I'm reevaluating 'normal' these days.
I spent 2 weeks getting my house inspection ready, and then 103 degree fevers (my son and I were both sick as dogs) and just generally feeling like I was hit by that thing in the movie Labyrinth that's a cross between a tunnel drill/ snowplow/ eggbeater... then dipped in lead... with heads clogged enough to bump Kleenex into record profits for the quater... then run over again 2 or 3 times for good measure...
... And my house is a disaster.
There are even 2 bum prints on the couch from having sat on ours for 5 days
(Query: If we barely left the couch... who messed up the rest of the house?)
Does your house descend into chaos when you're sick?
ROFL... HA! Nope. The inspector hasn't come yet. I really wish Murphy's Law would drop me as a client.
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one. This divorce, oy. I feel like I'm writing a research project on my life. My husband attacks ME (physically), and then I have to run around spending hundreds of hours getting proofs after he attacks every aspect of my parenting/ housekeeping/ sleepschedule/ daily schedule/ this list goes on and on and on....showing that I'm NOT the depressed horror of a neglectful/abusive mother who never gets up before 3pm, or cleans, or cooks, and is addicted to _______, and THAT'S why I flung myself on the floor (because of course he didn't), blah blah blah. Every lie he spews out, I have to go get proof showing : Nope. See? Completely untrue.
Except when it is. Like I'm sick, and the house got thrashed. (Thankyou inspector for not showing up, yet. PLEEEEEEASE don't come until after the weekend!)
So I'm doing a lot of self doubt & 2nd guessing, reevaluating.
If everyone else has clean houses when they're sick (and it's just me) I really need to know that.
Gah.
____
@ InMy30'sAlready
Ha! Part of this stems from 'reports' as to what my 1032 sqft house looked like this fall. I'd just had major surgery (right arm completely imobilized), I was in my 1st quarter back in school (midterms), and there was a death in the family. 4 adults, 3 adhd kids, our dog, their cat... repeat 2bd/1ba 1032 sqft house... and they're REAMING me in court for how messy the house was and that I only was cooking 4 times a day, and how my husband HAD to make breakfast for the kids (what's wrong with their uncle doing it???), and that the dishes weren't washed. Dude. Arm. In. Sling. Wash your own dishes people!!! Because I can't! (no dishwasher).
God, I'm glad I'm getting divorced. But sheesh. I'm reeeeally questioning what "normal" is these days.
Actually it is cleaner when I am sick because Troy is a better cleaner than me. When I am sick he takes over cleaning completely. Come to think of it why don't I just feign illness whenever the house needs a good scrubbing?
I am so glad you posted this.
On my own it falls to disaster.
what does my house look like when I'm sick?
Hell.
& I rampage when I have to ask my DH/sons to throw in a load of laundry, change out the dishwasher, etc. I am a total witch when I have to ask for help.....I taught them better. & they know better. :)
Well, from MY perspective my house turns into a Hieronymus Bosch styled nightmare. When I'm sick the cupboard elves are having keggers in the sink. Just sayin'.
Also, to know, when I'm sick I usually become convinced of impending doom. So...perhaps we won't base normal on me ;-)
Anyway, the dishes barely get done, laundry and vacuuming definitely don't get done (we don't have a mud room or entry hallway, so all those pine needles come strait in), toilet and sink don't get done, beds don't get made (okay, they don't anyway, but shhhhh)...my house gets FUNKY and FAST, and cooking = anything that takes 60 seconds to prepare.
True. Decent into chaos.
Like a tornado hit. I usually find a full dishwasher of dirty dishes that hasn't been run and then an overload of dirty dishes on the counter & sink. (please tell me why they cannot turn the dishwasher on???)
Dirty clothes are everywhere. Bathrooms look like a bomb went off, and no one has dared to vacuum. I walk across sandy floors. UGH!
This is why I wish that there were two of me, so if one of me gets sick, the other can at least keep the rest of the masses in a normal routine...
Yes it does. I was so sick last week- terrible head cold, but am banking my days for maternity leave, so I couldn't stay home and just sleep. Freaking exhausted by 8 every night... housekeeper came, but it still looked like a tornado and I'm not 100% sure what my husband and son did for dinners this week, but they're fed and both "clean", so I'll take it as a win.
We'll pull it back together this weekend!
Oh my goodness, yes!
I posted awhile back when I first broke my elbow (REALLY BAD) about how I had one of my son's friend's mom drop off my son after a sleepover and was SEVERELY embarrassed by the state my house was in!
Oh, it was BAAAAAD! 3 days worth of dishes on the counter. Toys on every inch of the floor. I even saw a fork on the floor on my way down the hall!I was is so much pain and on a serious high dosage of 2 different pain meds (10mg hydros and 10mg Oxyi) and for some reason NO ONE in my house thought it was a good idea to help and clean things...still not sure how or why that worked the way it did? Stinking family of mine! I ended up having to throw a fit 'Veruca Salt Style' in order to get some help cleaning up!
I am still embarrassed by it and I have to see this woman ALL the time...our kids are BFF's and play ball together and for some reason we (the Moms) have never gotten all that close...I bet it's because she was afraid of my house! I have to bite my tongue every time I see her and hold back the urge to yell out 'Come see my house now...I promise it's clean'! :)
Same as it does when I'm not...a complete and utter disaster! I clean room to room and go in circles...just never stays "clean"...we are by no means dirty...we are simply unorganized and overflowing of paper, toys, clothes.
Hopefully after tomorrow some of the clothes issues will go away, since we will be picking up the kids new dressers. Next on the list is a new for hubs and new one for me.
Ah, can I use that as the excuse for my house always being a mess...I mean I have been very sick on and off for over a year now.....And that is about how long it has taken us to get totally unpacked....moved in and not looking like a flop house ready to leave at any moment.....
My back has been messed up now for about two full weeks. And it looks like an Helicopter attempted to land here and then got scared and took off.....My desk where I normally do all my art work is covered in bills, school papers and dust....not to mention the art work and supplies that are normally on it.
The counters are the only thing CLEAN....and that is because I can get to them without having to bend.
I wish I could ask who messed up the rest of the house....But Zephyr is my personal home blender. Once it is clean it is normally his duty to immediately mess things up...and he does just that....and blends. Everything from his height down is grossed:(
I keep thinking.....when is the maid going to magically appear and want to help with the dirt that is building up on the floor, because I am the only person in the house that knows how to work the broom, dust pan and steam mop apparently...this house is par for par adult to children.....but seems like that is a faulty math figure because the men adults seem to clean like children:(
Get better:) We had the yuck that you have described when the snow storm hit.....no power and kids with fevers BLOWS BIG YUCK!!
Hopefully you got to open a window and enjoy some of yesterday that way.........That would have been some good natural medicine:)
Send you some thoughts of chicken soup and better days:)
A little less picked up--but I'm a little OCD, so unless I'm flat out down on my back sick--I still do my usual cleaning stuff. Could be my house hygiene is even sharper when there's a sicky involved--myself included.
Feel better R.!
Haha no your house right now sounds like mine on a good day. It's no worse when I'm sick.
Hope you feel better soon!
When I'm sick? My house looks something that might resemble the post-apocolapse.
YES! And it takes weeks to get it clean again, even if I'm only sick for a few days. I hate that.
I hope you and your kid feel better soon.
Did the inspector came already?
My house gets a "Happy" mess.
I don't want to say that my kids get happy when I get sick...but I think they secretly do, ha!
We sit in the couch, everything is on (computer, tv) I order pizza, etc.
Of course, is when I get better when I feel worst!
You know what I mean?
YES!!!! I was sick on Tuesday and i have still not been able to get my house back in order. Didnt help that everytime i got the beds made up and clean again the next night one of the kids threw up in their bed. What a long week glad it is over, maybe my house will get clean this weekend. =)
It seems like magic! I always anticipate coming out of my sick bed to a clean or at least picked up kitchen and living room. But voila, it's a total wreck! Who did that?!
My house is chaotic most of the time. :) But when I am sick it gets disgusting. No one seems to know how to clean the toilet, do the dishes, get laundry done, grocery shop. It's pretty bad when I get sick. That's why I don't. Well...not very often, at least. lol
L.
Wishing you a speedy recovery, our apt remains clean and tidy whether or not we are sick.
Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.
lol my house looks the same when I'm well and sick. It looks like a disaster.
Seriously my house is chaos all the time lol.
My house descends into chaos even when I'm not sick!
Yep, looks like a bomb went off when I'm sick. The problem is that I stop caring about getting help from everyone and encouraging them to pick up. I also don't pick up my own stuff, since I don't have energy when I'm sick. So, it's a disaster. Thankfully, it doesn't take long to get it back in shape when I have energy again. I try not to let it get to me when I can't do anything about it. I just tell myself that resting is my job and I do the bare minimum. It's a wonder I can keep the kids fed, busy, to school on time and all. That's enough for me.
yes unfortunately mine does, my husband works and doesn't clean too much. he's getting better, but if i'm not there to remind him it gets out of hand. also my sister and father-in-law live here too. my father-in-law picks up a lot of the slack, but after about a day or so the sink is full of dishes and stuff is piled up every where. it drives me CRAZY. i just love getting over feeling horrible and then having to spend the next 2 days cleaning. hope ya'll feel better!
The situation you're in sounds absolutely oppressive, I'm so sorry!
But I do wonder, with so much at stake i.e. inspectors checking on the cleanliness of your house, why wouldn't you do everything possible to ensure it stays clean? Makes me worry that you need some professional support to deal with the turmoil you're in. Find a counselor, please, or find a better one if you're already in counseling...
But overall, I think people are either messy, or neat (NOTE, I'm not talking about clean, just whether or not things are left laying about or put away in specific places). And things pretty much stay the same regardless of being sick. My son was just sick for three days with the 103 fever, he was glued to my body, whiny and weary, and the only proof is a trash can full of tissues and a new load of vomit covered laundry that's already been washed and is sitting in the dryer ready to fold. But that's because I like my house to be neat and I hate the feeling that someone might stop by and see things in disarray.
I have a place for everything and put things back after using them (I may have toys laying about if my son didn't get a chance to clean up before nap, but I do expect him to clean them up once he's up and playing again) and I always tidy up the house before going to bed, even when I'm sick.
Occasionally I'll let my husband leave the dinner dishes in the sink overnight (I cook, he cleans) but I always clean them first thing in the morning because I hate cooking in a dirty kitchen. But again, that's just my nature.
