Peaceful.
Like I said here, I do laundry on Monday and Thursday and clean my house on Thursday as well. No house cleaning except on Thursday. None. Well, except dishes. And I've decided after each time I do dishes, it's just best to sweep, too, since somehow we miss our mouths and food ends up on the floor.
(if you saw me, that last statement would be hard for you to believe)
Last night my sister Megan asked if she could come over for the day today. Her, my mom and my niece and nephew came over this morning. Wednesday. The day before cleaning day. The day of the week that looks the worst. When the floor needs mopped, the carpet needs vacuumed, the toothpaste needs chiseled outta the sink...
But ya know, I just let it be. The house was tidy. It was fine. I didn't feel like I had to make it look perfect. And it felt so good! So freeing!
When we've had company come over in the last few weeks, there's been zero stress. Zero feelings that I have to do such and such to make it seem perfect.
This was a status of my friend, Kerra, on FB the other day:
So I've noticed that lately, I've been gravitating towards friends with 'lived-in' (messy) houses. If I go to someone's house and it's spotless, it makes me feel inadequate. Weird? So if you need to feel a little better about your housekeeping skills, come on over to my house. It's a mess, and I love it. We'll have coffee and shove the toys/fruit snacks/animal hair out of the way and TALK & LAUGH!!
I loved this. Definitely put the whole perfect house thing in perspective for me. Sometimes it makes people uncomfortable if the entire house is too clean. I want people to feel welcome. I want people to want to come over.
And if I have to smash some fishy crackers to get that, then I will!
(I'll just sweep 'em up immediately after they leave.)
5 comments:
My best friends house is just like mine. There are papers and junk piled in the corners of the kitchen. Dishes in the sink. Laundry thrown on the couch. I feel at home there. I love real people!!
It doesn't bother me when other people's houses are "lived in"...but it does bug me when my own house is out of order. It's my OCD-ness; its what makes me a good accountant but a little bit up tight about certain other things...never thought about how something I do to make myself feel more sane would stress someone else out...good to see the other side of the coin sometimes I guess
Good job, Sarah, kicking that perfectionism to the curb!
I have to admit that I'm with Kristie - minus the accountant part. I do think you can help people feel welcome in your home no matter what it looks like - messy, clean, or somewhere in-between. My mother-in-law (who has a spotless house) has a special way of making every person feel like part of the family. What shines through is her servant's heart and generous spirit.
I'm definitely enjoy the "lived in" over the too-perfect and the too-crazy-to-even-move. Somewhere in the middle of the extremes is great!
You're not allowed to sweep them up unless it's Thursday, remember? What if they visit and leave on Monday? Then you're toast, I tell ya! ;)
I like the idea of one cleaning day a week. I'm not sure I could stick with it though, especially since announced-ahead-of-time visitors would be the true test of breaking the once a week rule...
It's worth trying though. Thanks for the idea!
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