Friday, November 03, 2006

My Messy House

I have always considered myself a neat person. I strive to have a house where all the stuff we own has a home (no, seriously). This got a little harder after I got married, but Brian eventually came around to my way of thinking (or at least figured it was easier just to go with the flow. Remember, "a happy wife is a happy life"!). We keep the house fairly clean. It's not spotless, but you're not afraid to walk around barefoot, either. So why lately does it look like Toys-R-Us exploded in my living room? Take a look at this picture!

What happened here? Seriously, the only reason the coffee table looks clean is because "Caitlin the Destroyer" manages to clear it off with a few subtle moves after she gets out of bed each morning.


And look at this kitchen!



These rooms were both clean this morning when I woke up. I swear. I had nothing to do with the living room, and everything to do with the kitchen. The sad thing is, I cleaned up all the breakfast dishes and the countertops after breakfast. This is what it looks like since 9:00 am only. Heaven forbid I should show you what it looks like on the days that I don't get the breakfast dishes cleaned up until right before my husband comes home!

I guess it wouldn't bother me so much if having a messy house didn't completely stress me out. I can handle nature being chaotic and unpredictable, but not my house. I am completely relaxed in order. I've tried hard to change my attitude, and I've let my standards slip a little, but I've never been able to live well in a mess. I watch shows like "Neat" or "Clean Sweep" or "How Clean is Your House" (all three of which I've seen every episode) and identify with the hosts comments. I simply do not understand how some of the participants can let their houses get so bad. The messy part and pack-rat part I do understand - although there is such a thing as cleaning out your closets. But the filthy part? That is incomprehensible to me. What I can't figure out lately is how my kitchen manages to have a messy life all it's own. Does it come alive when I'm not looking, and it attracts all this stuff? My conclusion: Yes, yes it does. Currently I am in a heated battle with junk mail. I, for one, will be happy on so many levels when the November 7th elections are over. I mean, how many trees are we killing with the barrage of political ads? I toss them the moment I get them. I have about a trees worth of paper in the recycle bin as we speak. My table has also become magnetized, if possible, to paper items. The newspaper, the main, random other useless crap - it all manages to find it's way to the kitchen table. I didn't show you a picture of the table on purpose. It's embarrassing. On the good side, I did manage to get a load of laundry done today. It's still hanging out in the dryer, and might well be there until I do another load of laundry, or need my jeans, whichever comes first.

Okay, enough writing. The kids are conked out for a while. I need to clean my messy house and take a nap. Or, take a nap and then clean my messy house. That second one sounds like a much better option.

2 comments:

threeforme said...

Hey, that could be a picture of my kitchen and living room.

I understand your sentiments. I have no idea how the kitchen tornado happens. Piles of stuff on the counter that I'm unsure of what to do with, the huge can of baby formula on the counter that it just doesn't seem worth it to find a home for, the drying rack full of bottles. Right now there's a nice dead houseplant on my counter as well. I find it's getting easier to let it go...because I just can't control it anymore.

Ro said...

I feel better that it's not just me! We have no live houseplants. In spite of my best efforts, they have all gone the way of the large yard recyle bin in the sky....