Can someone please help me with this? My housekeeping leaves much to be desired. My house always is and always has been a MESS! Until a year and a half ago, when I retired, I had always worked outside the home, worked while going to school, raised my children, and everything else the rest of you do. But your houses look great and mine is always such a mess.
When I dreamed about retiring, I thought of how clean my house would be. After all, I wouldn’t be spending 10 hours a day at work, getting ready for work, and driving to and from work. I’d have all that time to give my house a good cleaning and keep it that way. It hasn’t happened! I have a couple of explanations for that (okay, they’re really excuses).
First, I’m a slob by nature. I keep things clean and sanitized and I always rinse out any dishes before I use them to make sure the soap is thoroughly rinsed out and to remove one or two specs of dust (drives Rog crazy). I put out clean towels every day, wipe down the bathroom daily, clean off the barbeque before cooking on it. It’s not that the important things are “dirty,” they’re not.
I just get caught up in clutter, which results in a never ending mess. I’ll bring home groceries and put away the perishable things and leave the rest out, still in the bags, to put away later. One of the causes of that problem is that my pantry needs a good cleaning and reorganization – then I wouldn’t leave groceries out because I’d be able to put them away with ease. But that project will take a lot of time. It’s on my “To Do” list. Every room in my house is on my “To Do” list, along with other endless projects like organizing photos, etc. When I do find enough time to give this place a good cleaning, I won’t know where to start!
Another explanation (excuse) is that I’m a “hoarder” – so my kids tell me. I disagree! You can still get into each and every room in my house and are able to see at least portions of each floor. I have considered becoming a hoarder so that TV show can do a story on me and give me a whole bunch of new stuff.
The fact is I’ve just had too much experience in needing something the minute I throw it away. So, I throw very little useful stuff away. Has that ever happened to you? I have a chest of drawers in my basement with one drawer full of electrical cords that I don’t know what they’re for. I can’t throw any of them away because as soon as I do get around to cleaning this mess, I’ll find something that has a cord missing and I won’t be able to use it if I had thrown the cord away – think about it!
Another explanation (excuse) is that I’ve been spending a lot of time either with the grands or with looking for a way to earn money at home. Between those two activities and the regular daily, weekly, monthly routines, I’m tired and out of time.
Rog To The Rescue
Okay, here is the last explanation (excuse) I’m going to fess up to. I saved the best for last – you’re going to love this one! My wonderful husband Rog, used to be a machinist, working 60 hours a week before he had a series of strokes 14 years ago. He can’t work at a job anymore, so he does the housework. Rog wants more than anything to be able to work at a job again, but he’ll never be able to, so it’s important that he feels he’s doing something useful. He walks the dog (and the neighbor’s dog), feeds the dog and cat, loads and unloads the dishwasher, does laundry, dusts, sweeps the floors, takes care of the lawn, takes out the garbage, cleans the litter box and dog poop, and vacuums – his way, the best that he can.
So . . . I leave my dirty dishes on the sink so he has something to clean and I stay out of his way while he’s doing the rest. And I let him do the rest. A husband that does all the housework – every wife’s dream right? Well . . . let’s continue. Sometimes Rog is obsessive with his cleaning. I sometimes get impatient and tell him his “Suzy Homemaker routine” has to wait because we have something more important to do right now like get to a doctor appointment.
It’s like his top priority in the world is to wash out my coffee cup instead of watching for his bus to go to the Senior Center in the morning. Relax Rog, I promise I won’t let the “cleaning monster” break in and clean while you’re away. All this mess will still be here when you get home. I know you probably want to slap me right about now for not knowing how good I have it right? Read on.
Reality Check
When I’m finished bitchin and complaining I stop and give myself a reality check. This is how I should be. If I were as adamant about cleaning the house as my disabled husband is, I wouldn’t be here asking for your help on how to end this madness. So why then, is my house still such a mess?
Rog has very limited vision and no peripheral vision. I can always tell when Rog has been cleaning. The smell of bleach on laundry day is so strong it burns my eyes, but that’s okay I know the sheets were clean. The upside down pictures on the shelves means he dusted. The vacuum cleaner marks showed me he vacuumed the middle of the floor, but missed the sides. Same when he mows the lawn. We have a blanket for our dog on the rug, so that if he had a treat, the blanket would get dirty and not the rug. The idea was to pick up the blanket and wash it once in a while. Well, Rog would take the blanket and flip it over so that the now dirty side was on the rug. You get the idea.
Anyway, yes I do know how good I have it. Even though Rog’s cleaning is less than 100% effective, it’s still 100% better than what I do. When I think that I want to be one of those people who can’t sleep at night until everything is clean – that’s Rog. That’s how I should be – a clean freak. But I’m not. Seriously, fellow grandparents – can you help me out on this . . . . Please!!!
debbie@grammyslittlehelpers.com