What's the task that needs the most attention?

[Anonymous]

Ok, inspired by the chunking video here:

Tthe task that needed the most attention got done, after we moved some stuff out there was a lot of sweeping up to do. I like sweeping. Had to move a few things to sweep, and they actually got put back where they belonged, one by one – and I noticed that the winter coats that were still hanging on the stair posts might just not be needed in this hot humid weather, so they got put away too. Then I figured I was on a roll, so I vacuumed the foyer rug and hosed the crusty boot rack off in the shower (no scrubbing required). Now I’m tired of sweeping but I got a lot done in that one surge (taking advantage of the peak of meds). I’m not as embarrassed to open my front door now – it’s still not completely decluttered but I can see the clutter more clearly now 😯

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[Anonymous]

However, the task that I was supposed to do still didn’t get done. Hassleme has been emailing me for 2 days to clean the toilet!

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[nellie]

You just reminded me to put away the winter coats and boots too since they keep falling out of the closet when I open it!

That and that I’ve ignored the hassleme email to do financial updates – guess I’d better pencil that in for tomorrow – well today – it’s past midnight again!

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[Curlymoe115]

When the kids were little they loved to pour the stuff into the toilet and swish it around with that brush. Then we set the timer for 5 minutes and they got to flush. It made them so excited to do it. Where has that glorious time gone. I invested in 2000 flushes. We also have lysol wipes and when I go to the washroom in the morning I wipe down the toilet. Then throw it away and wash my hands. My nemesis is the bathtub. I hate to do that job. I usually remember to spray it down, then I walk away to allow it to sit for a few minutes then I hear the shower come on, someone has got in before it got wiped down. Oh well, at least the cleaner gets put on it, so it can’t be that bad.

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[Anonymous]

I get my husband to do the bathtub as I have low back issues and bending over to clean it makes it worse. We have had mold issues in the corners of the tub, so once a week we spray with Concrodium after showering and that seems to help, at least it’s not spreading.

I figured out that I could tie the toilet-cleaning to the shower at least once a week, so last night before I got into the shower, I cleaned the toilet.

I’m actually making a bit of progress here!

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[Anonymous]

nellie, I have never been able to do the summer/winter switch with clothes. So everything is stuffed into our hall closet, it’s an effort to squeeze it shut!

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[nellie]

In a fit of efficiency a while back I got the idea to supply each bathroom with its own cleaning supplies so anyone could clean whenever the mood strikes them. So far the only ones who are ever in the mood are me ( out of frustration not charity!) and occasionally daughter #! when she has people over. One of the supplies is a clorox wipes container which does get used ( by me) to wipe things down on the spur of the moment.

When I was young and shared a house with a few others the rule was whoever used the bathroom had to wipe it down. The guy who owned the house was a clean freak and rented out rooms to us so we lived in fear of him and complied. It didn’t take long and the bathroom was always clean. I’ve tried but could never convince anyone in my household to do it. Guess I didn’t practice my evil eye enough!

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[Curlymoe115]

I always find it amazing that they don’t see the dirty washroom, when the toilet paper roll is empty they can place a new roll on the counter in the bathroom but that 2 ft stretch to actually remove the old one and replace it with new is beyond human capability, the counter can be covered in food but they will get down a plate not to touch it, but can’t wet a clean cloth with soap and water to wipe it, and things tumble to the floor and no one sees it. I guess in our case the question “if a tree fell in the forest, would anyone hear it” is a resounding no. So it falls to me. DH’s mother was ADHD as well, but she had a cleaning bug. She could also run a green house business, teach flower arranging courses, volunteer in the community and a million other things. She never sat down and insisted that everything was easy. Superwoman syndrome is bad for her daughter-in-laws because the son’s are looking for a woman who is willing to wipe their butts like she did. I ain’t no superwoman. I hate cleaning, necessary evil and I am willing to do my part but my Borg designation ain’t 1 of 1 it is 1 of 4. So why would I want to do everything for everyone. DH does his best but he is a perfectionist. 2 hours to do the bathroom, and an hour and a half to fold and put away 1 load of laundry. I don’t need hospital corners on my shirts, I am just going to put it on again and wear it. More likely the first piece of food to touch these lips end up dripping onto the shirt and it joins its sisters in the laundry hamper waiting to be bleached clean again. That’s why everything I buy is a multiple. Completely interchangeable. Of course I hate clothes shopping, and when I find something I like I buy five or 6. Then when I do have to get new stuff I find that it is no longer available and I end up having to find something new I like. I don’t buy trendy clothes, so why is it not still available. But that is a rant for another time.

Bathrooms and kitchens are two areas you can’t really compromise on. They will both literally make you sick. And once a day I go around collecting cups, plates and silverwear to put in the dishwasher. There are only 4 of us here, but we go through 20 or more cups a day. Since I only drink water, I pick one cup and use it for the day. It usually is right beside the water cooler or on my tv tray (we solved the dilemma of crap on the dining room table by taking down the table) so where do the other 19 cups come from. And how are dishes literally from the backyard to every room in the house. Do they develop legs and walk. I swear Not Me is the fifth person who lives here. Because Not Me does everything in this house. To bad Not Me couldn’t help out a little more. 😆

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[Anonymous]

Curlymoe – I hear you!! I swear Not Me lives here too. I feel like I am forever loading the dishwasher, and as soon as I load it, a pile of dishes migrates into the kitchen to fill the empty sink, even though those same dishes belonged to Not Me when I announced that I was about to load the dishwasher and wanted all the dishes in the kitchen.

I have given up chasing my kids for things. If they don’t put school clothes into the washing hamper, then they don’t get washed. My daughter wore shorts to school yesterday (it’s winter here) because she did not put her track pants in the basket when I asked her to, so they did not get washed in time for school. I have started dumping all their rubbish into their beds (including dirty dishes I find lying around, food wrappers, toilet paper rolls (which get shared evenly between the kids’ beds), used tissues, etc)…..and their “good” stuff that does not get put away, I put away for them….in a garbage bag in the shed. They get one warning, and a time limit – so I will say “the lounge room needs to be tidy by 8pm or I will do it for you” and they know the consequences of not doing it. It has been the best way to get things picked up around the house. My daughter’s psychologist gave us the idea. The kids hate going to bed to find it is full of rubbish, and they also hate having to fetch homework and clothes for school out of the shed/garage. It’s a great threat to use when the kids won’t scrape their food scraps into the bin – “if you don’t scrape your plate within 5 minutes, then I will do it for you….into your bed!!”. I have been disappointed that I haven’t been given the opportunity of scraping food scraps into a bed yet 😉

Now I just need to get the “cleaning” type chores sorted!

My least favourite job is putting laundry away. I am happy to wash, and actually enjoy it, but once it comes out of the dryer it loses my interest. And ironing doesn’t happen. Much. I don’t see the point of ironing. In our house, if you want it ironed, you do it yourself, so hubby irons his own work shirts.

I have a “superwoman” mother-in-law. She did everything for her two boys. It has certainly made life difficult for me, as I am a believer in taking as much responsibility for yourself as you can. Mostly because I struggle so much to cope with my own responsibilities that I can’t take on too many household burdens without something giving way. So I expect everyone to chip in. Not that it works that way much, but I certainly make my feelings known.

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[Curlymoe115]

When Pigpen was little she used to empty out her drawers to find one thing she wanted. Everything ended up on the floor. So her social worker suggested that we limit her room to 3 sets of clothes. She could wear that or nothing. Everything else got bundled up and locked up in the laundry room cupboard. My mother never threatened to take away our things if we didn’t pick them up. We would come home from school, she would hand us a garbage bag and tell us to fill it. Then it went to the good will for a needy boy or girl who would appreciate it more then us lazy good for nothing kids. If you hadn’t worn it, used it, or looked for it in 2 weeks obviously we were done with it and out the door it went. My mother always said she wasn’t a good enough housekeeper to allow us to collect anything. The only exception was laundry. The pile in the laundry room would get 3 feet high before someone would get down to it. Then we would all be responsible to take it to our rooms and fold it and put it away. My BFF would have a stack of clothes on a chair or the end of her bed, you could never tell what was clean or dirty. If that had been my room they would have long been out the door but her mother let her live like that. That is probably why I have such an attachment to things now. Psychiatrist today said I was a hoarder. What insight into the human psyche that man has. Of course as he is saying it he is rolling over papers below the chair at his desk. Pot meet kettle.

I don’t mind the washing, drying and folding of laundry but I am terrible at the putting away. It makes it onto the dresser or into a laundry basket but I rarely take the time to hang up clothes. Dryers make great irons, just toss a damp towel into the dryer with the shirts and good as a trip to the drycleaners. My stepmother loves to iron, she irons everything from underwear to sheets. Sick woman. But she does no other housework but laundry. The amount of cat hair would choke an elephant, but her sheets are stiff with spray starch. 😆

When we were kids my mother got tired of us always arguing about whose turn it was to load or unload the dishwasher and the dishes never made it past the sink. So she told us the dishwasher was broken. Now instead of 5 minutes loading or unloading we had to hand wash and dry everything and still had to gather the dishes and then put them away. And we had to use her system. Glasses first, then cutlery, then dishes and finally pots and pans. No tv until the dishes were done. Bathrooms also had to be shone to a gleam. Polished taps on top of everything else. My brother never had to do housework. While my sister and I had to clean everything he got to go fishing or out with his friends. But he had middle child syndrome and he still figures that he wasn’t loved as much as us. I would have loved to be as ill treated as him.

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[Anonymous]

I had oldest child syndrome! I have seen a documentary that showed the differences between oldest children and subsequent ones. In fact, I think that accounts for some major differences in how ADHD manifests. Oldest children tend to be rule followers and are less likely to chuck a tantrum to get their way. The study I saw showed a parent giving the younger child lots of attention, followed by the oldest child. When the oldest child was ignored, he sidled up to mum and gave her cuddles, told her he loved her, and politely tried to insinuate himself into the action. When it was reversed, the younger child had an outright tantrum in order to get mum’s attention. Both my son and I are oldest children, and I seriously believe that it affects the way in which ADHD manifests. He has always been “good” and polite, and we have received many compliments about his behaviour when out, but he just falls apart when it comes to organisation and homework and helping around the house. His ADHD has manifested as intense curiosity, daydreaming, some friendship issues, and learning problems. But nothing that rocks the boat, as it were, though with puberty he has developed a tendency to go over the top when he gets excited, and he gets a lot angrier with things and lets his frustration show more than he used to. I am the same in that I didn’t like to rock the boat. I developed social anxiety because I was aware I didn’t quite fit in and found that keeping quiet was the best way to avoid alienating people by saying things I would regret. I became very introverted for a long while. I think that oldest children often become adept at masking some of their ADHD symptoms in an effort to conform and that’s what leads to comorbidities such as depression and anxiety, especially in females who, firstly, have fewer “acceptable” outlets for hyperactivity/impulsivity and, secondly, whose female peers are more judgemental and tend to hold grudges for ages (unlike most males who “have it out” quickly and are back to being mates afterwards).

Hmm….nothing like getting completely off topic 😉

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[Author]

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