How clean was your mom's house??

[kimmee]

When you were growing up what was the general condition of your home - was it clean and orderly, messy, cluttered, CONDEMNED??

Do you think this has any basis on how you keep your house today??

Did anyone teach you home ec skills - like cooking, cleaning, sewing, repairing, shopping, budgeting, dressmaking, canning, etc??

Are you teaching your kids these things?

[mommy2many]

My mother was a neat freak. She still yells at people if they touch her clean counters. Going over there with all the children is nerve wrecking to say the least.

She never really cooked much, and did no mending ect.

I learned to cook and bake on my own. I was a total slob up untill a few years ago....then i saw the errors in my ways I won't ever be as clean and tidy as my mother but our house is neat and organized for the most part.

I am teaching my older girls how to bake and cook, they always want to "help" in the kitchen and since I wasn't allowed to when I was a kid I love showing them things. My oldest is quite the mender and loves to sews pillows and things. I think they are picking up on the frugal side of things.

[dolphin]

Our house was messy but comfortable. We lived on a farm and mostly we were concerned with the garden and the livestock so didn't pay much attention to house untill each summer when relatives from out of town would show up and then the house got a complete makeover. We had 9 people living in a 12x60 trailor from 1967 to 1973 so there wasn't a whole lot of room to make a mess, LOL.

Mom taught us lots of homemaking and so did grandma and an Aunt but mostly I learned from taking 4 years of Home Economics in High School. We had a great Home Ec. program which covered all the necessary homemaking skills.

As far as cooking. I didn't really learn till make full meals till I was married.

[thrifty gal]

My mom's house was very cluttered, and junky. Our yard was total embarrasment. It was more like a junk yard than a yard. It makes me mad to this day, and it's probably the reason I am much neater, and hate clutter (although I do need to declutter this house).

[Missy]

my mom keeps a clean cluter free home. She always has. MIL however is edging towards the condemned bracket. Drives me batty.

My mom taught me alot of my home ec skills. And I am teaching the kids.

[matt&roxy]

When growing up our house was immaculate. That is part of the reason why I believe your house should looked lived in........ My house is clean, but not so clean that you are afraid to walk in and touch anything!! I hate going to people's houses who are like that because you always feel so uncomfortable.

My mother did not cook, can, sew, crochet, etc etc. I learned how to cook on my own and when I got married Matthew showed me alot!!! I taught myself to crochet. I am still wanting to learn how to can and sew but haven't done it yet.........

[mylittle4]

We lived mostly close to the condemned end. Our house and yard were always awful. The only home ec skill she ever taught me was to sew. I left home at 16 and for years it was a struggle and sometimes still is. My home has never been as bad as my others but just not what I wanted. I just was never taught what needed to be done to keep a house. That is why Sara's lists have really helped. I am slowly teaching my kids home ec skills in fact next week my cub scout group is learning to sew on a button.

[Dixie]

Mom's house was always very cluttered and messy. I hated it. I was embarrassed to bring friends home. Funny thing was our yard was very clean and so was the car. I guess she and dad wanted to keep up appearances.
Mom tried to teach me to sew and can. I can't sew, though. She hated cooking, so I'm self-taught. The last meal she prepared for me was probably 30 years ago. She hated washing dishes, so I got the " privlege" of doing them - her words { she always reminded me that there would be no dirty dishes, if there wasn't food to begin with} Well, I guess she had a point there,lol.

[kimmee]

Angelee- this is funny to me - cuz its how I feel - My mom was a terrible housekeeper - in fact honest to goodness - she would have Kip and me wait around all Staurday morning for her instructions on how to clean (while she read the paper and diddled about) and our friends would be knocking on the door and waiting outside for us to come play. Finally we would get our assignment which was to wax furniture or clean the litter pans with a brush and bleach - while there was poop and newspapers and garbage in piles all over the house - it was really psychotic - and when we just moved her into our house her apartment was the same way - filthy - I just wanted to throw everything out . She just walked in here while I was typing and said are you going to sit at that all morning - your house is disgusting I am surprised that Bruce lets you live here like this!! And you know what - My house is CLEAN!!! its just messy from the morning mayhem of getting people on the bus!! I really wish you guys could see and compare!!

[sunshine]

My mom kept a neat house. . . but we were allowed to live in it KWIM? My friends loved to visit (we'd have our yard full of bikes, later cars). Some wanted to move in with us!

My grandmother was allergic to dust. . . so she kept an IMMACULATE house. . . farm house with no air conditioning. She vacummed her bed daily. . . . and I got the job of scubbing the corners of the floors with a toothbrush.

My house is CLUTTERED and a mess. . . . but clean.

[COUNTRYBUMPKIN]

My mom kept a very clean home when we were kids. She was a bitchy perfectionist and I think that all of the years of being like this, just wore her out on housework Dad bought her a beautiful new home when we were all raised, and It is a totalpigsty now My mom never let me lift a finger in the house while growning up. It was her way or the highway! So I am all self taught on everything. I must say this, I am a much better cook than mommy dearest ever was It would take her all night it seemed , just to prepare a meal for the five of us. It was not uncommon to be sitting down to dinner at 8 or 9 All of the other kids in the neighboorhood were going to bed by then.

And for the life of me, I will never be able to understand why us kids could never sit on her furniture Is this not what it is for?

My home is clean and tidy and everyone feels welcome here.

[pip]

My mom was a comfortable housekeeper. She liked things relaxed and easy, and I guess I tend to be that way, also. Our house was fairly well picked up, a little dusty, but basically clean. We were allowed to have the run of the house, no room was off limits. I used to wish that she had taught me more about throwing things away and decluttering on a regular basis, but now I have immense respect for how she took care of it all with the resources she had available. Funny how your thoughts can change as you grow older! I've learned how to be a good cook and housekeeper on my own and am working on the decluttering part, too. Our house is relaxed and we let the kids bring home as many of their freinds as they want to. My mom did teach me how to be frugal and thankful for what I have, so that was a big life skill to be given.

[dhmunoz]

Our house was always spotlessly clean...my mom likes a clean house but it's my DAD who is an obsessive-compulsive clean freak. You could literally eat right off of their floors and it would be completely sanitary. My dad is retired now and their house has gotten even cleaner if you can believe that! He does ALL the housework while my mom is at work, he even cleans the floors DAILY, on his hands and knees, by hand! There is never any dust and the place is just flawless. The craziest part is, it always feels "comfortable" to be there, the only time I feel nerve-wracked is when the kids start acting up and getting wild...my dad is an antique dealer, their house is 150 years old and fully restored, furnished in antiques. Sometimes that makes me worry that something is going to get broken, but my dad is good about guiding everyone into the family room which is the only room of the house that is "contemporary" and doesn't have *rare artifacts* LOL strewn around.

My grandmothers were both good about teaching me things...my mom's mom taught me how to bake and set a proper table, use good table manners, etc. and my dad's mom, who has a totally different background--was good about guiding me to making foods for myself, as she doesn't believe in cooking for kids over age 8 unless it's dinnertime. I used to stay at her house over the summers when I was 7-11 years old and at breakfast and lunch time I was on my own. Whatever I wanted to have was fine, she had EVERYTHING, but you had to cook it yourself. That was just part of her background...she was taking care of her younger siblings from a very young age and was married herself at age 14. She grew up very poor and I learned a LOT of frugal tips from her about watching for sales, buying things secondhand, and cheap easy recipes.

Now, as for MYSELF...I *love* a clean house, but I am a procrastinator, and we also have a house that is too small for us. I need to declutter but even then we will still be crowded. I have to be in a special mood to deep-clean. My home is comfortable, a bit messy but basically clean.

[DaisyLady]

My mom had this pot holder with the saying "My house is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy"printed on it. It hung on the wall of every house and apartment we ever lived in and that was my mom's philosophy. We all helped with housework and had our special jobs. When we were really young we always had my grandma (dad's mom) or my grandpa (mom's dad) living with us. I remember baking and cooking with both of them as well as with my mom. My grandpa and my dad taught me about gardening, woodworking and my grandpa taught me a lot about animals, both wild and domestic as well as tons of stuff about trees. We even went fishing together.

When I moved into my first apartment my mom gave me the pot holder as a gift and it hung in my home for many, many years. We took it down to paint two years ago and I forgot to put it back up again but my kids often quote it. I am a clean freak to a point but I don't obsess if things get out of hand (at least not too much )

I am trying to pass on as much to my kids as they will willingly absorb. But I figure they will pick up just as much by my example and some day when they are grown up and living on their own they will figure out for themselves what conditions they want to live in!

[daddys3chicks]

Oh boy - my mom's house was IMMACULATE when I was growing up! It's a little more cluttered today, but hey she is 84! The woman had plastic runners on the carpet. We could not come in through the front door. We had to use the back door. We could not take a shower, only baths, because the shower water spotted the ceramic tile. She stripped and rewaxed her kitchen floor once a month with Kleer. She kept the hardwoods so shiny that if you ran into your room to fast and hit the throw rug you went sailing down and undethe bed (no joke! I actually did this once!)

I remember venetian blinds soaking in vinegar water in the bath tub. Her yard is pristine with flowers and she still mows and edges her yard herself.

We moved into the house when I was 3 and I am 47 now. She still has the original carpet and linoleum and they barely look worn!

All of this has made me hypercritical of my own cleaning abilities. In my memory our hosue was always neat. Mine is not. Of course she only had one kid at home at a time (my sister is 11 years older than I am) and I have 2.

She even still has the toaster and percolater she got as a wedding gift when they got married in 1946 - and they still work!