I know that my standard for cleaning was definitely taught by my mother. She was a neat fanatic. Our house was always spotless. She's much more relaxed about things now, but is still neat.

We had assigned chores and my mother never had to ask or tell us to do them. We knew what they were and did them. It was just part of growing up.

Of course, I feel I had more chores than my brother. He seemed to have plenty of time for atari as I was doing dishes or ironing. lol

I'm thankful that I was raised this way and plan to make sure my children have their home responsibilities too.

The old saying "you could eat off her floors" fit my mom to a "t". She has a spotless house with nothing out of place. There were never dirty dishes laying around, you could never find dust bunnies anywhere and she ironed even her faceclothes.

Unfortunately, she never let us kids do anything in the house. We didn't have any household responsibilities whatsoever. When I got married at 18, that didn't go well. I had to learn how to do everything myself. My mom always said, you won't do it good enough.

When I had kids, both the older and younger, I decided they would learn homemaking and they did. Even with our special needs kids, they have responsibilities within our household. They grew up with it and don't mind doing it at all.

I only wish my mom would have taught me all her homemaking skills. I know if she had, I may not have been as disorganized as I am.

Growing up our house was clean but never spotless and neither is mine. Growing up my mom spent more time with us than with doing chores, until we got older. I myself just don't want to spend all that time scrubbing floors when I should be out enjoying time with the family, they grow up so quickly and I'll have plenty of time to clean when they are gone ;) Don't get me wrong, the house is clean and the kids do have chores to do, but I have seen too many people spend more time in their house cleaning than being with their family doing family things and to me that's sad, putting housework over family.

Yep, my mom kept the house spotless and totally uncluttered. I just don't know how she did all the things she did. I certainly can't keep up to the standards she had.

Our home was fairly clean but with so many of us running around, my grandma certainly had her hands full. She was the Queen of Clutter and when we dusted it took forever. She loved all those little things sitting around.

It was clean but not super spotless. Mum had serious problems with her energy level as far back as I can remember, and she was a severe asthmatic. She died when I was 14 and my sister was 11.

I think it was a struggle. I know she tried to do it as efficiently as possible and my dad would help. I remember that Heloise book, she used the tips in that a bit but both my sister and I found it a struggle to do it the way she did.

As adults we both worked at finding new ways that worked better. I wish I could reach back with what I know now, and help her.

My mother tried but with 4 kids underfoot and working fulltime, it was never immaculate but it was certainly passable. I was never embarrassed for my friends to come and stay the night. :)

Yes but not spotless. It was a bit cluttered at times, similar to my house now.

Very clean! There was never any clutter, Mom had a place for everything. By no means was it a sterile environment, our home was and it still is (Mom and Dad are in the same house as when we grew up) one of those homes that you walk into and instantly feel comfortable and at home. Mom had a routine and stuck by it. After any meal, the whole table was cleared, dishes washed and everything back in place before anything else was done. Beds were made every morning. Laundry, dusting, vacumning had their days too.

Yep, but not spotless. Mom kept things deep down clean, but sometimes a bit of clutter would pile up. I find myself being more like her now than ever...although I'm fighting with it a bit. I'm trying very hard to keep my more clutter free. When our kids were at home everyone had chores but I had to stay after the kids to keep their chores done. They weren't as nice as you were Sara....lol.