I am half-tempted to take tomorrow off from academics and tell the boys that we’re having full day of Home Economics, i.e. Housekeeping 101.
Seriously, I’m about to blow from the mess around this house! There is just STUFF everywhere! And where did we get all this STUFF??? And why does it multiply into even more STUFF while I am sleeping, then redistribute its spawn all over my house?
And why do people laugh when I say that my ideal Christmas, birthday or anniversary gift is a maid service? I know I’m a kidder, but I am not joking when I say that.
Of course, it’s pathetic that with two grown adults and two kids old enough to do most any cleaning task, that the house even gets in this state to begin with. Part of our problem is that, unlike most marriages, where one partner is the organized, tidy one and the other is the creative, messy one, Donnie and I are both “The Creative One.” There is no naturally-organized person living here.
I have a message for anyone who would like to nominate me for one of those cleaning/home renovation TV shows: DO IT! Please! I will NOT be offended. 😆
I went through this same feeling over the last couple of weeks — and I HAVE a cleaner who comes in for a few days once a week. But she doesn’t do anything about the clutter and the STUFF. That’s still my problem.
I’m trying to take a Flylady-inspired approach of picking just one of my “hot spots” at a time, cleaning it off, and trying to keep it cleaned. I started with the headboard of my bed, then spent all the Remembrance Day holiday on my kids’ rooms (no “hot spots” there; the entire room is a hot spot). So far those have remained relatively tidy and I now feel ready to tackle my desk. One hot spot at a time I’m hoping that by Christmas I won’t want to scream every time I enter my house.
Having a paid cleaner is really nice but it does NOT solve the problem of mess and clutter — she will just move that and scrub underneath it, because the decisions about which 90% of the junk you should throw away, and what to do with the 10% you keep, are still yours and yours alone to make. I know that’s not very encouraging news.