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*NOTE*: This is not about my SO thinking I don't do enough...just wanted to say that off the bat to put it all in the right context. Okay, read on...
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I am a work from home mother of two. I do a lot of cleaning -- actually, I have the responsibility for all of the housework except the yard work. I take the trash to the curb and the whole nine. All dishes, all laundry, all vacuuming, all toilet washing. Everything...the house is just..."mine."
As I mentioned, I also work from home an hour or two a day. I do keep my house very neat. I can not stand a messy house. I can't live in it! Ughhhhhhhh. Other people have remarked on how neat my house is, actually. So that's always nice to know.
BUT...although I do tons of straightening (it's ongoing, throughout the day every day), I don't always do a "big cleaning" every day. IOW, I don't necessarily wash a floor every day (I used to, and I rotated these). And my countertops sometimes get grubby...though never gross and, as I said, never ever cluttered, period.
This is more recent; my workload has picked up and I just don't find three or four solid hours in every day to clean-clean any more. (Oh, also, I drop off/pick up my kids and all that...get oil changes, keep appointments...etc.)
So I always feel like my house is a little "grubby." It just doesn't "shine" as much as I'd like it to. There's also the matter that this is a very old house, the sellers did a terrible paint job and I can't clean my walls or the paint comes off, so I hate how my walls never look pristine...and that's no matter how clean I get the house. (We're saving up to get painted.)
At the same time, it's certainly presentable, everything is in order and everyone is healthy.
If you're the working spouse of a couple where one of you stays at home, how do you feel about your spouse's housecleaning? Does s/he pass muster? Would you be ticked if you worked, your SO was at home with my duties and the house was always very neat, usually quite clean but she let the floors go a few more days than usual, etc.?
Before anyone asks, NO, my DH is not complaining! LOL! He thinks I'm crazy (I just asked him this question, actually). But I always feel paranoid since I'm bringing in so little money and I really do feel responsible for keeping the place nice.
I do feel I have the extra time to do more cleaning. I feel I'm being lazy when I sit down and break from the cleaning, working and kids. I think that's the basis of my paranoia about this. I probably *could* manage to squeeze in more cleaning. But I mentally need a break from it once in a while. Does that make sense? I think that's the bottom line here...I feel like there is always more I *could* do...yet I get tired out from it. I'm just guilty over it, I guess.
Actually, DH are my husband's actual initials. So I reserve the right.
Then stay clear of the parenting forum. All the threads are laced with DH, DS, DD and so forth. I initially thought it was some new texting lingo that i hadnt caught on to....so annoying..i agree!
Oh great googly moogly, the things people find to complain about. Was your McDonald's coffee too hot this morning, too, folks? Juuuuuuuuuust kidding...
Let me just add a quick background...since I'm talking to myself anyway. (heh) I grew up in a VERY dirty house. It was like an episode of Hoarders, except you usually could walk into and through the rooms. But other than that, it was disgustingly dirty, including animal feces; sometimes we had bugs and we'd hardly notice.
The outside was as bad as the inside; that was solely my stepfather's fault; he owned a plumbing business and "kept his tools" out there...broken sinks, rusty crap, all over the side of the yard, just spilling everywhere. We had the town called on us twice.
Any time I tried to pick up bulks of things to toss and clear out a space, my mother would SCREAM at me and pick out every individual useless "perfectly good" item I was going to throw away...she'd pin me there on the spot for 30 minutes, yelling. However, she blamed the mess on us kids (three of us). Then I'd try to clean again; then I'd "get it" again.
If I tried to clean up ANY of my stepfather's stuff, he'd get angry that I was "messing with" his things and he'd take something of mine and throw it or break it. Or he'd grab my purse and open it and spill it out on the floor, etc.
So I was helpless to really do anything about this huge mess.
I realize this has skewed my idea of "a mess" today. But even though I realize this, I STILL can't get a handle on what really is a "normal" mess (v. either hyper clean, or disgustingly cluttered and filthy). So I know this is all cluttering my view. I guess I'm just not sure what "normal" people expect of a house, my DH doesn't really complain but I'm always afraid he's just being quiet about things and secretly doesn't like the way I keep house at all.
Then stay clear of the parenting forum. All the threads are laced with DH, DS, DD and so forth. I initially thought it was some new texting lingo that i hadnt caught on to....so annoying..i agree!
What if someone threw you a curveball and referred to him hs HH or AW
Well - I don't keep the neatest house. Never have - probably never will. My husband isn't the neatest guy either. We recently had a neighborhood party and I had to spend the entire week cleaning. I was exhausted! I wish I was a neat freak but I'm just not. Also - having a little baby doesn't help with the mess!!! I think hubby would like a neater house but he doesn't complain.
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All dishes, all laundry, all vacuuming, all toilet washing. Everything...the house is just..."mine." 
