How Much "Pride" Do You Take in Your Home/housekeeping?

I don't have floors you can eat off of - I have plates for eating.
I am proud that I have a home full of happy fuzzy beasties and it doesn't smell, and that people feel welcome when they walk in.
It's not spotless, nor are we in any danger of being condemned by the Department of Health.

Quite frankly, if I took the time to keep my house spotless, I wouldn't have time to do any of the things I enjoy doing, and I would be miserable.

Yes - I take pride in it. It takes hard work and discipline so like other things in life that require those actions, I take pride in it. Sometimes I wish I didn't and could relax but it's how I was raised. Now I look at it as something I'm making a choice about - I like to look at a pretty, clean house. It gives me satisfaction. So I'm going to keep it that way the vast majority of the time. When I go to someone's house, if it's also clean, I admire how nice it looks. If it's not clean, I think they're lucky they don't really care. Their house so their choice.

None -- No pride...Or shame.The state of my house says nothing about me. Though I admire my friends who manage to keep immaculate houses.

Here's the deal -- Does dusting or sweeping or dishes or laundry or pristine grout lines take the same amount of straight-up-mad-skills or hutzpah that it takes to be a neurosurgeon or a police person or a nurse? No. So, it can easily be relegated to the very bottom of my to-do list.

I spend 15-20 minutes a day and 1-3 hours per weekend on the house and I will not give it one more drop of my BloodSweatTears than that.

I don't worry too much. I mean, my house isn't filthy. It's presentable, but lived in. I have a 20 month old. I just feel like there is a time in life to worry about my house being immaculate, and it's not now. I would much rather spend time with my son, then fret over a perfect home. (I'm not saying you do this!! I do know people who do, though.) There are mornings we wake up to way too much laundry, a pile of dishes in the sink, and rugs that needed to be vacuumed a few days ago. I still would rather have had that extra hour or two with my son, he is only little for so long.

I take great pride in my home I have to have everything in place toys picked up after being played,dishes,laundry bathroom,bed rooms all neat & tidy i'm a sahm with 3 kiddos 1 in school FT the other in preschool 2 hrs twice a week it is relaxing to come home & not having anything to do but take off your shoes hang coats & get a meal started..I can have a messy home & HATE it I get so feed up about once a month & let it go for a days just so for everyone can notice all that I do for them.Not that my 3 lil people don't help they create the mess they can help pick it up:)

I don't know if it is pride for me, but I definitely feel better and breathe easier when the house is clean and uncluttered as opposed to being the opposite. I am more relaxed when things are clean and picked up, but I don't feel like it's reflection of my worth as a person, or critical to my identity. With a 3 year old, plus working full-time (Dad stays home but doesn't stay on top of the cleaning as much as I would like), I've accepted that it will never be "perfect", or at least won't stay perfect very long, and I am okay with that. I figure it will be easier to keep clean when DD is in school full-time and I have more time to organize things to my liking. I can get it acceptably clean if I know I have company coming over, and the people in my life that would be over really wouldn't care if it was a little messy or not. I would rather my house be lived-in then constantly kept perfect. I do wonder if it is different for moms who stay home and think of keeping the home in order as their #1 job, vs. moms who work outside the home and have to juggle a full-time job with everything else.

Just remember - it's never been written on a woman's tombstone, or said about her at her funeral, "She kept a clean house." Not saying this is you, but I would rather my DD remember her mom taking the time to play with her and do fun things with her, then constantly trying to keep the house clean (and I do do a lot of cleaning as I go!).

I am sure that I would take pride in my house if it were ever clean enough to be proud of!

I think my house is not as clean as yours. The floors get so gross so fast. I probably sweep/mop once a week, but 2 days later they are a mess mostly bc of dog hair! You could not lick the floor in my house! I do try to keep it mostly picked up - an ongoing battle! I don't think of it as taking pride in keeping the house clean. I like it clean for my own sanity. I love it when it's clean, however short lived. It makes me feel happy.

I'm with Ellis. No pride nor shame, it is what it is, in its varying states of cleanliness and horror.

I clean thoroughly for:
my inlaws
parties
my twice yearly furniture rearrangement

In fact, I am more comfortable in messy homes than tidy ones. I feel like I can't touch anything in a perfectly neat and tidy home, like it's a museum or something.

I do like to keep the house clean. But I find I have a hard time keeping it as clean as I'd like. Unlike you, I'm not very organized so that's probably my biggest problem. I at least like to have the kitchen clean every night before bed. I can deal with the rest being a little messy :)

When my friends come over for playdates and such, I always have a really clean house. In fact, I used to mop before they came over but I stopped doing that a few months back.

My hubby is an organized person, so unfortunately I can only get away with so much mess before he mentions something. And I hate to hear him say "Boy this (fill in the blank) is a mess".

I am a stay at home mom and my son is 2. We are very involved with a local moms club so that keeps us busy during the week. I am also training for a half marathon, so when my son naps....I run! Not much time in between playing, running, and sleeping to clean. Oh well.

Hope this helps :)

OMG you are a freak!!! Just kidding...No I am exactly the same way, but unfortunately I don't have much time to clean. I do clean my bathrooms at least 2 times per week (sorry it's winter and germs are everywhere). My kitchen is usually the worst, but I also sweep my house every day because of the food on the floors, dog hair (we have a short haired dog) and because we track in a lot of stone from the outdoors.

Now as for me, I personally hate cleaning but probably because I have a 3 year old, a 9 month old and pregnant right now with the 3rd. So I'm pretty tired and irritated lately. I do take pride though when the home is clean. For instance, when my house is really clean, that is usually because it's before a birthday party or Christmas. Usually it's clean but we have toys all over the house 99% of the time and I just get tired of picking them up.

I think it's great when your house is cleaned. To me it's healthy. At least your not leaving your house completely cluttered like those on that "Clean House" show. LOL

I like a clean house... love a clean house, really, but I have much better things to do than clean the house. I'd rather color goofy pictures with the kids or watch a movie or read a book or... well there are tons of things I could think of that I would rather do than clean!! My house stays clean enough to be healthy but other than that... it's lived in, and my kids are happy. Other than cleaning when we are having company over, I couldn't care less.
But- if that's what makes you happy, that doesn't make you weird! Clean away!

I take a lot of pride in my home...I work FT and am completely exhausted by the day's end, so I spend my mornings (from the time I get up until I need to start getting ready for work....about an hour) straightening up, getting dishes and laundry done and cleaning. I sweep the kitchen each morning and vac mid-week and on the weekend. I have a 3 year old and her toys get picked up almost every day. I get teased when I say my home is a wreck, because compared to some, it really isn't. I don't think you are a freak, I just think you have a preference for what your home should look like. Enjoy it! I do! :)

I definitely go in spurts. Right now, my house is very clean and organized because I've been home for 7 days with 2 sick kids so no taxi driving or going anywhere. I've organized every cabinet, file drawer, etc and my bathrooms are spotless. I'm always determined to keep it that way, but it never happens! Life gets in the way (along with the kid's messes) and it quickly goes back to messy. Cleaning always reminds me of the movie "Ground Hogs Day"...waking up and doing the same thing over and over again!

I love it when my house is clean, but it almost never happens and when it does it lasts for about 2 hour before kids, dinner, you name it, destroy my hard work. I would say that 90% of the time, i'd be embarrassed if a neighbor popped over. I think its great that you take pride in that, but you are probably 90th percentile. I find that to get it clean and keep it clean takes 100% effort. I usually can't keep it up for long. Right now I have a 6 mo. old. I clean for about an hour or two (if the nap is long) in the morning, and then maybe another half hour later in the day. That all the time I have and it does not afford a spotless house. As for pride, I always light candles in the evening after a great house cleaning. Yes I take pride in it on the rare occasions it happens and I also "feel extra good about myself" on those days

i love it when the house is clean and sparkling. but being a lazy girl, it doesn't happen that often<G>. for one thing i'm easily distracted, for another there are just so many more interesting things to do (like waste time on mamapedia or go for a run) than clean. i can't let it get gross or i start to get twitchy. and i can't stand to wake up to sink full of dishes, so i never go to bed without clean sinks and countertops.
i spot clean areas that need it, and only really get down and scrub the whole house top to toe occasionally.
usually if guests are due.
;) khairete
S.

I do but my kids don't :) it's a neverending battle. well, i take pride in cleaning bathrooms. i clean those almost daily. yup i am on my knees rubbing and scrubbing. i don't freak out about the rest of the house. my house is normal clean, nothing too crazy though.

I definately don't feel pride. My house is lovely, and even if i could get it cleaned "perfectly" i know someone could walk in and find something to judge it on. i missed a speck of dirt or the cleaner i used isn't the same lemon scent one that they would have used. I hate having people over, hubby invited 30 for a superbowl party, and i know that when they leave i will feel dirty and gross. I want my personal space to be a reflection of what i love and what brings me peace, but when Outsiders come in and you can see them comparing it just makes me sick.