Thursday, July 25, 2013

7-in-7,day 4: Dirty Little House Secrets

My house is a mess.

I wonder how many blog posts I have begun that way. But it is true, so there it is.

I have analyzed many, many times WHY the house is so messy. The most obvious answer is: my family! Romeo is the only one of my men who shows any concern about cleaning. The Monkey does help, but he is young yet.

I have this dream (nightmare or fantasy? I am not sure.) that I go away for a while - not sure where. Let's imagine Hawaii or Salzburg - somewhere fabulous. Anyway, I am gone for a month or two. I return to a scene of horror.
My men are lounging around the house in dirty clothes. Piles of toys, books, junk and trash litter the living room, stairs and bedrooms. Dirty dishes piled in the sink. Message light blinking frantically on the phone, because either a) no one thought to check and see if there were messages or b) no one remembered how to get them off, in spite of the hand-written instructions I have on the wall. A 5-inch layer of dust coats everything. The kitchen floor has clearly not been mopped and maybe not even swept while I was away. The bathrooms are downright scary.
A look of horror washes over my face. My men jump up to exclaim, "We were were going to clean up! You just got home an hour early! Honest!"

Yeah. This is a very likely scenario of what would happen were I to be gone for a month or two.

I have tried many systems of getting the family clean and/or organized, but to no avail. I have limited cleaning time myself, but I do what I can.

In the process, things get neglected. And that is where we are today. Neglected.

My big summer plan to clean and organize the house has not happened, due to illnesses and fun.

But today, that begins to change. My neighbors have a 16-year-old son who needs money AND likes to organize. He is coming over this afternoon to help me get a handle on the whole thing. Only problem is, he will SEE our dysfunction. It will probably scar him for life!



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