How many of you run your household perfectly, or close to, smoothly?

Question

Do you ever run out of paper goods like napkins, bathroom tissue, paper towels? Do you ever miss a week or so of moping? Do you ever leave the dishes in the sink overnight? Do you ever forget to stock a certain food staple? I am wondering! Thanks for taking the time to read and answer!

Answer 1

I run my house by routines, but sometimes, due to feeling tired, or busy with school meetings etc, sometimes things are left and not done. Perfectionism does not rule at my house, but I do like my home to be cleaned weekly and have set things to do daily as well.

Keep a stock of everyday items that you use and keep a list handy, so as you notice things getting low, you can put them on your list.

Good web sites for house-keeping ideas are:

about.com, real simple.com, or fly lady.  

Answer 2

We have a pretty good system we use on the ranch, since we are

7 miles from any grocery stores.

Obtain a directory (floor plan) of the market you patronize.

Create a shopping checklist on your computer, listing items by location in the market. (So you can, in one swoop hit the aisles where your products are located.)  Be sure to include everything that you buy on a weekly/monthly basis.

Post this shopping list in your kitchen, and encourage every member of the family to mark this list and initial, so you know who wants what.

(You may want to omit the sugary cereals for the kids.)

We put all dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and wash when we have a full load.

We have a housekeeper, so she does the mopping, waxing, etc., and I have a little schedule for her to do those things only done periodically.  I like to run the floor polisher, so I do that myself.  I like to keep the parquet floors really shiny.

The ongoing shopping list alleviates running out of any product.  We always like to have a spare of everything on hand, so we buy a replacement BEFORE we run out of anything.

It works for us.  Thank God my husband is even more organized than  I am!

Answer 3

I NEVER run out of toilet paper.  I am a fanatic about that.  My friends even make fun of me about it.  But paper towel, napkins stuff like that, yep, run out of it all the time. I do miss mopping, I have left the dishes in my sink overnight, I forget to buy stuff all the time if I don't make a list.  Is my household run smoothly?  You have got to be kidding?  NO!  But its a happy household, dirty dishes, no paper towel, unmopped floors notwithstanding.  

Answer 4

Yes, I am guilty to all the above. However, I do like my house clean so I do a good cleaning once a week.=)

Answer 5

I think anyone who says they run their house perfectly is either lying or a Stepford Wife.  

Reality is, most people run out of things occasionally.  Sometimes people forget to mop, and dishes have a tendency to appear in the sink between bedtime and wake-up time.  Sometimes people go to the store with an organized list and forget the most important thing they can't do without.  

Nobody's perfect, and most people do not have time to map out their trips to the store, or have money enough hire a housekeeper.  

These things happen.  I take pride in the fact that my family is fed, my clothes are washed, and that we have toilet paper to clean our rear ends...Everything else happens or not with no angst on my part...