Maybe you shouldn't let the housework go

I received so much advice from everyone to "just take care of the babies and don't worry about housework."

Sounded good to me. Only I found it made things worse. I felt out of control and frazzled all the time.

So I tried something new. I decluttered and became a cleaning freak. Who would have thought that 5.5 weeks after having twins my house would be cleaner than it ever has been. It is hard to find the time, but I squeeze in a quick sweep here and a dusting there. It has made me feel SO good. I spend so much time in the house now and having it spotless is not only enjoyable and relaxing, but also empowering. It makes me feel like a superwoman to be able to balance the babies and have my house looking great.

I'm certainly not judging anyone, but thought I would share my experience. It has made me feel so much better throughout the day and I find I am much happier than I was when I was following the advice to "let it go." Just thought I would share in case others are feeling overwhelmed. Give it a shot.

 

I'm glad you figured out what works for you! I have trouble letting the housework go myself. Luckily for me, we have a housecleaner -- but even when the babies were little, I found that I did feel much better about things if I just kept things tidied and picked up. WTG supermom! :clapping:

 

:Clap: I'm glad you found your "outlet" and that was the same case for me. I felt much better if my house was clean/organized because then I felt like I could concentrate on the kids and not how much laundry was piling up. :wacko:

:hug:

 

:woo: Glad that worked out for you! I can remember feeling overwhelmed by the housework in those early days (heck, I still do now). I found that concentrating on a room a day helped me to feel better and like I was accomplishing something.

 

It's the same way for me! I feel all discombobulated/frustrated when housework piles up. Having things neat, clean, and orderly, makes me feel SO much better! I'm glad you have found what works for you! Way to go SuperMoM!

 

Oh, I can't sit down to relax for even a minute if things aren't clean & tidy. Drives me :wacko: . But I will be the first to tell other people to let it go if they are feeling overwhelmed. Whatever works for each person is the way to go. Glad you found that cleaning helps!

 

I'm glad you found what works for you!

 

I totally know what you mean.. it drives me mental to live in a dirty house! But, I think for me, letting the housework "go" is more like not beating myself up too much if I don't get to every bit of it every day. I do like to keep things tidy though.. life gets too chaotic if there's a bunch of clutter around.

 

:woo: that's great.

I too like a clean house and when it's chaotic I feel chaotic.

Personally I don't think when people say you should "let the housework go" that anyone means not to do housework totally. That's just crazy.
I do think when they say that, they mean don't sweat the small stuff. Sometimes spending the extra 20 minutes doing something with your kids is more important than getting the laundry done that day and you shouldn't feel guilty for prioritizing your kids. It doesn't mean don't ever do the laundry.

At least that's how I have always taken that comment.

 

I'm right there with you! Even before the twins, I couldn't sit down if my house wasn't clean. If I tried (or try) to sit down and there was a load of clothes to be folded or clean dishes in the dishwasher, I wasn't relaxing. After having the girls, I, too, thought I'd try and go by everyone's advice and let the housework go and merely nap when they nap. Not only did I not do that, I didn't have the desire to. To me, having newborn twins AND a dirty house would have been 100x harder than just newborn twins.

I must say, I agree with the others. To anyone who this doesn't work for, that is fine. Everyone should do what is best for them. To me, personally, cleaning and organizing has always been refreshing and relaxing.

 

Agreed! We clean the house every week (it's DH, the boys & myself); do baby laundry every second day RIGHT after baths, try to make the bed every day (although with naps, sometimes I feel like what's the point!) and I HAVE to get out of the house everyday, so if we need something, I run & go get it. We're pretty lucky- we have a grocery store, Super Target & Wal-Mart within 2 miles of us.

One of the most frustrating things about being pregnant was not being able to do much for myself and living in relative filth. I see dirt, DH sees mess. We're either really neat & clean or a pigsty!

Michelle

 

DITTO! :Clap:

 

I completely agree. Housework is my happy time. Its weird, almost addictive and the feeling when its all done, awesome!!! Although, we all no its never all done, its a perpetual cycle but hey, what can you do.... but I know I can't handle living in messy.