S/O The cleaning angel and the dysfunctional princess

33055

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 10:32 am

How much time do you spend on you house a week?

OP of the dysfunctional princess thread said she had 11 hours help a week. I don't understand how it is possible to keep house with only 11 hours a week dedicated to it.

The US Bureau of Labor says that the average woman puts in 2 hrs and 15 minutes a day. The average man puts in 1 hr and 25 minutes a day. That's almost 26 hrs a week.

https://www.bls.gov/TUS/CHARTS/HOUSEHOLD.HTM

A Jewish home has considerably more work. We have Shabbos and Yom Tovim and labor intensive kasherus requirements.

How many hours a week is dedicated to your house?

How many hours a week do you spend on Shabbos prep and clean up?

FranticFrummie

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 10:37 am

No kids at home right now, so that makes a big difference.

I keep things really basic, do what I can, and get help once a week for a couple of hours.
I cook really simple Shabbos food, and don't have guests.

I'd love to have a higher standard of housekeeping, but my health won't allow me to do the work, and DH won't pay for more help, so I accept that this is my situation right now. As long as the house is safe and sanitary, that has to be good enough for now. Organized and pretty are not in the cards at the moment.

If I let myself get upset about it, there's no point. It's not like being upset will get anything cleaner.

amother

Lime

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 10:39 am

I have 20 hours a week of cleaning help. That includes her folding and putting away laundry. I do the laundry, but she's the one who puts it away. I don't do any cleaning except what requires immediate attention (spills, throwing out garbage). During the week it's enough, it's chaos and disaster over the weekend. I cook most of our food from scratch though.

amother

Wine

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 10:39 am

Squishy, we live in a different universe.

I have four hours a week - if I'm lucky.

DH works very full time, and I work part time, plus I still have to be a Mommy when I'm done.

Yes, my bathrooms get washed once a week. And my windows - Pesach, maybe. So my house doesn't sparkle 24/7. So sue me.

33055

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 11:10 am

amother wrote:

I agree about the different universes that's why I included US Labor statistics.

I am not judging you. I am trying to reconcile what the ladies are posting. You may have 4 hours of help, but between cooking and picking up after your kids, setting uo Shabbos, you may find that you put in excess of 4 hours a week.

My mother had a museam house at the expense of her kids. She worked full time, and the house gleemed. I promised myself that my kids would come before a house.

DH wants a gleeming house. I told him, I am not sacrificing my life for a house. He pitches in and makes sure there is help.

keym

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 11:27 am

amother wrote:

You may only have 4 hours a week of outside help. But im betting you spend quite a bit of time on picking up toys, throwing in laundry, washing up after you cook etc.
I agree here with Squishy. 11 hrs/week seems like very little on total house maintenance.
I personally only have 2 hrs/week- its all I could afford. So my house is never sparkling. But I do spend at least 2 hrs a day straightening up, doing laundry, dishes, and taking out the garbage.
When I have more energy, ill wash my bathrooms and floors more.

SpottedBanana

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 11:36 am

How are we defining "house"? I wouldn't live in a house right now if you paid me, unless you paid me enough for a cleaning lady! DH and I each spend about 80 hours a week on work/school, so together we put in about three hours a week into cleaning (and recently decided that disposable dishes are a necessity for right now). Our apartment doesn't sparkle either, but we have guests without shame.

amother

Wine

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 11:37 am

keym wrote:

I don't spend 2 hours a day on housework. I don't have 2 extra hours a day.

Like I said, my house is not sparkling.

My husband doesn't really care if the house is messy (he thinks a messy house is a sign of happy children, but I don't agree), so he doesn't really help too much with that. He'll help with childcare, or he'll serve supper or whatever, so he helps that way.

I try to do pickup as I work, and I do spend lots of time on laundry - but underwear doesn't get folded, socks sometimes, etc. I just don't do everything. I'm human, I'm not a machine.

33055

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 11:48 am

SpottedBanana wrote:

Households. Apartment dwellers are included in the statistics.

tichellady

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 11:52 am

I feel like I’m always prepping food, cooking and cleaning the kitchen. The rest of the house gets cleaned once a week and straightened up for a few minutes every day. My husband will straighten up but doesn’t clean. He is fine with me hiring help.

33055

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 11:53 am

tichellady wrote:

So how many hours a week is spent on the house?

amother

Apricot

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 11:58 am

I cook/feed children for probably 2.5 hours a day. I clean faces, change clothing, a throw stuff in the hamper, maybe 1 hour a day. cleaning? zero. husband does zero (not home). Cleaning lady comes three times a week, 4 hours each. Its a mess in between.

33055

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 12:03 pm

amother wrote:

TY for sharing. This totally makes sense.

keym

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 12:18 pm

Part of the conversation has to be size of house/ amount of bathrooms. Also age and amount of kids.
When I lived in a small 2 bedroom apartment with only 2 kids in diapers, it took me very quick to get my house clean. As they got older, trained, and we moved to a larger place it takes much much more time and energy.

zigi

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 12:19 pm

but size does matter, if a 2 bedroom can get clean in 2 hours it equals more than a 4 bedroom house where 2 hours is a drop in the bucket. and also day to day work putting shoes back where they belong to scrubbing toilets. not the same kind of work in my mind.

Tzutzie

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 12:23 pm

When we were first married, we lived in a teeny tiny apt. We both worked full time. Dh very full time. Me, sometimes 9-5/6 often till 7:30. No children. Out of the house most of the day.
We had a lady coming once a week on friday. In one hour she had all floors, bathroom and the little table and two chairs wiped down.
I did laundry on Sundays and cooked/cleaned up after cooking. And tidied a little. Maybe total 3 hours a week.

Now we have two children. 3 hours of cleaning help doesn't even get the main level cleaned. I'm sure had I been working and my toddler been in playgroup, they house would have stayed cleaner.

There is more floor space, more windows, Lots more chairs and couch. Tables, more cabinets to wipe sticky little finger prints off of.... more bathrooms.

I currently don't have a cleaning lady and I'm a sahm so I do basically all of it. Dh leaves in the early AM and comes home around 9 pm. There isn't much time to do anything. Except on friday dh does some things when hes home at 3ish. (Summer later)

It all depends on family size, lifestyle, home size. Who and how long you are in the home during the far. Ages of children....

There is no one answer.
As long as you are happy and the house is sanitary, it's all good.

Last edited by Tzutzie on Sun, Feb 11 2018, 12:28 pm; edited 2 times in total

amother

Copper

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 12:24 pm

I have 5 hours of help on friday - that gets my apartment sparkling for shabbos.
The rest of the week I do a half hour of making beds, straightening up, throw in a load etc in the am after the kids leave, and another hour approx in the eve after bedtime to clean up kitchen bathrooms playroom etc from the day.
In addition I have help one night a week for 2 hours to just fold and iron a weeks worth of laundry.
So with 7 hours help and approx 1.5 hours a day my home with 6 tiny kids is under control and running smoothly.

amother

Brunette

Sun, Feb 11 2018, 12:43 pm

We have 9.5 hours of cleaning help a week but I probably put in another 14 hours myself (I don't count so I don't know how many hours I put in myself). And my home isn't sparkling but it runs well with lapses of mess when people don't chip in. We have a small family in 1500 SF.