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laundry and house cleaning poll - for those with little ones!



 
 
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  #1  
Old December 17th 05, 12:12 AM posted to misc.kids,misc.kids.moderated
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Default laundry and house cleaning poll - for those with little ones!

dkhedmo wrote:

With a 5.5yo and a 1.5yo, I'm killing myself trying to keep up with the
mounds of laundry that accumulate and I'm wondering if I'm creating my
own circle of hell by using too many clothes over the course of the
day/week. So, a little poll on laundry and other housecleaning items...


I read somewhere that housework is a mix of "prettifying" and making things
hygienic. Mine are a lot older, but thinking back to when I had kids
that sort of age - as a point of reference, I've got three kids with
two years between each pair.

How many sets of clean, fresh pajamas do you use per week per child?


I'd change them after a week, unless they were dirty sooner. Some kids
stay clean a lot better then other kids: so one of my three would
probably need a clean set every other day, the others would last a week.

If you live in a cold climate and use undershirts, leggings under the
clothes, etc, how often do you put on a clean, fresh item?


Underclothes would all be changed daily.

For those with partners working in a "professional" environment, are you
ironing dresshirts or blouses, or sending them to the cleaners?


I'd wash the shirts, but DH would iron them. He was also in charge of
the dry-cleaning schedule, although I'd sometimes take them in or collect
them.

For the members of the household who shower/bathe every day or nearly
every day, how often does each person get a fresh towel? For those who
bathe only a few times a week, does that person get a clean towel every
time?


We'd have a set of two or three bath towels out, and they would be used
by all members of the family. I think I'd probably change them at least
weekly.

How often do you change the bedsheets?


My aim would be weekly: OTOH, when I lived in residential accomadation
at college, we'd be provided with two sheets and get a single fresh one
once a week.

Do you ever get all the laundry put away, or are you living out of
laundry baskets?


I used to aim to put some clothes away every day, but rarely got everything
away.

How often do you thoroughly clean the primary/only bathroom?


I'd aim to clean the loo, bath, basin and floor over the course of a
week, although it might be all done on the same day.

How often do you mop the kitchen floor? Do you do any floor maintenance
between moppings?


I'd aim to mop it weekly, but I needed to brush up crumbs after every meal.

For those living in the stone age with NO AUTOMATIC DISHWASHER, how
often do you do dishes over the course of a day?


They'd be two sessions over the course of the day - DH would do them
in the evenings, and I'd do them in the morning.

If you're not much of a housekeeper, or having a very busy day or week,
what are your "bare minimum" items that you do daily or weekly?


On a busy day, I'd aim to clear away all the meals, and wipe up any spills
in the kitchen. One website ( http://www.organizedhome.com - I found the
forums here extremely helpful) talks about "dinner, duds and dishes" as
being the absolute minimum. You need food, clothes and to wash the dishes,
and that is about it.

When my kids were this sort of age, I'd think in terms of what I'd want to
get done over the course of a week.

Any particular comments from those without a partner, or an absentee
partner (away for work, school at night, etc) trying to handle the brunt
of the household responsiblilities?

Looking for a little perspective, becuase I perpetually feel at least
day and a half behind.


Its the age of your children: as they get older your house will begin
to look better, and be easier to keep clean.

--
Penny Gaines
UK mum to three

  #2  
Old December 17th 05, 12:58 PM posted to misc.kids.moderated
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Posts: n/a
Default laundry and house cleaning poll - for those with little ones!

dkhedmo wrote:

With a 5.5yo and a 1.5yo, I'm killing myself trying to keep up with the
mounds of laundry that accumulate and I'm wondering if I'm creating my
own circle of hell by using too many clothes over the course of the
day/week. So, a little poll on laundry and other housecleaning items...


How many sets of clean, fresh pajamas do you use per week per child?


He has always gotten daily fresh pajamas (though he often chooses to
sleep in the clothes he has worn the day before---we require that he
take off the trousers and the socks). We make sure to have enough
pajamas, sweat pants, ... that they only need laundering weekly.

If you live in a cold climate and use undershirts, leggings under the
clothes, etc, how often do you put on a clean, fresh item?


Underclothes would all be changed daily.

Same here, though we are not in a cold climate. Socks also need to be
changed daily. If he wishes to sleep wearing socks, that requires a
second pair for the day.

For those with partners working in a "professional" environment, are you
ironing dresshirts or blouses, or sending them to the cleaners?


I'm a professor--I can wear rumpled clothes.
If I want something ironed, I iron it myself (a rare event).
We haven't sent anything to the cleaners for years.

For the members of the household who shower/bathe every day or nearly
every day, how often does each person get a fresh towel? For those who
bathe only a few times a week, does that person get a clean towel every
time?


We change towels about weekly, but it depends on how fast the towels
dry. If there are no dry towels when I take my morning shower, I get
a new one out of the cupboard. We probably use 5 bath sheets (big
towels) a week for 3 people, with two showering daily and one having a
bath every other day.

How often do you change the bedsheets?


Weekly, with additional monthly cleaning of futon cover on child's bed
to reduce dust mites.

Do you ever get all the laundry put away, or are you living out of
laundry baskets?


The clean laundry is usually stacked on the sofa or living room chairs
until someone runs out of underpants, then it gets put away.

How often do you thoroughly clean the primary/only bathroom?


The sinks and toilets get cleaned about weekly, the rest monthly or
less often. We only do a thorough cleaning when we expect guests.

How often do you mop the kitchen floor? Do you do any floor maintenance
between moppings?


Mopping is weekly or less often. Sweeping is about every two-three days.
Spot cleaning of spills is frequent---whenever there is a spill.

For those living in the stone age with NO AUTOMATIC DISHWASHER, how
often do you do dishes over the course of a day?


When on sabbatical without a dishwasher, I would do the dishes after
supper each day (my wife prepared the meals) and sometimes after
breakfast to keep the sink clear. At home, we generally run the
diswasher daily and clean pots and pans by hand every 2-3 days
(depending on how fast they pile up and how soon we need them).

If you're not much of a housekeeper, or having a very busy day or week,
what are your "bare minimum" items that you do daily or weekly?


Need to have clean clothes, which means keeping up with the laundry.
With one child and 2 adults, this has meant approximately daily
laundry loads (though more often 3 loads one day then none for 2-3 days).

Clean dishes are needed for eating, and the kitchen sink has to remain
accessible, so dishes need to be washed when the sink starts to fill
up.

The toilet has to remain functional, so the plunger needs to be used
whenever there is a clog.

Walkways in the house have to be kept free of tripping hazards (though
the rest of the floor may be covered in toys, unfinished projects, ...).

Almost all other housekeeping is for comfort rather than safety.
Comfort levels vary enormously---my mother could not have lived
comfortably in my house--she could not have tolerated the mess that
our family accepts as normal.

Any particular comments from those without a partner, or an absentee
partner (away for work, school at night, etc) trying to handle the brunt
of the household responsiblilities?


No help here---we have always been a 2-parent household (except for a
few weeks after I had a serious bike accident). Neither of us likes
doing housework though, so our house would never be held up as a model
for those who care about tidiness.

------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin Karplus http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/~karplus
Professor of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz
Undergraduate and Graduate Director, Bioinformatics
(Senior member, IEEE) (Board of Directors, ISCB)
life member (LAB, Adventure Cycling, American Youth Hostels)
Effective Cycling Instructor #218-ck (lapsed)
Affiliations for identification only.

  #3  
Old December 17th 05, 02:39 PM posted to misc.kids.moderated
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Posts: n/a
Default laundry and house cleaning poll - for those with little ones!

Kevin Karplus wrote:
dkhedmo wrote:

With a 5.5yo and a 1.5yo, I'm killing myself trying to keep up with the
mounds of laundry that accumulate and I'm wondering if I'm creating my
own circle of hell by using too many clothes over the course of the
day/week. So, a little poll on laundry and other housecleaning items...

snip

I didn't see this whole post, and I've responded to other things,
except I didn't see the request below.

In general, we did one load of laundry a week per person. So when dh
and I were first married, I did one load of whites and one of colored
clothes a week. As the babies came along I did more laundry,
especially, as I mentioned with washing diapers. A baby added more
than one load a week. Even with diaper service it was more like 2
loads a week. In those days, I had a washer, but no dryer, so I hung
the wash out on the line.

Any particular comments from those without a partner, or an absentee
partner (away for work, school at night, etc) trying to handle the brunt
of the household responsiblilities?


No help here---we have always been a 2-parent household (except for a
few weeks after I had a serious bike accident). Neither of us likes
doing housework though, so our house would never be held up as a model
for those who care about tidiness.

My dh was in the Navy and would be out on the ship for extended
periods - from 2 weeks to 6 months. I was a SAHM. When the babies
were little, sometimes I would go home to my mom if it was a several
month deployment. Once I even left them with my folks, and went to
meet him in various ports.

But after they got to school age, there wasn't much difference between
when he was there and when he wasn't. We knew when we got married
that he was going to be deployed from time to time, so I did all the
household budgeting etc even when he was home. The big difference was
that if something on the car broke, he wasn't there to fix it. And of
course I didn't have his laundry to do.

Twice during the 20 years he was in the Navy he was at school - once
Post Graduate School and once Test Pilot School. Neither time did he
go to the extreme of making the kids say goodnight to him under the
door of the study like one friend did. He was still accessible as a
father and husband because he thought that was important. I
understand that this isn't always the case.

My dd#2's husband went to law school after they had a child - she was
working to support them. She was an airline pilot working out of
Miami and he was going to school in Wisconsin. He was supposed to
take the child to the nursery and pick him up when dd was working or
in transit. She did all the housework and laundry, but she would be
gone for 3 or 4 days at a time, 4 or 5 times a month.

But after the first semester, he said it took too much of his time
away from studying to do that (their child was about the age of your
youngest). So for the following year, she took our grandson with her
when she commuted from Madison to Miami, and had to find someone to
baby sit with him while she was working.


grandma Rosalie

 




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laundry and house cleaning poll - for those with little ones! dkhedmo General 141 December 22nd 05 06:38 PM
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