I had a friend who was extremely houseproud. She almost gave herself a nervous breakdown trying to keep her home looking picture perfect at all times after the birth the way she'd had before it. Being a mom means of course you have a whole pile of responsibilities. There's only so many hours in the day, let's face it! Add to that scheduling your life around your child's nap times etc and of course things will be different than before.

It's not worth giving yourself more pressure than you need to. Consider adjusting your thinking a little. Find a lower level you can be happy with and aim for achieving that instead. Of course things still need to be clean for the sake of everyone's health but you really don't need to do a lot of things every day, like polishing. Stop fretting over the small things you'd not had time to do and remember life changes. It's up to us to discover how to stay happy and go with the flow.

If anyone offers help, accept it! Many a time I was so tired after having a rough night with my son I'd have given anything to hear someone say they'd watch him for a few hours to let me sleep. If you're lucky enough to have someone that will do that, resist the temptation to spend the time cleaning and catch up on some rest or get some fresh air. Your wellbeing comes first, not how shiny the silver is. A happy mom is a good one.

I absolutely get what you mean, yes! And no, it's not sad.

Your mum was right, I reckon. The only time I fuss really badly is the first time someone's visiting. I have to confess to getting out the spirit level for the cushions then. After that, they're a friend and they can take me as they find me but I will tidy up if I know they're coming, just not quite as obsessively.

I work from home so it's not too hard to keep on top of some things - I can throw a load in the washing machine in between writing, for example.  Admittedly there's days when I'm so busy the family gives up on getting fed and the washing gets forgotten but que sera, sera. As long as I can say hand on heart I did my best that day, I won't lose any sleep over it.

I go from one extreme to another.  I am a perfectionist, BUT, if I don't have the time to invest in a project, it won't get started.  If I don't have time to clean an entire room from top to bottom - tidy, dust, vacuum, polish - then I will walk away from it.

I have gotten better at it though.  I had a strict cleaning schedule before kids - a way to get every nook and cranny each month and keep most of the rest done each week.  I stuck by it and my day was not complete if I had not finished it.  Kids have a tendancy to throw a schedule out the window though, so now I am lucky to wipe down the kitchen counters before bed.

I think it's important to be able to find that happy medium and be able to live with yourself when you can't get done all that you wish to.  It's hard, and I still stress over it at times.  My parents say my house looks “lived in”  and if I am worried about it looking “dirty”, then they can take me to a few houses that are much worse!  lol

I also think that tidying up doesn't have to be perfect. If I'm too meticulous in cleaning, I believe that I'll never finish cleaning up. Cleanliness is a must, however, but I think that it's not just the kitchen and that bathroom that should be clean. I think that the bedroom and living rooms should also be clean with minimum dust as possible. I would guess that most would already know the reason why.. I have asthma so I can't breathe when the room's dusty.

One tip that I find useful is to be organized in the house. Everything should have it's allocated space - books should be kept in the bookshelves, medicine in the medicine cabinet, newspapers and magazines in a rack, etc. After you're finished reading books then keep it immediately in it's allocated space, the bookshelves. After exercising, keep you're shoes in the shoe rack. By doing this regulary, you'll be saving yourself precious time in sorting things out and arranging things when it's time to clean the house.