That “New Family” Smell…
Posted on June 17th, 2009 – 11:27 AMBy Kay Krhin
I was reading Kim Yeager’s interview with Mrs. Meyer (of the Meyer’s Clean Day products) and had visions of a sparkling, squeaky clean house that smells all aromatherapuetic and lavender-y.
I can’t complain too much. I married Mr. Clean. He likes to decompress after a tough day by doing the dishes or wiping the counters. This makes him happy.
I will gladly oblige. In fact, he asked for a 6-pack of sponges for Father’s Day. The good scrubby kind. Okay. I can do that.
But even Mr. Clean has come to terms with this fact: when it comes to balancing priorities between a clean house and caring for two little ones. Hands down: Two little ones win.
Although both of us are working on trying to keep on top of it; we are currently residing in a sticky-floored-house-of-crumbs-and dust bunnies. Crummy-dog-hair-dust bunnies actually. They blow around like tumbleweeds underneath the furniture and we could probably fashion ourselves a litter of crummy Golden Retriever puppies if we packed them all together.
Then there is the phantom smell. I know I’ve talked about it before - but I am certain our house smells like wet dog and diapers - but it’s hard to tell. We think our nostrils are burned out and acclimated to the odor. No matter how many windows are open, no matter how many scented candles are burning - we just know there is some “busy family” scent hanging in the air.
Peter honestly asked some friends when they came over last weekend. “Does our house smell? Did you get a waft of something kinda doggish or diaper-y when you walked in the door? Seriously. ‘Cause we just can’t tell.”
They politely said. “No.” but I know they were lying. Then they told us they were certain their house smelled of litter-box and sweaty socks. (they have a cat and two boys).
When it comes to keeping house - it seems like it boils down to how much mess can you tolerate before you crack, go on a cleaning spree or call in the maids.
(But maids would stress me out too much. You have to pick up before they come.
Is that what you pay for? The incentive to clean, to pay someone to clean?)
We just reached our “I can’t stand this mess anymore meltdown cracking point.”
After working hard, Peter and I gazed at one clutter free sparkling clean room in our house last night. The living room.
Just one room reflecting order.
We marveled at it took it all in, gazed proudly upon it
and wondered how long it would stay that way…..
I know we’re not alone on this one. How do you manage some semblance of order in your busy household?
20 Responses to "That “New Family” Smell…"
I don’t manage any semblance of order. I gave up long ago. In fact, because our younger son has speech therapy tomorrow in our living room, tonight will be the cleaning frenzy.
A two year old, a 5 year old and a 65 pound puppy make keeping a clean house impossible. We have our good moments, but they don’t often last!
Thank you, thank you thank you. My husband and I are always fighting about this. We can’t keep it clean. I say it would help if he would actually use the stick vac instead of just sweeping everything into a corner and then never picking it up; he says we just need to sell all the kids toys. I’d love to manage at least keeping the main floor under control but as soon as we pick up, the girls get so excited to have all this space to play in…
We don’t manage. I had to take a sick day from work (shh!) to stay home on a day when the kids were at daycare and actually clean. I cleaned everything. It lasted less than a day. I don’t even mind the toys, but the crumb-coated fur bunnies floating around drive me crazy. 3 kids + 2 cats + 1 dog = no hope of keeping a tidy house. I’m mostly over it. It’s more important that the kids are clean and fed, really. And pretty much all of our friends have little kids, so they get it.
Genius idea with the sick day “E” - hey sane days are sick days in my book. I know, it’s frustrating to see the hard work go for naught almost as soon as the kids wake up.
Agreed friends with kids understand. When anyone is coming over to BBQ and asks what to bring I say “low expectations.”
We have 4 dogs, a 2 1/2 year old, and a 6 week old, AND we live in the country. I generally manage to pick up toys and such and put them away at the end of the day, but really, getting dishes and laundry washed and put away trumps vacuuming and dusting. When we’ve got people coming over, then my husband and I go into a cleaning frenzy, and it lasts until the visitors leave. If we’re lucky.
Kay - Re “low expectations”
I am long past having young children myself. My motto has always been to tell visiting family, “As long as your expectations are low, you won’t be disappointed.” Just have carried that attitude throughout raising my own children to now having grandchildren.
Our house is currently on the market and I am going CRAZY trying to keep it clean. The 12 year old hates making his bed and keeping his room clean all the time and keeps complaining that ‘all the good toys’ are in storage. And well, the 18 month old is an 18 month old and he refuses to make his bed and clean his room as well. Thankfully my hubby is helping tremendously, but I did notice that his ‘man cave’ is slowly deteriorating as well. Can’t wait until it sells and we can get back to our normal cluttered house!
We make sure to always keep our room clean so that there is at least one room in our house clean at all times. It helps that mostly we don’t let the kids in our room. The cleanliness in our house goes in spurts, we’ve been trying to keep it somewhat straightened so that when one of us has a burst in energy then we wipe down counters, vacuum and mop. But mostly I think its more important to spend time with our kids than it is to be spending every spare moment cleaning. Which is what it turns out to be cleaning up after a 3 yr old and 1 yr old.
It is very hard to keep a clean house with little ones. We have a 2 year old and we did have a dog was well, but he is gone now. Best source I have found for ideas in cleaning the house is http://www.flylady.net. Her approach is to use babysteps and routines. It really does work. Our house is not spotless, we have the sticky floors as well, but investing in a scooba helped a lot with that. I must thank my husband for buying it. I thought it would be a waste of money. Anyway, Cheers to all of the moms out there trying to keep a good home, spend time with family and maybe have a minute or two for yourself. 
With an almost two year-old and two dogs, plus with both my husband and I working full-time jobs outside of the home, cleaning becomes very low on the priority list. Like others, we will have a burst of cleaning right before someone comes over - otherwise the only priority is dishes and laundry. Besides, with the nice weather and gardening - who has the desire to clean? It is definitely more fun to be outside…
Michelle, I’m afraid of the flylady. Mostly because starting seems so overwhelming, even with baby steps!
Our house is always pretty messy too. I try to just do one thing each day. One day it might be bathrooms. The next day it might be dusting and vacuuming. The day after that might be nothing, but I really don’t care all that much. The kids come first and a messy house is okay with me.
The cleaning lady was the best investment my husband and I have ever made…four hours a week of heavy cleaning off my shoulders is a godsend. I was worried in the beginning about having to clean before she came over, but as long as I control the clutter, I’m over it. Makes me resent my slob husband so much less.
I actually got my 3 year old to mop the kitchen and entry yesterday. He thought it was great fun. It might not be perfect, but it was better then it was.
Mainly, we don’t manage. But what I do like to do is automate as much as possible. Roomba Scheduler for the win! I schedule our Roombas to sweep every day while we’re at work. It forces us to keep the floor picked up, and then we come home to freshly swept floors. With a 1-year-old and two cats, Roombas are good investments.
Hmmm - maybe I’ll need to seriously upgrade the Father’s Day gift from sponges to a robot?
We really have entered the Jetsons age when we have robot “maids” no?
It is nice to know that we are not the only one. I love a clean house but it is impossible. I work two jobs and my daughter is my first priority. I am currently pregnant with twins. My house will never be fully clean until they are much older and can help. I try to clean one room to my standards each week. At least I will have one room clean for a short time. I also try to rotate the rooms. Every once in a while I do have cleaning sat mornings where we turn on music and try to clean as much as possible. We make it fun for everyone. I have also started having my 3 year old help with doing the dishes, taking turns sweeping, laundry, wiping down the dining room table. She loves to help.
We do manage to keep up, but I am well aware that it is an illness that I have. When I go to bed at night the house needs to be in order, the dishes need to be washed, and things need to be ready for the next day. Now that we have been going like this for 4 years with a child, it is like clock work, and my husband is a great help. He now knows what needs to be done and I almost never have to ask. We have our second child on the way, due in October,and we have already talked about how we are going to handle the added load. For us, it is all about planning. When we have to clean the house, it is just that, clean. We can do top to bottom in under 3 hours, and that is including floors. Again, it is a bit of an illness for me, but I wouldn’t be able to function in anything else. My classroom is run the same way…it is a part of me, and I think that is what makes it easy for us.
I’m with Kim…my goal each day (after doing the daily things that MUST be done, like dishes, sorting mail, folding laundry, etc.) is to spend just 15 minutes a night on SOMEthing…maybe tonight all the sheets get changed, or the bathroom gets (mostly) cleaned, or the floors get mopped, or whatever. And hey, if I miss a night…so be it.
It helps keep me sane to know I’m at least doing a LITTLE something. And this way no part of the house is ever a TOTAL disaster…!
That said, I do love Kay’s low expectations line. I’m stealing it! And Chris…we just took our house OFF the market after 2.5 months of spotlessness. SHEER. HEAVEN.
After years of thinking about it, I just hired a cleaning person. We realized we needed this after spending the majority of Memorial Day weekend ignoring the kids while we cleaned the house top to bottom. I think I am paying for the discipline that it forces us to have picking up before she comes, etc. Plus, it motivates me to try to keep on top of clutter so that I get the bang for the buck in between cleanings. I am not a naturally tidy person so this has been wonderful for us.
