In my opinion, my house is an absolute mess. We are redoing the kitchen so there's a constant presence of dusty footprints, a constant settling of dust on the furniture and a constant smell from having to put the cat's litter pans in the dining room while the entrance to the basement is blocked. I've taken to walking through the house with a dust cloth in my hand. And I've bought every kind of kitty litter odor fighter on the market in addition to a few air freshener aids. My Darling Daughter (aka Teen) believes I'm obsessive about cleaning.
This observation, unfortunately, is very inaccurate. I am not a neat person. Up until the kitchen redo, pulling out the vacuum cleaner more than once a month was rare. Last week I finally got on my hands and knees and cleaned the bathroom floor. I have no recollection of when I did that last.
The Darling Daughter observation came on the heels of my vacuuming in HER room. I have been advised by many, including DD herself, to stay clear of a teen's room. Her idea of cleaning is picking clothes off the floor and dumping them into the hamper. And most of the time, I'm okay with that. But once in awhile my inner "mom" comes out and I just have to get the vacuum cleaner going.
I remember my mom as a vacuuming crazy lady. We (meaning brothers and dad) would be watching TV on a Saturday and next thing you know...vroom, vroom. There goes mom vacuuming in front of the TV. We'd all groan and complain, but she'd keep at it until she was done. I recall a time when she was so aggravated with me about my room that she dragged me into my bedroom to give me a lesson in how to make my bed. To this day I always make sure I'm doing "hospital corners" on the sheets. A lesson given in anger sticks I suppose. My friends remember how nice and neat she kept things. So compared to my mom, I fall far short of obsessive cleanliness.
My mom and I do share the same attitude about cleaning up for company. Company creates both obligation and motivation. My Hubby and Darling Daughter do not share in this feeling, particularly when the company is related, so shake their head when I start ranting and raving about the condition of the house. Their philosophy is "it's family...family doesn't care about those things." My philosophy is that a clean house is a sign of respect for your guests. And I appreciate entering a clean house when I am invited to their place. But here's why I'm not obsessive about it. It's clean when they arrive, but I don't spend time cleaning up behind everyone throughout the visit. I do like to enjoy my visitors.
As proof of my non-obsessiveness, it's Saturday at 11:00 a.m. and I've not touched a surface in this house. But I do need to get the Teen out of bed sometime soon. A little Vroom, vroom should work.
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