I’ve heard it said that some people like cooking and some people like cleaning, but not many people like to do both. I’m not sure how true this is, but I will speak for myself. I LOVE cooking, but I really, really don’t like to clean.
I do like to have a clean house though, so I clean whether I want to or not. I just don’t understand these people who say, “Oooh, I love cleaning!!” My idea for all you people who like to clean is this: If I cook for you, will you clean for me? I think this sounds like a nice arrangement. Keep in mind that it may not be a fair trade-off. Four boys, bathrooms, muddy soccer cleats. Need I say more?
Abigail, consultant with Norwex, recently sent me some of their wonderful,
non-toxic cleaning products to try. Now that is a pile of goodies that inspires me to clean.
I’ll share more about Norwex products in a couple of weeks.
Just for fun (but not so that we can have a cleaning whine fest, because truly we are called to take care of our homes without grumbling), I just wanted to throw out the question this weekend: Do you like to clean?
I love to clean and cook :) There is just something about having a real clean house and the smell of food that just gets me happy. I do have my days where I don’t feel like doing either but not very often.
I do like to clean. There is something so satisfying about having a clean home. Plus, since I’m working on the house, I often get to listen to my podcasts while my hubby watches our daughter. For me, this is “time off.” :)
Unfortunately, I’m not crazy about either… I have to say, that you (or really your meal plans and recipes) are the reason I am cooking dinner at least 4-5 days a week. I manage to keep the house decent. My least favorite chore has anything to do with the floors, the rest, I am pretty good at keeping up with :)
Nope, nope, and nope some more. I clean because I have to, and only because I have to. Well, I DO like a clean house – I just don’t like the act of getting it clean.
I view it as a break from the rest of my mommy duties :) sad, but true!
Daphne @ http://www.mybsinthekitchen.com
Yep, my degree hangs in my kitchen. This is my SAH life…
I honestly don’t mind cleaning. I certainly don’t crave it. But I love the end result. And I love cooking. What I don’t love is organizing. I can organize the heck out of someone else’s anything. But doing it for myself for whatever reason is the biggest pain for me. It usually only happens as a result of company coming to stay with me. Ha.
I couldn’t have said it better myself!
Same here! And if it weren’t for the clutter, I wouldn’t mind the cleaning part! I love to clean for other people, because they put their clutter away before I get there!
I like to cook, hate to clean. My sister is the opposite. I told her if we make it to old age and are widowed we can move in together. i’ll cook and she can clean to her hearts content.
My sister and I are the same way!
I LOVE to cook, but the only other household chore I really enjoy is laundry. I despise vacuuming (which is not good considering we have a long haired German Shepherd) but everything else is tolerable, I suppose. I’m looking forward to the day when my kiddos can really help me with housework. (They try to help now but they’re just too young to be very effective. It sure is sweet though!)
I have been meaning to mention Norwex to you for some time but kept forgetting. I was recently introduced to their company and products in Jan. and am going to host a party at the end of June. I have the basic set which includes the enviro-cloth, dusting mitt and window cloth. Oh, and I won a facial cloth at my first party I attended (and LOVE it…I don’t use any soap anymore which is great for my skin). I’m excited to build my inventory mostly so that I can have a cloth in each room.
One thing I love about Norwex is that my little people can use them b/c it’s just water that’s used w/ the cloth. So, I’m putting them to work. :)
I would recommend investing in the body cloths, especially for Malachi, and try not using soap. That may help w/ the excema. Also, I’m not sure if you’ve already tried this or are/would be opposed to this, but I recently saw a new doctor who’s more homeopathic in his approach. He recommended something called, “AmLactin” for my and my children’s excema. He uses it himself as well as his son and says it works great. I just bought it today and am going to give it a try.
Like KK said, I don’t crave it but I don’t mind it and I love to cook. I think my thing is my mom is a borderline hoarder so even though I don’t love cleaning I enjoy the end result so much I don’t mind it. Having a clean house is a big deal to me since I never had that growing up. I’ll even scrub toilets without complaining and I have two little boys! :)
I can certainly relate to you, Daphne! I like cleaning but really love a clean house. Growing up in a home with a hoarder really makes you appreciate a clean home. I tell my hubby and kiddos we must stay on top of our cleaning….we are only one mess away from looking like hoarders! LOL :D
BTW, I also enjoy cooking.
Oh, and I DO like to clean. It’s cathartic for me but only if my children aren’t around. Otherwise, it just feels rather futile.
LOVE to cook! Not so thrilled about cleaning though. It feels like a never ending process, which is odd becuase cleaning and cooking are similar in that they both have to be done frequently. Yet I only like one. Hmmm…
Hmm, no I do not like to clean, but I do like projects. So if it is a project in the kitchen to deep clean, pull out all the pots and pans and wipe down the cabinets, wipe down the ceiling fan ~ without the kids detonating a stuff bomb in every other room of the house at the same time, I love it ;)
And cooking, my love of cooking got lost somewhere along the road of life. I hope to find it again soon.
LOVE to cook, most of the time. Cleaning – not so much. Like you Laura, I do love the end result. When I’m sluggish about cleaning I do my best to remind myself that I’m doing this because God has provided me a family to clean for and blessed me with a house to clean! A friend of mine with 5 kids, meaning lots of laundry, says that she used to hate doing laundry b/c of the amount and time but now it’s a reminder of how blessed she is to have each of them. Helps me :)
I have to say that to me, cleaning is like running. I don’t like the process, but that feeling afterward is unmatched. I like the result, so that makes the process worth it!
I agree with everything amy d says. My favorite way of cleaning these days appears to be rearranging furniture, then I have to clean because of all of the found filth.
Before getting married and having kids I didn’t like to cook my husband did more of the cooking. Now that we have a family and I have embraced my role as keeper of the home I spend half my day cooking and the other half cleaning!!! I lobe them both and don’t mind if I don’t go anywhere for three days I always have enough at home to keep me busy!
On another note a good friend of mine is a Norwex consultant and I LOVE their products! I can’t wait to read your review of the products you got to sample!
Don’t mind the day to day cleaning…dishes, laundry, countertops. I could do without the deep cleaning. But at least I don’t have to deep clean everyday.
I enjoy cooking, but my favorite “mom job” is teaching my girls!
I’m definitely a cook/baker rather than ANY kind of cleaner. I spent 12 hours in the kitchen last Saturday–and I could easily cook all day … until I run out of clean dishes. lol
Cleaning :) Thats my specialty! I clean houses for people and like to keep mine clean. I always think I just spent all that time cleaning someone else’s house and it inspires me to keep mine clean. I also love cooking/baking and I am very messy in the kitchen. I do not like to clean that mess up!
i love to cook, clean, and organize. I’m weird, I know:)
I’m delighted to be weird along side you :D
I actually DO crave it..especially on sunny days :)
i click on their sight on side cant weight to see how you like them
I love to cook, hate to clean.
I love to cook but absolutely hate cleaning dishes! Dishes and laundry I can live w/ out doing the rest of my life, unfortunately I have to get them done. I dislike cleaning and I think it’s just cause I have no energy being preg and having 3 other small children. It’s really hard to get motivated to do anything!
I don’t mind cooking, like to clean, love to organize…right now, however, whatever gets done is good enough…with four kids 7 and under, by the time I get anything done, you can’t tell I did anything at all…but, I am very thankful for the four little ones that create so much work…
I do not like to clean, but I do love to cook!
I’m not a big fan of cleaning or cooking. :( I do love the end result though. I love putting a hot meal on the table, saving our family money, and providing wholesome food. I love having clean carpets for my babies to crawl on, clean bathrooms, and such.
What I LOVE, though, is straightening and organizing. I can let dust build up and the carpet go, but I can’t stand stuff left around the house. Having a clear floor and neat areas makes me breathe easier. I am currently nesting like a crazy woman, but instead of scrubbing and scouring, I’m organizing and arranging everything. The satisfaction I get from emptying boxes (from our recent move) and arranging their contents doesn’t come close to the joy of seeing a sparkling sink faucet, in my book.
Still, I think I’ve been neglecting my cleaning a bit much lately. Time to make friends with the mop and broom again!
There is a lot about cooking and cleaning that I enjoy… usually the result but it can be somewhat therapeutic and usually when I’m crabby I will clean and it makes me feel better!
I enjoy doing these things but having small children makes it much harder. I pretty much forgo deep cleaning (until I nest with the next ;) lol) since I can barely keep up with just daily cleaning up of my monsters! I can them my undo crew but both wee ones are getting a little bit better about playing without fighting. Or if things are BAD (like my kitchen two weeks ago) I will stick in a movie for them :)
I like to clean the bathrooms but do not like to dust or vacuum. Love to do laundry but won’t use the iron until my life depends upon it. Like to cook some days and don’t like it others. Mostly, I like routine. If it is Mondays we change and launder sheets. Tuesdays are dusting the house – ick. Wednesdays are clean the bathrooms. Etc. Love the routine of housework.
I enjoy cleaning when I can see a big difference. That means it is quite a struggle to convince myself to clean when things don’t “look” dirty. I love to cook, well, bake. Here again, though, not real excited about cleaning up the dishes.
I like to clean things not in the kitchen. Kitchen cleaning is gross to me. But I enjoy transforming other rooms in the house into crystal clean masterpieces!
I’m results oriented so I love to cook and like to clean. Especially when I have the house to myself and no interruptions. But I HATE doing floors – I don’t do them well at all so I leave that to the kid or husband. :)
Cleaning is like the little boy that only combed his hair once a year….It hurt so bad he didn’t see how anyone could stand doing it every day!!!
I do not love to clean, but I’ve figured out how to manage my home in a low effort way. My mother-in-law likes to wait until 2 days before the holiday to start cleaning for 8 hours straight for 2 days and then have company. I can’t do that; makes me very very cranky and I resent the people in my home. I learned to spend 3-4 weeks leading up to the holiday to clean this shelf and that shelf and so on, 15 minutes a day. The day of the holiday is a quick wipe of counters and sweep of the floors, and I am happy to welcome guests into my home.
Now Laura, if only you lived in York, PA! I’d gladly come and clean your house! (muddy cleats and all!) A good spray w/the garden hose, or banging them together takes care of that problem. And all you would have to do is cook for my house! lol
So when can you move???
I definitely like to cook… and I like the organize! Not quite the same as cleaning, I guess. I tend to get in moods to clean and then take an entire day. Spreading it out across the week is just annoying to me! lol
I don’t think anyone Likes a dirty house. A clean, sparkling house makes you feel really good; somehow creates a sense of peacefulness.
However, when and if the house ever gets to that spic and span state, it only lasts one or two hours. This is why I don’t like cleaning-the futility of it. I’d rather spend time and effort on something that is going to last.
like to cook, hate to clean!
I clean because I have to, sort of. Honestly, i would rather do anything else besides cleaning and it def shows around here.
Yea…I LOVE cooking,but getting the motivation to clean is a trick. So I can relate.
I guess I am one of those few out there that love to clean and cook!!:) I enjoy having an organized and clean home…that being said it is HARD to accomplish often with a hubby, two kids, a dog and I babysit in my home!
I love for things to be clean but no, I do not like to clean. I have so many other things I would like to be doing like playing with the kids, gardening, reading, cooking, etc.
Laura, i am like you. I love to be in the kitchen cooking. I really do not like to clean. But since I do like a clean house, i clean even when i really do not feel like it.
I am totally like you, except that I don’t think my house is as clean. ;) I could cook all day, but ask me to clean up and I balk. It’s sad because some of it doesn’t even take that long!!! I do like the results, I just don’t like doing it. I do enjoy cleaning my kitchen…. so that I can cook. LOL
I like to bake, but I don’t really like to cook everyday meals. I like to clean. I love ‘the feel’ of a clean house. With 3 kids and a husband it rarely stays clean for long…job security, right? :)
I like to cook more than clean, but I like to clean too. Especially my kitchen. I just like to be in the kitchen!
My kids help me clean, garden, and even with the canning! Couldn’t do it without them! =D Just glad THEY like to do it all too!
I love to cook. And I put off cleaning as much as possible!
I’m a cooker, not a cleaner. I would happily agree to the arrangement to cook for someone else if they cleaned for me!
I enjoy it all! I have a hard time letting any of it go, but with 5 kiddos around I have learned to let some of it go. I also let my kiddos help me and that makes a difference, we do it together so we have more time together, good incentive for them! I also LOVE norwex stuff, the window cloth is awesome and does wonders on stainless steal
I am with you, Laura, I love a clean house but not fond of doing it. I have 6 helpers – 14, 13, 10, 9, 9 & 8. Plus, it is very hard to ‘Do all things w/o complaining or murmuring’!!! But we all try to do our best!! And then we get to enjoy the clean house in the end. OOPS – I just found a spot that I missed behind this computer – off to get it. Have a great weekend! Janet
I love to bake, especially pies and breads and I absolutely love a clean house BUT working full time does not allow time to really do a good job cleaning and no time for baking. I am a teacher and usually work until 5 or 6 p.m. and then take more work home to do in the evening. SO I do my baking for the holidays and clean like crazy in the summer (the dirt is really bad by then)! Many of my friends hire a person to clean their homes and even fix their meals. I was raised in a family that did it all, so I just don’t feel right about having someone else do my work PLUS it costs too much! My last day of school was yesterday so it is time to finish cleaning at school and then get out the shovel at home! :)
Hmm, I’m the odd one it seems. I hate to clean, but don’t MIND dishes. My marriage is stronger when we have someone come in every other week to help us keep the dirt at bay. (that’s a step up from the every week had for 6 years!)
I’ve taught my teen boys to do their own laundry and they have dish duty most days (counters rarely get counted by them though) :-/
but I also hate to cook dinner! Daily dinner is a chore that I absolutely can not stand to even think about. I’ll plan and prepare for a party. I’ll plan and prepare for a holiday family meal. Ask me what we’re having for supper and I’ll likely make a noise similar to a growl.
I’d much rather be sewing tote bags or embellishing t-shirts for little girls. Or reading a book. or even plucking my eye brows (which are blonde and clear, so don’t need plucking).
BUT, I do buy Shaklee brand cleaning products so that my kids and my housekeeper have safe products to use!
I love to cook. I love to clean. I love to homeschool. I love to do laundry. I just don’t appreciate being expected to do them all at THE SAME TIME! Oh well, better than idleness I suppose. I have the Norwex dust mitt and their window cleaning rags. AWESOME!! Windows are a breeze, and no chemicals at all. Just water. The kids love the dust mitt (I have never actually used it myself. Why put off until tomorrow what you can make your kids do today?)
Haha! Agreed!
So true about Norwex products! The Enviro and Window Cloths always stun people when they see how effectively it removes butter from a window or mirror without leaving streaks (even after the sun goes down)!! Getting kids involved helps to lighten the load without having to worry about killing them by exposing them to harsh chemicals! Norwex also saves money. No need to visit the cleaning supply aisle of the grocery store. Skip the paper towels too!
Cleaning is not my favorite thing to do, but I like a clean house.
I am surprised to answer that yes, I do like to clean. I like to restore order! My two preschoolers often like to help, and they actually can be terrific assistance when I stay patient and direct them. The Jesuits say “laborare est orare” — to work is to pray; that helps me when I need an attitude adjustment.
I do like to clean! I like to clean outside too! Love the pressure washer!
Um, noooo I truly do not like to clean, sorry, it is not my cup of tea, but I LOVE to cook and bake!
I am firmly in the cooking group! Though, I do like a clean house…as long as someone else is doing the cleaning.
I don’t really enjoy cleaning, but I do love a clean house. I’d rather be cooking. When the seasons change though, I always say that I’d rather clean toilets than change out wardrobes!
Have a great weekend!
I enjoy cleaning much more than cooking, but that could be because my mom taught me well how to keep a house clean, but I was never taught to cook and didn’t have to do it very often until I got married. Now, six years later I still feel like I’m a little lost at times. I would love to take you up on your offer to trade cooking for cleaning ;) But I’m oh so thankful for the numerous blows (yours being one) that I have enjoyed learning from as I seek to be more efficient in the process of planning meals, buying groceries and cooking. Thanks for helping me learn!
I do enjoy cleaning, but I’m so frustrated with how quickly everything gets messy again. The house has never been “all clean” since having children!
You are not alone!! :) While I love my children (and wouldn’t
trade them for anything), I really, REALLY miss cleaning the entire
house in one day and having it last (with little touch ups) for a
week or two.
We love Norwex here! We’ve been using it for about a year and a half. I hate cleaning, mostly because with three boys under 5 I don’t have the time to do it. I love that Norwex is all natural, but mostly I love that it makes cleaning EASY! For some reason, I often used to forgo cleaning because getting out the gloves and the spray and the cloth and the towel just didn’t seem to be convenient enough. But how easy is it to just grab a cloth, wet it and wipe? I keep a cloth by each sink, so it is always there.
The mop is my favourite, because it is the same thing – wet it and wipe! Before Norwex, the floor only got mopped when my husband did it. Since Norwex, I mop at least twice a week. And considering the three boys under 5 – heaven knows it needs at least that!
I hope you love it as much as I do. I definitely encourage mothers of young children to look into it, for the simplicity, if nothing else.
Laura, I do not LOVE to clean, in fact I probably do not really like to but since I am a little OCD I do and often. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, my Norwex products. My favorite is the Enviro cloth. It even cleans the shower scum off the glass doors and NO chemicals. The best part is I can throw them in my washing machine and use over and over which equals SAVED MONEY. Can’t say enough great things about them!
I have Norwex too and love it! Makes the job so much faster, and removes 99.95% of bacteria with just water. Since I have a degree in infectious diseases :) I like to make sure everything is nice and clean!
Dr. Laura
I DO NOT like to clean. I could almost say I hate it, but since we aren’t suppose to hate things, I won’t. However, I LOVE to cook and bake!!! :) When my mom comes to visit, we make the deal, I’ll cook if she cleans. I have a friend who has a young girl who comes and helps her 2-3 hours a week…FOR FREE! If only I could find one for me! Lol
I love to clean and my box of Norwex just arrived today! The window cloth is awesome.
I like to clean but not to organize at all. I find it is always overwhelming.
I like to clean but not to organize at all. I find it is always overwhelming.
I am not a fan of cleaning, but i LOVE NORWEX!!!!!!!!! Window cloth is a miracle with sliding glass doors and boys fingers/dog noses. LOVE their dish “cloth” too, even though it isn’t a cloth at all. Have had mine almost a year and it works GREAT.
I do like cleaning, but get frustrated with all of the picking up that has to happen first. The scrubbing and polishing and shiny surfaces are great motivation to keep up.
I like to clean some; I like to cook some. I really like it when things are organized, but I do get overwhelmed tackling big projects. I tend to stick to my routines.
Yes!
How can a cloth be Non toxic? I like to do both, cook and clean, It is always so nice to see the end results. To you mothers, time will pass quickly ( 3 kids under 3 1/2 yrs, later in their late teenage yrs adopting a 11 yr old) I miss those days of kids playing and giggleing. You can always have a straight house in a few yrs,
Because you only use water with the Norwex cloths, there are no chemicals. So even little ones can safely help clean. It gets the job done quickly so you can move on to what you really want to do, saves money because you’re not using chemicals or paper towels, saves the environment, and saves you and your family’s health!! It’s a win win!!!
I do like to clean and it is connected on the fact that I like to organize. Most of the time you cannot organize without cleaning some and viceversa! But I’m with Kim….with kids all that work and organization doesn’t lad too long. Anyway they’re learning from me to be clean and organized and little by little its giving its fruits. Ahhhh! So much cleanibg to do while homeschooling.
I’m just like you, would love to cook for someone if they would clean for me. I clean because I love God, my family and friends, and I am suppose to.
I LOVE to cook and bake, but do NOT love to clean. However, since cleaning has to be done, I do LOVE my norwex products that make it easier and better for my family and the environment!
I love cooking and baking, and really dislike cleaning. I like cleaning though once I get “in the zone” so to speak, so instead of tidying up the house a little every day I find it works better for me to do marathon cleaning sessions once a week, then just stay on top of dishes and laundry during the week. I like having a clean house, but it also doesn’t bother me a whole lot if there are dirty dishes in the sink and things on the floor that need to be picked up. It bothers me more if things don’t have a place to go, so I really like to be organized.
I’m with you- I’d gladly cook for other people and let them clean for me! Actually my SIL and I have joked for awhile now that we need to get a big house to live in together, where she can garden (I really don’t like gardening, just the end results) and I do the cooking (she doesn’t really enjoy the cooking end of things). Unfortunately we live about 3 hours apart…
I absolutely detest cleaning. I feel like it is such a waste because the minute I clean it, someone is right behind me messing it up. But I think the problem is that I have not invested in the right tools. My sis keeps trying to get me try Norwex so maybe I’ll have to give them a whirl. I just feel like I’m constantly spending money on cleaning supplies that I end up not using because they don’t work better than a rag and a bucket of water.
I love to cook, but cleaning is a differeint story. However,using Norwex products does make the job a whole lot more bearable. I just cleaned my screens with the dust mitt, you just get it wet and wipe. And the window cloth is probably one of my favorites. I second the vote for the dish cloth, I have had mine almost a year and would not want to trade it.
I like to do both. Only problem is, as soon as I clean it, someone comes behind me and messes it up! I guess that’s the way it goes. Someday my girls will grow up and leave. (and I will probably miss them!!!) As for the messy husband, maybe he can be reformed! He was awesome at bathroom cleaning (after I properly trained him!) while I was pregnant with the twins! Hmmm…maybe he’s slacking a bit!!!!!
I’m in the “I like a clean house but don’t like to clean” camp. I can generally get one room completely clean at a time but realistically, the whole house doesn’t get clean at the same time unless we’re having company.
I do love to clean and cook and bake and gardening. I just want a 48 hour day to be able to keep everything up to date!
I’ve never heard that usually people like to either clean or cook, but it makes sense. I have a friend who’s mother was a cleaning NUT when she was a child. She loves to clean, but hates to cook.. why? Because it makes a mess!
I love love love to cook, bake and sew…but cleaning is not a love of mine, except when it is done and the house feels wonderful. But I would bake someone a 14 layer chocolate cake every week if they would clean my house! lol
I love to have a clean house! I have some of the Norwex products and they are incredible!! I sent you a link to a friend that sells them a while ago. Amazing things and I love that you can clean your home chemically free!
I do not “love” cleaning…but I LOVE Norwex!
Love cooking, not cleaning, but like you love a clean house – It just never is…
Laura, I had been wanting to try Norwex for a while now but don’t want to invest in another “gimmick” cleaning product. Could you do us all a huge favor??? Could you test if these are REALLY antibacterial, maybe with some homemade agar gel–you could tie it into science for the boys school. Maybe even compare Norwex to regular microfiber and to good ol’ soap and water on a dishrag. We would REALLY appreciate it!!!!!
I came across this post in an attempt to find out whether there is something wrong with my love of cleaning. I am a 21 year old male who has an obsession with keeping things clean (go figure). I can’t stand a speck of dust, a strand of hair, a blotch of gravy and pretty much anything unruly or untidy around my place. Maybe I like inhabiting a clean environment. Maybe I have OCD. I was unaware of this Norwex thing, perhaps it will be a trusty tool in my lifelong quest against unclean things. Coincidentally, I also love cooking. Thanks for the post! Though I’m still scratching my head as to why I love cleaning.
I looked up this website to see if anyone but me gets discouraged about cleaning the house. All I want is my husband to help out!(HA!HA!) now that most of you have fallen off of your chairs.. even if he did help he takes too many breaks, he’s like he’s UNION he has to have a break every 15 min. I love him but man! I cut grass, take out trash, and plant, water flowers. I’m tired! He does COOK! so I guess I have to take the good with the bad. Thanks for reading.