Messy House!

One of the many things I've learned this week is that I am obsessively clean. I kind of already knew this fact, but while doing some schoolwork I was asked the question, "what do you spend a majority of your time doing?". While caring for my children isn't time wasted (not to mention it is necessary), it came a close second to cleaning. I think I actually spend most of my time cleaning. Or thinking about cleaning. When I thought about how much cleaning and "planning to clean" I do every single day, it's a little concerning! Becoming a mother made me a neat freak. To the point of OCD tendencies. I hate a messy house, and I wake up every morning and while eating breakfast I think about all the CLEANING I have to do that day. Even after I clean, I still make lists (mentally or written down.... I'm the queen of lists!) of what I need to clean. My house is always pretty spotless. If I know someone is coming over, or if I know Stu is on his way home from work, I start cleaning all over again. It's consuming.

I realized I need to let go of this. Stu says he doesn't care if he comes home and the house is messy and he has to clean a bit. If I clean less, I would be able to spend more time doing the things I love... like playing with my kids, or going to ride my horse. Who cares if it's clean!

I think a lot of this stems from when I was a kid and my mom was a SAHM. She always made sure the house was spotless before my dad came home because if she didn't, he'd ask "what were you doing all day?". He expected a clean house, clean kids and food on the table for him. When I talked to my mom about this, she told me it was like that in her house as a kid growing up. Her mother was the same. The "tidy your room and clean yourself up, your father is on his way home" was said every single day. The mother was the protector and didn't want the father to know that anything besides cleaning and cooking and caring for children was done that day... along with awaiting his arrival home from work so he can be served.

I love my dad and I love my papa (who died when I was young) but they both need a smack.

When I am 90 years old, I don't want my biggest accomplishment to be that my house was always spotless.

Screw cleaning! Here's to a messy house!