door??? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA … I have a decade plus old oven and I’ve never even run the cleaning cycle. I have used a wet cloth to wipe the bottom “clean” on a few occasions.
Melissa O. says
Sometimes I think we must be sisters from another Mr. I am the same way, so NOT a domestic goddess (unless I’m baking). My husband is the neat freak. I haven’t cleaned windows, the oven, baseboards, walls, or the ceiling fans since practically never. They only get done because my husband can see dirt from 100 paces. I do toss the blankets over the pillows in the morning, but I don’t go out of my way to make it military pristine. I might thoroughly scrub the bathroom every 6 weeks. As long as there’s no visible mold I’m good with the occasional Clorox wipe. My bathroom is so big the moisture doesn’t really build up much anyway. I do clean floors & counters A LOT. We have pets & a kid & those must be done daily to some reasonable degree.
Jennifer L says
I don’t dust. Which is probably why my allergies are killing me right now.
cindy b says
Rather than tell you all the things I don’t do (and believe me, there is a LONG list)..I thought I’d leave you with this little nugget of wisdom and you can just make your own assumptions about how “clean” my house is. I HANDS DOWN believe that my family and I hardly EVER get sick (knock on wood) BECAUSE my house is not a sanitary napkin and our bodies are used to fighting off germs and dust bunnies. LOL! THAT and the fact that our house is always kept cooler than most other peeps. It’s a fact that germs and bacteria like warmth so why make your house a chemistry dish??!! Your house SHOULDN”T be so warm that you can wear a tank top in the dead of winter. It’s WINTER! Put on a sweatshirt for gods sake. And one more thing: Any person that judges the whites of my baseboards or the number of dust bunnies on my ceiling fan doesn’t belong here and can leave! This house is lived in and my kids are happy and healthy. The end. 🙂
LouiseFortune says
I also don’t do any of the things you mentioned, in fact I have been known to replace my oven rather than clean the door. I also don’t do filters on anything, clean out the fridge with regularity iron anything that you don’t see (i.e.: shirts that are always worn under sweaters), I don’t clean behind the toilet or dust/polish furniture. I’m sure that will offend 75% of the population but hey . . .
Sheri Feypel says
I also do not make beds, however I do appreciate a made bed and more so if someone else (husband) made it.
I do not fold fitted sheets, they are impossible to fold. If they are not going right back on the bed they may end up in a nicely rolled pile of fitted sheet. I have no intention of every bothering to find out if there is a proper way to fold them, don’t care that much.
I don’t replace watch batteries. When my watch battery dies, I take that as a sign that I need a new watch. Sort of like the watch is expired, and like food it gets replaced.
My oven door could also use a cleaning..
Lisa Henderson says
My list is very similar. I also don’t clean walls or trim very often (I have friends that do this weekly–not really sure when they have the time!!). I do have a cleaning company that comes once every 2 weeks (the most I can afford–and I will give up a lot to make sure they keep coming! they are more important to me then eating out regularly or having new clothes all the time!!) and they take care of the dusting, floors and bathrooms (thank goodness!!)
Katrina says
I never used to make my bed, but then I went to a Buddhist retreat and heard the phrase “the state of your bed is the state of your head.” I know attempt to make my bed daily (and by “make”, I mean sort of roughly spread out the sheet & blankets).
I don’t “require” that my kids clean their rooms. They are not allowed to have food in their room, so I don’t have to worry about rotting surprises. Other than that? Their doors are closed. I’ve heard concerns that they’ll “never learn how to be on their own!” I’m happy to report that Hope has lived “on her own” for 4 years at university, and maintains a pretty darn clean apartment.
I’ve changed the filter on the fridge water system exactly once since I bought the house (9 years ago). It probably doesn’t actually filter anything anymore.
Note to self: clean the oven.
vivian says
Oh my goodness. I sat here with tears running down my cheeks reading this. I do make the bed every single day. But other than that….Well, let’s just say I like your way of thinking, but I am going to try the painter’s blad on my oven door. Haven’t been able to see what’s cooking for years.
Lida says
I’ve been staring at that self-cleaning oven knob and keep saying, when it gets cold. So far I have missed 3 opportunities this year. I have used the blade method and it works.
Hannah says
Ha! I don’t make beds very often, although if the bed is made, it gives me a little jolt of surprised pleasure when I walk into my room! I also don’t clean the oven unless it smokes when I turn it on, and never buy white shirts because they won’t stay that way.
No one has mentioned ironing…. I DON’T IRON….. Apart from about twice a year when my son requires a dress shirt for a band concert and produces it in a scrumpled ball from his closet floor.
I come from England where a lot if my friends stay up until the wee hours ironing underwear and bedding and pyjamas. Not me. Maybe I’m lucky my husband is an anesthesiologist so only needs scrubs for work and the hospital launders those.
Thanks for the laugh!
cake says
I’m in Luxembourg, small small small country located between : Belgium, Germany an France.
Lynette says
Thanks for sharing from your small country. 😀 LOVE IT! I am always comforted that at the heart of life women and mothers are the same.
Mary says
I don’t iron either! I will put a shirt back into the dryer if I don’t get it out before it cools and crumples. I don’t mop my kitchen floor much. Too many kids (4) for it to stay clean for very long. I hate organizing and try to avoid it like the plague. I DO cook and exercise and play games with my kids. I am home when they get off the bus.
Sarah F in MI says
If I listed them all (and the list is loooooong), then I would have to admit, out loud, that I don’t do A LOT of things and I’m just not ready for that moment.
Andrea Moran says
My thought too! You are supposed to clean the glass separately. Another thing on my list of things I do not do.
cathy says
I dont mop very often either. Ha! And we have snow and mud all the time!
Jenny B. says
I don’t do any of that stuff either. My house is a pit, though, and it is totally getting me down. I am so overwhelmed and don’t know where to start! Ugh. I started redecorating a couple of years, and I am just not good about getting rid of things, so I have tons of stuff everywhere… extra furniture, unfinished projects, paint cans, etc. Plus Christmas decorations that never got put back in the attic and clothes that my kids have outgrown that are sitting in boxes all over the kitchen, dining room, and hallway. Ack. Calgon, take me away!!! What I really want to do is MOVE so we will be forced to declutter. I am sure I am fooling myself by thinking that I would be able to keep a new house any cleaner than our current house, though. Sigh… you asked for a confessional. Ha!
AnnieM says
All I can say is that I know we could be friends. We are simpatico.
I really wish I had a clean oven door..but to actually do it? Nah.
I really wish I had freshly made beds (and clean sheets every week..but seriously..every week?)
The sole reason (well, I do kinda like them too) I have people over fairly frequently is so I vacuum my house and really clean my bathrooms. (they appear clean if you don’t look too hard)
As far as an “outa the mouths of babes” remark…when my daughter was about 9 or 10 and we were running around cleaning before company came over said “Mom, we should have people over more! Our house gets clean!” lol
But I do know people who are clean freaks and they are THE most stressed people I know trying to indulge their phobias on a constant basis. I’m (almost) glad I am the way I am.
And finally, one of my dear friends mom’s said to me once when I was at their house one time the day of a big party, and she said to all of us..”let’s go swimming!” And I looked at her and said “don’t you have 25 people coming for a barbecue at 3pm?”
And she said: “why bother stressing over something for hours or days that can actually get done in one or 2 frantic hours?”.
I have used her mantra quite a bit, and you know what? She’s right. <3
cathy says
Ha! Yes! I was hoping people wouldnt be saying, WHAT? How can you NOT do that?
cathy says
I am lucky that my shower door is SO awful, squeeze wouldnt help it! LOL!
Vickie says
After 9 years, I took my oven door apart and cleaned BETWEEN the glass. I had lived with the cobweb in there long enough. There are a lot of things that I don’t do on a regular basis. I don’t vacuum, mop, or dust- I have a granddaughter who does that for me every two weeks. I don’t empty the trash- I have a son who does that. But I do make my bed, sort the laundry, keep the bathrooms and kitchen cleaned and the house picked up. Those things make me feel good and therefore I make the time for them.
cathy says
Love it.
cathy says
Amy, it sure didnt do much for mine. LOL!
cathy says
Wow, thats heavy, you know? Its amazing the rules put upon us, the scripts drilled into us just because thats the way its done. Ive had many conversations with my therapist about this, about how I adopted scripts for life about how to respond and how to do things instead of just learning to figure out what was actually needed. Thanks for sharing this today.
cathy says
ha! I know. CRAZY stuff. LOL!
cathy says
Cindy, yes! Our house is set at 67 in the winter during the day, and 60 at night, and let me tell you: that is chilly! But I never made the connections youre making here. We are not a family that gets sick a whole lot either. Veddy interesting.
MissKim says
I knew I loved you.
cathy says
I too love the feeling that a deeply cleaned house brings, but it happens like, twice a year, if that. : ) Im a good maintainer. But dont look to closely. ; )
cathy says
I too let the kids handle their own rooms, and for the most part what I have found? They like them cleaner than messier. But its their space, right? So when they were younger, wed require them to clean before sleepovers and stuff like that, but now? Its totally their call.
cathy says
Just know, if you dont already, that self cleaning mode makes the house smell so badly. Everyone last weekend was all, Mom? WHAT are you doing?
Leslie Shelton Price says
Laughing…another winning post, Cathy! Love it and ironically, about two months ago and after 9 years of a new oven, I, too, Googled how to clean the glass door w/o scratching the glass. My success was using the Scotch green, nylon scrubber and a grease-cutting cleaner. Much needed clarity w/my 50’s eyes!
Totally concur with your life philosophy (enjoying your MMEL class, too)! Big thanks!
cathy says
Ah yes! Im fairly certain I visited your country during a trip to Europe when I was 7. Or at the very least, my folks did. : )
cathy says
Ceiling fans are totally another. By the time I notice them, its almost laughable how much crap is on them?
kelly says
one or two frantic hours when absolutely necessary is my cleaning schedule too!
Michelle says
hahaha.
I still make the beds most days, (and sometimes after my husband makes it) but because I like getting in when it is all smoooth and not lumpy. Some days though? It doesn’t get made until right before I get in it – as long as I don;t go up and have to look at it :).
I like clean, dusted, vacuumed things. Small house, clean surfaces make me smile. And helps me cope and not fly off the handle when I am stuck inside in winter and others leave legos and models and papers everywhere and clothes on the bathroom floor and shove 3 weeks worth of laundry down the chute at one time, which of course prompts everyone else to say “hey – I have laundry too”!
I had a Norwex party once and the sales-lady (now my friend) was annoyed because my sink, stove top, and windows were clean, and there wasn’t much dust either. But I have 4 cats who shed, an awesome vacuum, and 3 girls who have chores.
However, I don’t clean as much in summer – we are in the yard, at the pool, gardening somewhere and I am usually tracking in mud from a garden, so who cares about dust when the windows are open?
I can’t wait for Spring…
cathy says
Youd need to be a MENSA member to figure out how to properly fold fitted sheets.
cathy says
Jenny, you are not your houses cleanliness! Say it loud. Say it proud!
Kelda2 says
WTH do I want to look at what I’m cooking through funky glass for anyway? The only thing glass is good for is seeing whether your food is burning or not. Professional ovens don’t have windows in them anyway. 🙂
I don’t make beds either, unless I’m changing linens. I have such a crazy life that my house periodically gets neglected. I do a couple of regular chores daily, but there are times where I just can’t get to everything. I have 50 other things to stress over and cleaning isn’t one them.
I do do a spring cleaning every year, but that’s because we have company normally in the spring and summer.
becky h says
I love it. I keep my house very cool year round. My family can put on clothes if they are cold I can only take off so many. With dogs, cats, 3 kids and hardwood floors we have furry tumbleweeds in the halls. We are not sick as a family and my friends don’t need to be impressed with sparkle and shine.
JuliP says
I don’t clean regularly either…..except the toilet, my husband has to clean that every other day….but that’s not the discussion. My sister says that you’re always decorated for Halloween!
Paul B says
I’ve been looking at my oven door with lowered expectations and not even realising it, until now. Then again, I’ve only had it five years. It’s still got another five to go before I need to put time aside to give the glass a good going over lol. As for confession time. We had a decorator in about two years ago to paint the walls of the whole house. To make his job easier, we took down all our pictures and frames and stacked them on the floor to be put back up once the paint had dried. Yup, you guessed it. They’re still there. Procrastinate? Us? No, no no. lol. Pxxx
Marilyn says
Ordinarily I would answer “clean my oven”, since I have a fancy french one without self cleaning capabilities. However, when it started SMOKING yesterday I decided it was time…so yes, I do clean my oven albeit infrequently.
Wendy says
Hi Cathy!
Love your blog, try to read it everyday. 🙂
I don’t fold clean sheets and towels with much care. If it looks kind of like a square or rectangle, I’m fine with it. However, I DO make the bed everyday, even if it’s just before I get in at night. 🙂
Martina says
Thanks to all of you for making me feel completely normal……And I am from one of those obscure litttle Europian countries where windows get washed everyweek and the walkways get sweeped,,,,,
Debby F says
The only thing domestic about me is that I was born in the USA
I was lucky and stayed at home with my kids, which was not easy for me. I’m a better mom, working. But, I did have a weekly housecleaner when my kids were toddlers. At my husbands suggestion. I think it was a hint. Now, we all pitch in.
BTW my MIL cleaned my oven – when she stayed with the kiddos. So I let her. I didn’t want to do it.
AnneLBmom says
So funny! As we establish chores for the kids,”making the bed” is at the top of the list. There I was just the other day thinking about how awkward it was to be teaching that but not really living that (other than the two times you specified) — otherwise it’s a general fluff and go. Then I thought to myself, what do other adults really do! Ha, now I know. Well, at least amongst your readership. 🙂
Kirsten J says
I don’t clean my blinds. Oh, I’ll vacuum the family room blinds if I’m hosting Christmas or something big. But the bedrooms/bathrooms? Those blinds get cleaned if a windy rainy day catches me with an open window. And then I wipe the water off the dusty windowsill (I don’t dust much of anything) and the towel is black, and then I’m forced to finish off the window. So that’s about once every few years. Yikes!
Ad until we got cats (love ’em but hate the fur balls at the same time)….every time my kids saw the vacuum, they’d say “who’s coming over???”
Kate Ware says
Or a nurse. My mom was an RN back in the day, And my sisters and I were all taught how to make a bed with hospital corners and fold sheets (including fitted!) the “correct” way. 😉 Doesn’t mean we do it! LOL!
Laurie says
I don’t clean. I have a cleaning lady come in every other week. I always said that when I got married, I’d have a cleaning service. I HATE cleaning and the idea of cleaning for two people was horrifying. Well, I didn’t get married but I did adopt a baby. At that point I said, “A baby makes two so cleaning service here I come.”
I don’t clean my windows either, much to my mother’s chagrin.
I do make my bed.
Laurie says
By the way, it has never even crossed my mind to clean the window in my oven!
Sara Mangan says
So this post made me look at my oven door and see that it needs to be cleaned. 🙂
I have someone clean a few areas of my house every other week. I don’t dust as often as I should.
I do try to wash our windows once or twice a year. We live on a gravel road surrounded by farm land so they get dirty way faster than I would like.
I rarely dust our baseboards but do keep our bathrooms fairly clean.
Rarely are the beds made in our house but like someone else commented it makes me feel better when they are.
Here is my problem…all of the things I don’t do stress me out and make me feel overwhelmed. How do I fix that??
Tami says
Same here! Crap.
maria helena says
I have one of those old ovens without a glass window, so I can never see what’s going on inside, but I also never have to worry about cleaning (or not cleaning) the oven door.
Terri says
I don’t have a spotless home and never will. I have 2 large dogs, 3 cats and plenty of hair everywhere and foot prints on the kitchen floor. But what I do, each and every day, is make my bed. Really, it takes less than a minute. I get up and give the sheet and comforter a yank and it’s done. I just don’t like looking at it when it’s not made and definitely don’t like getting into an unmade bed at night. Just thought I’d share another perspective on the matter. PS – I don’t clean my oven door either.
justasiam says
I had to google how to clean the inside of the two sections of glass in my oven finally…then took it apart. It was cleaner, but awful to put back together and I don’t think I did it right. I would have been better off not touching it. What a totally stupid way to design a glass window anyway!
Also, I have never ever heard people refer to their parent’s cleaning ability when they are talking about childhood memories. It has always been about baking favourite cookies, playing games and special events and time spent together. Goes to show that it is really not one of the things that is very important in the general scheme of life!
Jana says
I knew there was a reason our 1950’s range didn’t have a window – it must be a professional oven! Ha, we just wipe up spills from our oven when they start to smoke (usually from making apple pies…) otherwise, it all helps impart more flavor ;)…
susan says
Thank God!! Between you and Ali this morning I actually fell normal!!! Thank you ladies for keeping it REAL!!!!
Nicole Geiger says
I just open the oven door to see how things are going – never even considered cleaning the window! Although when some burnt schmutz fell out a few weeks back I did vacuum the inside – I figured a wipe might be too messy. 🙂
Tracy G says
OMG I feel so normal now….does pulling the sheet and blankets up constitute making the bed? That’s as far as it goes at our house, and besides, I’m going to be getting back into it at the end of the day so what’s the point?
While my oven is in need of a good clean, the one thing that is in desperate shape is my refrigerator. While I do sort of a “spot check” on things that spill, crumbs, etc. I haven’t totally emptied the fridge and cleaned all the shelves, drawers, etc. in ages. Maybe someday……
Beate Halvorsen says
I got a sign hanging in my hallway saying “This house is clean enough to stay healthy and messy enough to stay happy.” I live by it.
Jane says
My oven has a window??? … sorry couldn’t see it for all the gunk! Love how you keep it real Cathy and believe me you are not alone – not by a very long shot.
MaryM says
OMG, I’m LOL! I do “make” my bed, which to me is just straightening the comforter. I don’t clean windows. My bathrooms aren’t the cleanest in the land. I don’t use bleach on my whites, because white socks don’t return to white even w/bleach. And my weekly loads of laundry consist of 1) my stuff, 2) my husband stuff, 3) my 13 year old son’s stuff (which he does himself w/a little prompting). No color separation done.
Your post reminds me of that Swiffer Commercial where Mom and Grandma shutter at Daughter’s foot floor cleaning method. My mom and Mother-In-Law’s floors are probably cleaner than my counter-tops. Here’s a link to the commercial.
bdaiss says
Awesome. I was just reading another “here’s my cleaning schedule” post a few days ago, thinking “who really has time for all that?” Answer: only the neurotic. 🙂 Haven’t cleaned my oven door since we moved in 5 years ago. Have cleaned the actual oven once. Mop? Maybe once a year. My house lives on the brink of chaos every day. Like someone farther up said, my husband often says “we should have people over more often! The house is so clean!” And yep, it’s often done in a frantic 2 hour sprint. I gots way mo’ better things to do. (My response to any gripe that our house isn’t clean enough is simple: When you make enough money that I can quit my job, THEN I will make cleaning the house part of my job.)
Sidenote: we have 2 Roomba vacuum cleaners. With 2 kids and 2 cats, they are the best purchase evah. We bought the one that is programmable, so every weekday those babies vacuum my floors. I haven’t used our standard vacuum in 5 years. (Although I guess the hubby had to bust it out when the Christmas tree fell over and a bunch of ornaments shattered. Once in 5 years? Not a bad record…)
Muerinda herrera says
Cathy, I have found baking soda cleans all that burnt stuck on stuff that turns orange. Banking soda is the miracle cleaner.
Makes glass pans clean and stainless steel.. so excited when I learned this trick. Now instead of scrapping or spraying the oven clean.. I make a past of baking soda.
Tina says
I finally cleaned my glass (almost 10 years in this house…it was brand new…now it’s “worn in”) on my stove a couple of weeks ago when I accidentally took the whole front apart (I only wanted to wash the nasty vent part that also hadn’t been washed in nearly 10 years) so I have learned my lesson. Leave it icky 🙂 As for the self cleaning thing…that also hasn’t been done in…ever…and my master bath is more of a storage room for my husband’s crap because the walk in closet is a storage area for the rest of the house’s crap (you know when someone is coming over and you just shove everything somewhere…that’s my somewhere) so we don’t use the garden tub…it’s a cycle. Luckily, I just have boys and they are great at unloading dishes, hanging up shirts onto hangers (not in closets, mind you) and taking out the trash. I will just apologize to any future in laws and leave it at that 🙂
Tina says
P.S. A good friend of mine told me she never makes her bed to prevent the spread of bed bugs 🙂 I totally can get on board that theory!
Debi says
How the heck did you get ahold of my “Don’t List”? Geesh… 😉
denali says
I found out not all that long ago that my grandfather and nearly everyone else in my ancestry were all from Luxembourg 🙂 So, Hi!! *waving merrily*
denali says
I never turn the ceiling fan off… so basically that means I can’t see the streamers dangling from the blades. Ahem.
Gypsy Chaos says
“I’m really happy and satisfied of my work and at least, when you clean it out only once a year you CAN SEE the change *hahahahaha*”
EXACTLY! If I’m going to clean, I want to see results! Otherwise, why clean if you can’t see the difference?
Gypsy Chaos says
deeply cleaned happens each year?? Wow you’re better than I am! 😉
Gypsy Chaos says
That shocked me too. Our self-cleaning oven has decided to clean itself exactly once. Maybe twice. In sixteen years. I have no clue what we did or didn’t do with the door. It’s rather opaque at the moment.
Gypsy Chaos says
Another vote for reducing the frequency of illnesses by allowing dirt, dust, and dead skin cells live in peace.
All three of my kids had more than one school year with perfect attendance!
Rorie says
I don’t clean the oven, I very, very rarely wash windows. (I have 4 boys, 2 of them toddlers, what’s the point?) When it’s sheet changing day, my older boys’ bunkbed might stay sheetless for up to 3 weeks. I hate putting sheets on bunkbeds. (They have no problem sleeping in sleeping bags.) Although I did teach them to put their own sheets on today, so that I don’t have to. 🙂 I don’t like mopping but again, 2 toddlers, so I have to at least mop the kitchen on a regular basis.
Karen Freeman says
Jenny, this is me and was me, I have had a crap year or so feeling just this way. There is light at the end of the tunnel I promise. I wanted to move for that whole reason as well, to force myself to purge and get rid of. I can say this because finally my hubby and I have coordinated and made an effort together to get rid of things and systematically go through things ‘one bite of the elephant’ at a time and yesterday we had the valuer (not to move but for refinance) come in and I did not recognize my house. It felt fabulous and I sit here now with a tidy and much more decluttered house than before.(still heaps to go)
One huge skip(I think the US call them dumpsters)full of green waste, renovation materials, broken bits and pieces and general clutter stuff, two carloads of stuff donated to hospice, one carload of metal to the scrap metal place, recycling coming out our ears to go on the recycling pick up, so so many things. And we are still not done. I have though slowly gone through the clothes that are too small and boxed up those that can go to family, boxed up and donated and given away those that can be used. I was holding onto things so I could sell them and get a bit of money back but in the end the relief of just getting it out of the house was huge.
It does take a long time when you have accumulated stuff like us with 4 kids and the last two being twins, life has been pretty full on. I have prioritized being with my family and kids and that has been great but we needed a chance to declutter as it was getting me down. I do wish you luck and the first bag of clothes that don’t fit passed on to someone else or donated or simply thrown out will feel so good. Thinking of you.
Gypsy Chaos says
You sound overwhelmed! Hey – you SAID that.
May I suggest something? Grab those boxes of outgrown clothing. Stuff them in the car. Drive to your nearest Goodwill. Dream up numbers for various items for the receipt while someone else empties the car. Go home. Marvel at the space. {If you don’t have a nearby Goodwill, I’m sure there’s some place that will take the clothes.}
After the strangeness of space in the hallway wears off, find out where in your town residents can drop off old paint and other household items (car oil, perhaps?). Check the hours too. Load up the car. Drive to the trash drop off. Say good bye to the paint cans. Go home and wonder what to do with more space!
I think you’d feel less overwhelmed after dealing with just those two areas.
PS – in order to sell your current house, and get a good price, you will have to declutter it. Pretend you’re going to put it on the market and declutter. (Easier said than done.)
Karen Freeman says
Love the way you make me feel normal or that I’m not alone. Thanks CZ and all these other lovely ladies.
Gypsy Chaos says
LOL! Karen and I were typing our novellas at the same time! Great minds and all that.
Karen, congratulations on making some headway. I too have things to sell – and after four years of unemployment [just me, not husband], we NEED the money. But ick. Selling things just isn’t my thing. I guess I better change my attitude. I like my house.
cathy says
Ha! Too funny, Paul. : ) I have had the same frames on my bedroom wall for years, and only two of them have photos in them. Two are still empty.
cathy says
It never really did for mine!
cathy says
Yeah, I like to not be stressed about having a clean house. I used to be, more when I was a younger mom. No stress about it now.
cathy says
Hey Terri! Nice to see your name on the blog!
denali says
I don’t have a shower door. I have a shower curtain. With a liner. Which I replace whenever someone comes to stay for a visit. I understand it’s possible to clean those things… but why?!
cathy says
Oh wow, yeah… forgot to add that to the list. HORRIBLE blind cleaner. Thats me.
cathy says
that is next on my list… ive slated it for 2017.
cathy says
Hmmm. Maybe just choose to not be stressed? Sounds oversimplified, but heck, it might work!
cathy says
I take that as high praise!
cathy says
Awww. Shucks. ; )
Gypsy Chaos says
I hate housework. One year, I told my husband I wanted a cleaning service. A recent raise easily would cover the cost. What did that smart[ahem] man say? “Cleaning the house is part of home ownership. No cleaning service.” {{Ok, his real issue is having anyone in our house while we aren’t here. Even found guys who installed AC in the evenings….}} Anyway, when he refused to allow a cleaning service on a regular basis – we’ve had people come in before major parties in the past – I refused to clean.
My husband does the domestic bit. He took over everything except the bathrooms and decorating while I was doing huge amounts of work travel. I can’t do things if I’m not home… I’ve been unemployed for four years; I still don’t do the domestic goddess routine.
Though I *did* clean the baseboards in our bedroom yesterday. I looked down and thought the baseboard had been seriously gouged; no, the dust layer was disturbed in several places…. Swiffer to the rescue. The fan blades are cleaned maybe twice a year, our bathroom fan is done more often because it starts flinging dust bombs after about three months.
I make our bed AKA pull up and straighten the sheets while in bed, then pull up the comforter. Toss two pillows with matching shams over our ugly ones. Done. I didn’t do this for decades. But I realized that our unmade bed was collecting as much dust as the rest of the house…. The sheets are washed about every two or three weeks; try for two but usually it’s three. The sheets go right back, so battling with the fitted sheet isn’t an issue.
Flat surfaces are dusted once a year, when everything is changed for Christmas. This year, the regular decorations are still sitting in a box near the fireplace. Sigh.
My middle child gets much joy out of writing in the dust on my dresser – and rewriting when that patch is deep enough. Brat! He’s 21. Miracles do happen – HE CLEANED THE KID BATHROOM WITHOUT ANYONE COMPLAINING! Usually we tell him and his sister to clean and they argue. Either he’s growing up or we have had an alien invasion.
Cathy, thank you for once again being real – you’ve made many others feel better about the state of our domiciles.
Cleaning must make a difference – if I can’t see a change, why bother?
cathy says
Love it.
cathy says
Yes, it was hard to tell mine did before I cleaned it.
cathy says
Cute commercial! I too own a Swiffer!
rachael robinett says
“I simply adjusted my opacity expectations.” You’re killing me Cathy!! That is great, thanks i needed a good giggle today!!!
cathy says
I have always wondered if a Roomba was worth it. But what I wonder is who posts about their cleaning schedule? Ha! That cracks me up.
cathy says
Great tip!
cathy says
I like that theory!
cathy says
I love it! Sheetless for three weeks. Perfection!
melissa says
The only thing I do from that list is separate the whites. Other wise- no clean oven door, no made beds unless it’s company or clean sheet day, no spotless bathroom, no bleach, and the windows, especially the outside- forget about it! Thanks for making me feel normal! 🙂 Oh, and I moved into my house a year ago and I still have a few pictures leaning against the wall waiting to be hung and a random tote o’ crap that needs a home but once the lid went on it became a great place to throw more crap on top of. That fortunately gets cleared about every week but still, the tote needs to go eventually.
Molly says
I never fully unpack my suitcase until it’s time for the next trip.
AudreyV says
Wow Cathy, you sure picked a post that we all something to say about! When my kids were babies through pre-schoolers, I drove myself crazy trying to keep the house really clean. I feel like I didn’t do much else. I know I missed out on good times with my kids because I was cleaning. I’ve slowly loosened up, because I sincerely believe that after the required things that I have to do, I can spend the remaining time cleaning the house OR scrapbooking, but not both. Simple choice. I do a big clean before company comes, which makes it exhausting, because sometimes I have cleaned for a week before company comes. I do love a clean house, not just not willing to put the time in on a daily basis. I say that anyone who has a really clean house all the time either has a maid, or has no life.
Esther says
The bible says that spiders live in kings palaces, so if I have spiders webs hanging of the ceiling, I feel privileged! As long as the floors are clean and my bed is made, I feel fine. If anything else gets done, it’s a bonus! I try and go by the saying “my house is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy.”
Carolyn Rowland says
Oh Cathy – you slay me. ” I simply adjusted my opacity expectations” You are a genius. I have never cleaned my oven door (2007 installation) and I am moving in a week, so I don’t anticipate it happening. I do make my bed, only because I don’t like the feeling of crawling into an unmade bed. I have even made it right before I got in it.
Karen says
I may have cheered when I read your confession about your oven! I have never really cleaned mine oven doors either. They are embarrassingly dirty. While I do make my bed it is only because it makes some semblance of order in a less than tidy room. But I do not iron except if absolutely necessary and then only mine. My husband does his own. I do not match up socks. And while my boys still lived at home there were many nights I did not do the dishes right after dinner…sometimes not until the next morning. My mother was horrified by this but I insisted that if my boys wanted me to shoot baskets with them or go for a bike ride or have a game of skipbo that this should come first and dishes could wait. And I have never regretted having a sinkful of dirty dishes.
Jess says
Things I don’t do.
– I don’t (or even know how to) clean the oven.
– I don’t make beds
– i don’t dust every week. (Maybe once a month at the most)
– I refuse to clean the toilet
– I think the BBQ has more flavour if it’s not clean
– I don’t garden
Lucky I have someone who does the things I don’t.
Jacquie Desilets says
Cleaning lady. Had one. Took me 2 hours to clean before she got here. Cleaning lady no more. Myself and my three kids make our bed every day. I wash windows and vacuum, clean toilets, you name it, and my house still looks like a bloody bomb went off in it! How is that? I have to say that my kids are awesome at helping out. I don’t stress so much about it as I did in the past, but love a clean home. If I don’t have the time, it doesn’t get done. There is always tomorrow.
Sara S says
This is just another reason to love you Cathy! Look how many women you made happy today by pointing out how normal we are! If I ever win a gabillion dollars in the lottery (which means buying a ticket which I never do), then I will hire a cleaning team and have fresh sheets every day like a hotel but until then my house (and oven window) will just have to stay dirty.
Beth says
Too funny! Just went downstairs to check my oven. It has a button that says ‘Auto Clean’! Who knew? — I guess I would have if I ever thought to clean my oven. lol
SarahJane says
• My mother has TRIED to convince me (FOR YEARS) that making the bed makes it so much more inviting. Personally, I find a non-made bed READY TO CLIMB INTO; therefore, I find MY WAY more inviting!!! I only “make the bed” when putting all new bedding on it OR if company is coming. Thankfully, my husband shares my viewpoint on bed making. • We clean the bottom of the oven IF there is smoke. Think we have cleaned the inside of the oven door only because I had dropped a pie onto it and it splattered all over. • I sweep my floors almost daily, but I have seriously NEEDED to hand-wash them for the past 3 months, but haven’t found the time during daylight hours when I could get it done (w/o help from my 2 and/or 4 year old so… it just has NOT happened! I spot-clean the spills, but wouldn’t EAT OFF OF IT, that’s for sure! • My husband likes the main living parts of our house to remain somewhat picked up; I tend to carry all kinds of papers and garbage into my home office and stash it in a box until I find the time to sort through it, throwing 80% of it into the recycle box. • I don’t floss or exercise daily, knowing that BOTH of these things are best for me. • AND I often go to bed without washing off my makeup. (EEEK! My mom is strongly against THIS, too!) ••• We have tried cleaning the gas burners by soaking them in a ziploc bag with ammonia (which we saw on Pinterest). It works VERY WELL with minimal wiping!
Barb says
*Note* I’m middle aged, single, no kids.
I don’t like to call it a “confessional” as I personally see nothing wrong with how I live my life.
I don’t make the bed, unless company is coming over.
I use paper plates, for almost every meal, except soup or cereal.
I will drink juice straight out of the bottle, and eat spoonfuls of peanut butter straight from the jar.
I don’t like unexpected “drop-in” visitors, and if I am not “house-ready” for company I simply don’t answer the door.
On hot days, I will eat cold cereal for dinner 3 or 4 days in a row.
Kristi Sikora-Blankenship says
There are so many things I do NOT do, I could type for days…. I am always humbled to admit I am not great at flossing until the week before my 6 month check up (unless I get something really stuck in there), and I never do monthly breast self exams…. I always tell my dentist I am horrible at both things….. I only really feel bad about them twice a year at the dentist, and once at the gynecologist….
I have dream of a cleaner, more streamlined, organized home…. but my reality is that it is unlikely until the monsters go to college…. then, I will be missing them so much, I might not have the energy to clean it like I did pre-kids! And, I am OK with that. There is a handprint lower on the wall in our staircase that I intentionally never wiped off or painted over because it makes me remember how small they were, and it makes me feel like we left our little marks on our home…. I love that handprint.
Leah says
I read a quote once that said ” feel free to draw in the dust but please don’t date it.”
I never never leave the house without the beds made but I also never never clean the windows.
Sherripeh says
I pick up new liners for $2.99 at Target. Replacing them every 6 months or so is cheaper than the time and cleaning product needed to freshen them up!
Verity says
My mum always said – “There are more important things to do than housework…like playing music”. She’s a muso. Of course all good girls follow their mum’s advice so I have! 🙂 Ironically, my 7 year old son just gave me a valentine’s card in which he wrote “I love you because you make my bed”. What the? Best I do is straighten it around him when I say goodnight. So, I’m in your glass bottom boat too Cathy. Can’t see the coral ’cause I didn’t clean it.
JoLynn says
Well, this I shall say aloud. I don’t sit at every event, practice, etc, in which my children are involved. I don’t buddy up and vacation with my neighbors (or even my close buds). I don’t walk my dog (well, right now there’s snow higher than he on the ground). I don’t always pay bills on time. Whew, I better stop now…
AmySorensen says
Aw! I LOVE this post! I confess:
1. My stove is three years old and I’ve never done the self-cleaning thing. Ever.
2. I haven’t mopped my kitchen floor since September. (I’ve swept it of course, and wiped up messes and spots…but not all-out mopped.)
3. I don’t iron. If an article of clothing needs to be ironed, I don’t buy it.
4. I don’t usually make the beds either.
I feel better having confessed. Except…I don’t really care! 🙂
Sandra says
My first thought was – “People clean the oven door????” Didn’t know that was possible. My second thought was, I guess you need to use the actual oven to make it dirty in order to need to clean it. So I’m good I think!
cake says
so do I 🙂
cake says
Now that’s a surprise for me, most of the time nobody knows that my country exists 😉
cake says
Wow … now I’m really happy !!!
Maureen says
Hmmm, clean the oven door glass window? Nope.. Not since we got the stove in 2008. Guess I should look into this…. lol
-Beds? Sometimes but not always.
-Bathroom- nope (my husband does this chore – by choice!).
-Windows? Sure, the ones on the first floor and the inside of the second floor windows but we don’t have a ladder tall enough to reach the 2nd floor from the outside. Oh and the foyer windows inside and out – again, no ladder to get to these.
-Separating the whites and colors? yeah right… I do laundry by the criteria “Does it have to line dry or can it be put into the dryer”. One pile for each, twice a week.
The major cleaning I do is when my parents or my inlaws are coming for a visit. Otherwise it’s a straighten up, dust and vacuum through the middle sort of thing.
Time spent with my husband when we are both actually home at the same time is far more important to me than a perfectly clean house and consistently done chores!
Glad we are all normal! :o)
Cathy L. says
I don’t do all of things on your list PLUS I don’t clean the blinds, I don’t fold my laundry right out of the dryer, I don’t clean up the dishes everyday. I have a cleaning lady every two weeks. I work full time and my weekends are important – not spending all of time off cleaning.
Anna Aspnes says
I don’t iron. Ever.
Julie Finch says
I love you more and more every time I read your blog! 🙂 I can relate. I don’t even KNOW how long I’ve had my oven, (probably 16 years) and never cleaned the glass. I have googled it, but thats as far as I got! 🙂 Thanks for putting a smile on my face so early in the morning!
ana roat says
I’m OCD big time. I can’t leave a bed unmade, dirty dishes in the sink and mail on the counter. Clutter makes me crazy and the laundry has to be sorted and washed accordingly. I sweep daily and mop weekly. I pick up the livingroom each night before we go to bed and clean our one and only bathroom weekly and sometimes twice a week. BUT, this works for me. It keeps me happy. Stuff I don’t do…clean the oven door? I read on pinterest how you should take the door off and unscrew it to clean inside the glass. SERIOUSLY? I took our vaccuum apart once to clean it out and the very next time I used it, it exploded! Even OCD folks have their limitations 🙂
Melissainsc says
I don’t garden. I don’t clean the house that much although I’d love it to be much cleaner than it usually is. Bathroom and kitchen definitely get the most attention. I don’t wear makeup much at all–just for extra spacial occasions. I don’t style my hair, I don’t shop, I don’t redecorate (OK that is mostly because my DH has heart palpitations over change of any kind). I do cook, eat, read, sleep, sing, scrap, walk the dogs, spend as much time with the family as they or I can stand (we are all introverts so we often just hang out in separate rooms doing our own thing and are perfectly happy with that).
I think you are completely normal. The other good news is that you don’t have to tackle the oven door again for another 10 years. With luck, you’ll just replace the oven before then.
P.S. I can clean. When we need to turn an apartment, I can get in there and make it sparkle. then I go home and look at my house and figure I’m done cleaning and can live with a bit of dirt for a while. Ha
Gabriella says
So, can we just send these comments to my mother-in-law so she’ll realize I’m not the only one?
cathy says
I love hearing people admit this! : )
cathy says
I think I need to post more of my dirty little secrets….
cathy says
Kristi, you and me both on the flossing thing. I try, I REALLY do.
cathy says
I too clean majorly when my parents are coming. So they wont judge me. Ha!
cathy says
: ) Thanks for coming to read.
cathy says
BOOM!
cathy says
I cannot imagine vacationing with friends or neighbors. ha!
cathy says
LOL!
cathy says
I know that for some people, myself included, certain things make you feel much better. I like my family room to be clean (very easy as there is SO little in there. : )
cathy says
I love drinking straight from the bottle! and, cereal for dinner? Brilliant.
DaniH says
I have that exact print hanging in our pantry (which is a mess)!
Orgeluse says
another european reader… now its confession time for me too:
– i do not iron at all. not one piece.
– i rarely clean my windows.
– i don’t even know what blind-cleaning is
– i don´t make my bed
– i have no cleaning schedule – everybody seems to have one and even follow it – have a look at pinterest: people seem to have filofaxes for the purpose of planning their cleaning!
– i never open my shoes before i doff them. and i am angry about that every other day when i want to put them on.
Orgeluse says
– ah and i don´t change the little one every time his shirt is stained.
Elizabeth A says
I learned my cleaning mantra from an elderly woman on a golf course many years ago: Heaven is full of great housekeepers.
Suzy says
You sound like me. 🙂 I don’t do the windows or the oven either. My bathroom isn’t the cleanest, but it’s good enough. I don’t do baseboards or spring cleaning. But one thing I did for myself last year that I’m totally doing again — I hired professional cleaners to come deep clean my home for Mother’s Day. I got a great deal on Amazon Local and I loved how clean my home was (& then I could totally justify my relaxed approach to cleaning the rest of the year). Can’t wait to do it again this year!
Karol says
Ok, after reading this post I realized how many things I don’t do as an adult. So, I decided to start small scale and tackle the toaster oven! I was so thrilled once I finished cleaning it (it had never been properly clean). Thanks for the inspiration. Who knows what I will tackle next. Baseboards, watch out, I’m coming for ya.
cathy says
Okay, Suzy, I LOVE that idea. Love, love, love. A once a year splurge. Im so doing that. You found that on Amazon you say?
Marianne says
“If you’re coming to see my house, make an appointment. If you’re coming to see me, come any time.” This is a motto I live by….
Marge says
for the love of all that’s sacred, please warn us when you’re going to toss out phrases like “adjusted my opacity expectations!” One could drown on an inhaled carbonated beverage!!! LOL That said, I now need to find the clorox wipes, somewhere under the kitchen sink, and clean my keyboard and pullout desk drawer — they’re going to be sticky if I don’t….not that I really care, but I’m sure it would gross out the hubby!!!LOL
And for the record…my oven door is polka dotted — pretty sure it’s where a lasagna exploded and just baked on in the cleaning cycle!! 🙂 And yep, I’m okay with that…adds character!! LOL
cathy says
I love that. : )
cathy says
Im going to use that all the time.
Nat says
“Dull women have immaculate homes.” <<< The cute framed sign that's been hanging in my mother's house for at least 3 decades.
glee says
and this dear woman is why we love you so. Cause we sure as hello don’t waste our time doing things like that either!!!
glee says
I’m pretty sure IRON is a four letter word!!
Shereen says
Oh Cathy, I’m beginning to think we were separated at birth, except windows. I can’t stand dirty windows. NOT that they’re washed weekly, but at LEAST twice a year, or whenever I can’t stand it anymore (whichever comes first). And the windshield in my car, must be spotless! My don’t do is the basement. Otherwise known as the dungeon. Also known as my husband and sons dumping ground. My daughter and I made some pretty good progress on cleaning it out a couple of years ago. But that turned into more space for dumping. One of these daysssss!
Tracy says
Guess what?! You’re normal. I don’t make my bed either – why bother when I’m just going to get into it again? I clean the house windows maybe once per year, and even then, its only the ones I can reach without assistance from anything. And the oven door? Please.
Yvonne Michelle says
I absolutely LOVE this post! I don’t bother with creating my own handwriting font. I’d rather download a bunch of cool, different ones. I’ll grab a Sharpie & my scanner if I want something in my own handwriting in a layout. I don’t make the beds either… I DO like an organized garage. I like to park my car in there without worrying if a ladder will fall on it. I don’t care if my kids wear matching clothes. My oldest daughter loved having “rainbow” socks. The colors always matched her outfit, but rarely matched each other. I DO worry about spelling, grammar & capitalization… I stress if a post has any one of those done incorrectly. I don’t have a problem cutting negative people & drama freaks out of my life. I delete friends on Facebook with no problem. I DO cultivate meaningful relationships… My best friend has been my BFF since Kindergarten. I don’t care if I can see what I’m cooking, I barely know how to work my oven without help from my kids. I don’t care if my children swear like a sailor but I DO care if they lie…
Lida says
I definitely relate to cleaning for company. That’s the only way to get my house is some neat order, invite company!
Of course, we haven’t invited anyone over in 6 months, so it’s time for a semi-annual clean-up, time to invite company over!
Your daughter is a wise young lady!
chrystal says
The ONLY reason my house is clean is because I have a cleaning lady come every other week. After I had a baby (he’s 2 now), I decided I’d rather play with him (after work and on weekends) than clean my house. Ha! Luckily, my husband (also named Dan!)agreed. Sometimes I feel guilty about the money it costs, but it certainly lowers my stress level.
That said, the one thing I do religiously is dishes – every night after dinner. A sink with dirty dishes is a pet peeve. 🙂
Angel says
Love all the comments. I am definitely not a “dull” person. I try to pick up around the house and generally the kitchen is clean but our house definitely looks “lived in”. I had to laugh – over the Christmas holidays we tidied up for company. My eight-year old son walked into the entryway and said “I don’t like the house clean. It doesn’t feel like home”. I loved it – my DH wasn’t too happy (he’s more the neat freak). Love your blog Cathy! You always make me feel like you’re just one of the gang
Kelly says
When i was a teen i truly believed i would be successful enough and rich enough that i would have a cleaner and so i always did a once over lightly job. My mother used to tell me off regularly. Upshot is that i really have no idea of how to clean properly. Shameful. And we don’t have a cleaner.
Sheila says
Ha! I actually had to go look at my oven door. But realized with the light off you can’t see a thing. And then realized I NEVER turn on the light. The window is so close to the ground (no drawer) that I must instinctively just open the door to peek. So, I don’t anticipate cleaning any time soon… I do clean the kitchen windows and sliding glass door on occasion, but the rest are frosted (bathrooms) or have sheers, so what’s the point?? And the beds?? Never!!!
Kelly says
Hi cake… I lived in Belgium for four years, travelled to and through Luxembourg regularly. Best part…. Lovedthat luxlait was available in the little supermarket in my gemeente ….it was soooo good to get fresh milk that tasted so like our nz milk rather than the dodgy uht variety the dutch and flemish seemed to prefer!! 😀
cindy b says
LOL Becky! I’ve preached that same thing for MANY years: they can ADD clothes and I can only take off so much! 🙂
theresa says
cleaning the oven door also falls under the cateogy of “things I don’t do” but in my house…it gets done anyway, because my awesome, fabulous father in law came over just yesterday and cleaned mine (yes, I’m serious). Apparently, it even takes a village to clean an oven!
Wendy says
Various magazines insist that you should clean out the vent on your fridge and I must confess, I don’t even know where the vent is, let alone how to remove it and/or wash it. Windows get done when they’re embarassingly funky and not before. I couldn’t even tell you what may or may not be living under my bed because I don’t venture there. For what it’s worth, the “I simply adjusted my opacity expectations” line made me laugh out loud. Methinks I will be using that one for many things in my future.
Wendy says
Marge, I did the exact same thing! Mere moments later I had the opportunity to tell a coworker that perhaps they should adjust their opacity expectations. Just one more reason I love Cathy!
dawn says
I loved reading this Cathy, so funny and so true. We don’t clean our oven door, don’t separate whites, don’t vacuum behind furniture or the blinds or the shower curtain that often. I do like my bed made, always have and probably always will. My one daughter likes her bed made and the other 3 don’t.
Thanks for the laugh and knowing there are others out there like this too.
Jessica B says
I just live this! I really needed a hell yes I completely agree button while I was reading these comments! And I think I wouod have to us emy oven more than three times a year to make it necessary to clean it.
Gabriella says
My children enjoy playing with dust bunnies, germs strengthen our immune system, and Marie Pasteur never cleaned out her fridge and look at what she invented.
kristin says
i SO NEEDED TO READ THIS TODAY. 🙂 thanks. i grew up with a mom who, when she was young, would clean her room when she was stressed out (or memorize words from the dictionary). in this way, i take after my father, way more relaxed… but still sort of want the ‘comforts’ of a super clean home. too bad none of my kids have shown the gene my mom has. 😉 (maybe because the oldest is 7, and it hasn’t shown up yet?????)
Helen says
Thanks as always for keeping it real Cathy – love your work! From Australia
Vivian says
Got my painter’s blade today. Question? Do you just pull up a chair and start scraping or do you wet the glass first or what? Thanks.
Cathy Zielske says
Wow, it’s been so long since I did it… I think I did wet it down with a cloth or Windex… then scraped!