I'm convinced that there are two types of people: Those who are compelled to clean up messes due to a genetic composition completely foreign to me (and they ENJOY this. It makes them feel good!) ; and those who compel themselves to keep up with those kind of people... I am the latter type. I was not born a fanatic housekeeper. My mother was. My mom rose at 4:30 or 5am, laundry was folded and done, dinner in the crockpot and bread made before any child stepped foot out of bed. The woman was a homemaking machine, although, I admit, I never saw her sleep.
I on the other hand, was born her genetic opposite. I was the arch rival to my mothers clean system... go ahead and ask her how many milk glasses I had next to my bed (which, my sweet hubby now patiently deals with... some things never change.) I loved a clean room. I loved the feeling of no clutter and the smell of baked bread. When I married, I was completely baffled as to how all of these things got done in a home.
Now after nearly 14 years of marriage I get it. I get that I wasn't born with the genetic clean freak gene.... even though I wish I were. I battle my disability daily... I have had to be nurtured (by my sweet mother) over the years on how to get it all done. It is possible... I'm living proof!
This week I'll be sharing a few of the tricks that have not come natural to me but that have been nurtured by me to help make my homemaking effective. I am not perfect, but I have an absolute love for homemaking and a conviction that there is no other role on earth I could do that would bring me more joy than this... even if it means I'm fighting a genetic flaw and feel like a 3 legged greyhound in a high stakes race!How has homemaking come to you? Are you a natural homemaker or one who's nurturing her homemaking skills?
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9 comments:
Same as you - had a mother that could clean a house in her sleep and make it look effortless. I can not do this. I want so badly to be a great homemaker but I have housekeeping ADD - I get distracted very easily and then feel badly when I don't keep my house the way my mom kept (still keeps) hers. I've learned some tricks though and it gets easier as time goes by and as my children get older : )
I think something must be wrong with me. If I didn't look so much like both my parents, I'd think I was switched at birth. Both my parents are neat freaks and me, well, not so much. I mean, I like things to be neat and tidy, but I'd much rather sit down with a good book or movie or the internet than clean the kitchen. I grew up in what I think might possibly have been the cleanest house in America. Dust has no idea what my parents house looked like because it was never there. My house? Well, it's not gross, but it's not super clean. I do LIKE a clean house, but I've had to learn to live with clean enough.
No doubt about it, I'm a natural. I've been married 52 years, and never go out of the house with it not in order. To me, it seems so easy to keep it up consistently, then to get behind and then have to catch up. I realize how fortunate I am to have inherited the gene from my mother, but understand the ones without the clean gene. I try never to inflict my habits on others especially my daughter!!! Sally
I struggle every single day. I have cleaners who come every two weeks to scrub the floors & the bathrooms. I just try to keep up everything so when they come they can finish the rest.
I was definitely born without the clean gene! I hate clutter and messes, but I can't seem to figure out how to keep those out of my house. I swear, I'm a neat freak trapped in a slob's body. It's excruciating at times. I can't wait to learn some tricks!
My housework is "good enough"- a work ethic I received from my mom. The house is *usually* picked up, but I can't promise there aren't any dust bunnies lurking around (or taunting at you in plain sight!). I'm not organized by nature, though I've tried multiple techniques that have gotten pushed to the back burner one after another. I haven't accepted defeat yet and continue to try to get myself motivated... I'm wondering if it has more to do with my very laid-back Type B personality more than anything? Once a Type A decides something's important, nothing gets in their way. I know what's important, and one day I hope to get around to it. :)
Look, I know you. It has nothing to do with lack of genetic aptitude. You just have a have-to-do list three and a half miles long, a want-to-do list even longer, and 6 kids whom you have decided are more important than a spotless home. You are an inspiration to us all, dust or no dust.
I missed you. My mother was the same way. I learning that I have to be my own person and some days the housework doesn't quite get done like my mom would have but that's okay too.
I was a born organizer. Borderline OCD, I'm sure. I like the labels facing out, the spoons with the spoons, the pillows in the corners, triple fold towels, etc. I was perfectly happy like this and then I married my husband, and welcomed his three children, boy children, into our home. OMG. Life changed. I had to learn to live with mess. While they lived with us, their messes always had me a little crazy, but I learned to live with it. Now that they are on their own, it's back to the militant organizing and cleaning I'm most comfortable with. I don't mind cleaning house but I hate doing laundry.
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