Oh, I have plenty of freak-outs, but my freak-outs never seem to be about the same things my friends freak out about.
For example, I have a friend who absolutely FREAKS about spiders. Do I like spiders? Ick, no! But unless they are lunging at my face, or looking like they COULD lunge at my face any second, I don't get all excited.
I also don't freak out if I don't change the oil in my car exactly at or before 3000 miles, and if there is some trash on the floor of the front passenger side, I'm not ashamed--I know that the trash is not permanent. Oh, and since there is always a project brewing in my house, be it a knitting thing, or a cooking thing, or an "OMG, I MUST create a Link costume for Halloween" thing, I'm unlikely to have a coronary if there are bits of yarn, or a dirty dish or a half-million scraps of green fabric on the floor that I didn't pick up during, or immediately after, the completion of said project.
No big deal.
My house, my children and I are clean enough to be non-offensive 94% of the time, and the other 6% of the time, we are either showering or vacuuming or washing or tidying. We recognize the difference between "untidy" and "unsanitary". We know better than to try and share our presence or our home if the "ick" factor is too high. Would I invite a bunch of people over to a messy house? No. Would I attempt to go out in public if I was so stinky or unkempt that I wouldn't want to stand near me? No.
No worries.
But this weekend, I had a friend ride in my car with me, who made the statement that "if there wasn't garbage on the floor, it wouldn't be your car".
Really? Two times a year, you ride in my car, and you're gonna go straight to that? Hmmm...
Here's the thing: Never let yourself get so worked up about things that aren't important that you don't have time to enjoy your life. Don't worry about your home being pristine all the time if you don't entertain people at your home all the time--isn't your home supposed to be YOUR sanctuary? And if you are so busy maintaining your things that you don't have time to enjoy your things, or enjoy anything else for that matter, maybe you need less "things".
*grumble*
I feel bad for people who are trapped in that way of thinking. At the same time, I would like them to keep their negative to themselves. Nobody ever died or even got sick from my cooking, even though I don't wipe my stove off 18 times a day. And our mental and physical health is fine, even though we may only vacuum and wash the slip covers once a week. I'm a chronically safe driver who is GOING PLACES--that is what a car is for, isn't it? Going places? As long as you're safe and we get there in the same amount of time, does it matter that I rarely go through a car wash? We're busy, OK? Busy enjoying life, enjoying our friends, and busy doing things! Don't be a buzz-kill!
Amen, sister. (though I do admit to being a little uptight about my own place when people come over. it's just a thing I have because of an uptight mother I had. I'm a little freaky like that. But I do NOT pass judgement or even notice a normal comfort level of disarray in other people's homes.)
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, you wash slipcovers weekly? That is FREQUENT in my book.
And that too much stuff thing? Yeah. I'm totally all over that.
OK, maybe every 2-3 weeks....LOL Between cat hair and teen gunk, it can get kinda goopy. And they are not thick upholstry fabric or anything, so it is more akin to washing a bed sheet. The slip-covers I had before were lucky to get washed onces every 6 months because I had to take them to a place with giant machines.
ReplyDeleteTidy Home Update! I finally got file box, because the main mess in the house is always the pile of papers somewhere...blech.
I have friends who WON'T let me come over until they clean! Their house is never very dirty, in my book, and obviously, I'm not afaid of animal hair. :-)
Yeah, our biggest mess is the paper, too. I think. We're trying very hard to go to a nearly paperless system with a scanner and shredder. It's taking a long time but am hopeful it will be very worth it when we finally get to that point.
ReplyDeleteThen I need to break HBB of his death grip on every. little. thing. which comes into his possession. That boy needs to learn the value of fewer THINGS.
My housekeeper quit nearly two months ago. You don't even wanna KNOW what my house looks like these days.
ReplyDeleteYour house probably looks like mine!!! This morning, I witnessed a teenager (mine) throwing a gum wrapper at a cat (to tease the cat). Now, do you think said teenager went over and picked up that little piece of foil? Oh hell no....LOL So THAT's the kind of stuff I'm dealing with. That and pop cans ending up where-ever they were when they got empty, of course...I won't even talk about Halloween candy wrappers.
ReplyDelete