Keeping House

As a newlywed, living in a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 465 square foot house I would spend about 4 hours per day keeping the house going. I'd do laundry, ironing, vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, shopping, cooking, organization, filing, bill paying, and even some regular maintenance tasks. I didn't do any of that stuff on the weekends, but I would spend at least 4 hours, Monday through Friday, on keeping the house up. For a house that size, with no kids, it is a part time job.

You might wonder how I could have found four hours of things to work on. I ironed things back then when I did laundry. The grocery store was across the street and I would walk there and back on nice days. I washed floors by getting down on hands and knees and scrubbing them. They looked wonderful when I was done and I knew I was getting exercise. I didn't go to the gym back then. I didn't need to.

Up at 8, work until noon, and the rest of the day was mine. I'd do volunteer work with my mother, use my sewing room to get projects done, walk over to the library (it was in our back yard) and get reading material, or otherwise stay busy. 6:30 was time to have dinner on the table for the Hubster, then out and about if we felt like it, or home together for the evening.


Now, I'm home full time in a 3,450 square foot house with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. Do I spend the same amount of time keeping up the house? Hah! I might spend an hour a day. Maybe. This will change. The more time I spend on domestic tasks, the happier I am hanging out at home. If home is a nice place, I enjoy being in it. Doesn't that make sense?