Additional chores

Vacumning and mopping is a must on a daily basis in my home. Ehh…. Ok 6x a week (for mopping) coz now I usually don’t have the time to mop on Thursdays. 

Daily basis 

Other chores are done on a fixed day rotational basis. Cleaning the fans, window grilles, surface top, scrubbing toilets, cleaning all the glass and mirrors in the house, handwashing floor mats etc… Handwashing floor mats used to be Thursday assigned chore, then coz of FightDo I assigned to Wednesday then now assigned to Tuesday. Why handwash when we can throw in the washing machine? Coz I’m disgusted to think that whatever we step on the mat is thrown into the machine that also washes our laundry. I don’t clean the metal tub everyday! 

Not daily basis but once a week or the longest once a month

There are some other nitty gritty things to be done around MY house. 

1) Changing out the water collection from the dehumidifier containers around the house and refilling them. Usually every 3-4weeks. Humidity level in SIN is high! 

2) cleaning the floor grouts in LDKY area. Maybe once a month or if I see a patch seems dirtier than the other then I’ll grab a magic sponge and clean. 

3) getting into the floor corners of the door

4) cleaning the drain stoppers and declogging the pipes. Usually once a week

5) cleaning the washing machine. Meaning wipe down exterior, taking out the soap dispenser drawer to scrub scrub wash wash and throw in the washing machine cleaning capsule. 

The not so frequently to-do chores but must do somehow

And not forgetting that shoe cabinet needs to be cleaned and lined with mahjong paper, the whatever external storage in the yard needs to be cleaned. That is the reason why I hate to have rolling storage cart. It not only gives one the reason to buy more things ‘coz there’s storage space so must make full use of it’ but it means extra cleaning job for me. You know when you’re the only one slave doing all the jobs in the house, you just want to cut down the job. For example : mom often comment that I have no drying hand towel in the common toilet. How often do I have guest over? Hang there to only collect dust. And one more towel means I have additional things to wash. 要聪明一点、不要给自己多工作. Fridge needs to be tidied and cleaned at least once a month. But somehow there’s always someone just someone or sometwo who will anyhow push things in the fridge and then topple something else and then the fridge is in a mess. Why? Why my family like that?! Next time should make the culprit do the cleaning. 

Really a lot of work to do around the house, from cleaning to tidying to decluttering in all the areas in the house. I’m somehow appreciative that now the family do put whatever new things they have into the designated containers in the house (for eg. if they get a new electrical item and it comes with cables and they don’t need it at the moment. They can put the extra cables into the designated container. If they need it next time they will know where to take it from.)

Today, coz I washed the floor mats earlier (didn’t do last week coz away) in the week so had a little free time. I cleaned the grouts (2) and cleaned the drain stoppers n declogged the pipes (4).

This pic taken from our condo’s FB. I’m just trying to show you how an un-cleaned grout floor (yucks!) of a resident’s house looks like vs mine 

I’m house proud. Go on all fours and clean the grout lines. Always giddy when I get up often to rinse the sponge and clean other parts of the LD area. Still got kitchen and yard, not done yet. Ah nia is feeling sticky and smelly now.  

I never knew how dirty it can get if it gets unattended to. When I got back from US - OMG! the drain stopper was so dirty and smelly. This time too, even tho there was a duration of 11 days (my absence) the drain stopper is a little dirty. My mistake, I should have cleaned again just the day I flew off. Coz I do clean it every 7 days, if I have something on the next day I’ll clean it every 6 days. 

I haven’t seen drain flies for the longest time and I spotted 3 on the toilet ceiling 🤦🏻‍♀️! 

When I got back last Friday, I was so tired so only scrubbed the heavily watermarked shower glass and yucky 🤢 feel so slimy shower area floor. My feet is a good judge of cleanliness or dirt 🤣. And the white quartz basin was so yucky. Oh my! I scrub it every 2 days. I mean….how can they shower and use the basin without feeling disgusted? Maybe my idea of clean KPI is high 😂. 

I procrastinated doing this until today, the 16th day. 

I scrub the sides of the drains with a disposable toothbrush. That’s why I tend to offload toothbrush from hotels or aircrafts. Rinse off then use either one of the declogger and let it on for 15mins and finally wash it down with hot water. I used to use vinegar and baking soda, but I haven’t been able to find that 4 gallons of distilled vinegar now. 

After the hot water flush, I pour this in and then cover the drain and paste the hair catcher sticker over. 

I have no idea if anyone else do these often as me. But I honestly wonder how did my mom and the older parents are able to do housework, and cook 2 meals (3-4 dishes type) twice a day, they don’t bother about kids academics and nobody leaves the house for enrichment or tuition. I just do my usual + additional chores already is so tired + bringing the kids to classes when younger + Grab driver. I don’t even cook on a daily basis! Maybe that’s why when it comes to CNY, my mom will do the massive clean-up coz normal days is just sweep and mop, whereas for me cleaning up around the house is very routine on a almost weekly basis that I don’t do spring cleaning at all. I’m cleaning all the time.

Friends who didn’t have domestic helpers are all getting part timers to help now. No wonder they have free time to go for more exercise classes and other stuffs and I don’t. Only I this dumb dumb still slaving my life away. One day when I collapse at work, it could either be exhaustion from household chores or from excessive inhalation of bleaches and cleaning agents 😂. 

My obsession

I have this weird obsession to watch those  Instagrammers who post on cleaning houses. Ranging from angmoh to korean housewives and finally Japanese people. Don’t know why see those videos also gian. Just like I love to watch cooking videos but the thought of me cooking the dish 😖

I love Japanese cleaning aids. I took pictures of what they used and saved it in my camera roll. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to find the cleaning aids and detergents this trip. I needed time to know what I’m getting and know what’s the ingredients in the products but with her standing behind me being so impatient, I can’t do it. I badly need a solo trip! 

Even in the US, I love to go to cleaning section in supermarket. Don’t ask me why but I think psychologically I do need some cleaning 🧼 🧹 in my life.