Is it OK to have a messy house? How messy? For how long? When? Am I OK to only clean the toilets once or twice a month? Wash the windows once a year? Dust the piano quarterly? Bathe the kids weekly? It’s not like I’m about to be buried under an avalanche of unopened mail or a heap of dust bunnies, but I am busy and the housework is suffering. On a typical weekday I spend 12 hours away from home. So my house is not messy out of laziness, and yet I feel like letting things go is the same as saying that I don’t notice them.
I know that our baseboards are a little grubby and there is a ton of clutter on the washer and drier and the kitchen cabinets need to be wiped down. Not to mention the transitions we have never installed between our wood and carpeted floors and the weird cracking paint spots in the main bathroom and the pile of dog fur I suspect is lurking under our bed and the fact that I can only find one hand towel in our entire linen closet and I frequently lose my checkbook under loose paperwork on my desk. Don’t even get me started on outdoor issues like the weeds next to the driveway or the garden. Maybe I would feel better if I posted a list of these shortcomings at the doorstep with a note at the top reading: “I KNOW. I WILL DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT WHEN I CAN. WHEN MY BABIES ARE OLDER. WHEN JARED IS THROUGH WITH SCHOOL. WHEN I GET HOME FROM WORK BEFORE 7 PM. MAYBE NEVER. BUT NEVERTHELESS, I KNOW.”
Occasionally I sit around reading or singing the BYU fight song five times for Thor’s amusement or just flat-out frivolously using my time (uh… erm… The Bachelorette, anyone?) and then I am besieged by guilt because maybe I should have been cleaning. If a friend or neighbor casually dropped by to find tufts of dog hair everywhere and ground-up graham cracker crumbs on the kitchen floor, foremost in his/her mind would NOT be, “Hey, Sarah seems really well-read and content lately. Not to mention full of interesting commentary on The Bachelorette.” Am I REALLY less entitled to hobbies, entertainment, or a social life because my house is not pristine? Don’t get me wrong -- I don’t like having a messy house (just ask my poor husband), but I am trying to cling to my sanity here.
2 comments:
I personally am very interested in your commentary on the bachelorette. I'm not at all concerned about that cleanliness of your baseboards or the amount of dog fur lurking on your bed. I predict Ali will pick Roberto in the end (I have not read any spoilers).
I mean dog fur lurking *under* your bed. I would be a little bit concerned if you were actually sleeping with dog fur.
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