A Messy House

What does a messy house mean to me?

It means a few things. One, I have not had the motivation to get it clean. Two, I have been enjoying my children. Three, we have too much stuff.

I think my main problem is number one. I don't have the motivation. I look at my messy house that I just cleaned a day or two ago and think, "It is just going to look like this again in an hour. What is the point?" I know. I like the feeling when I see that I have done a good job cleaning whatever room I have been working on. I really like the occasional compliment I get from my husband after showing off my days work. I just wish there was a faster better way of cleaning than the usual in and out of the room putting things away and then vacuuming.

Unfortunately, number two is rarely the answer in my house. It is not that I don't enjoy my children. I just don't think I spend enough time really watching, listening and playing when it comes to my kids. (That is my confession for the day.)

Answer number three is part of the problem. I have a problem when it comes to my stuff. I get emotionally attached. The only way that I can explain that is that "stuff" has never left me, won't die, has never broken my heart, and can hold memories that no one else has. I am not the only person in my family with this problem. We all have a hard time getting rid of stuff. That means there are 5 people that refuse to get rid of stuff in my house. The bad part of that is that our house is cluttered. Don't get me wrong. We do throw stuff away when necessary, but we all hold onto papers that aren't needed, toys that aren't played with, computer stuff that will probably never be used again, and the list goes on.

I tried FlyLady about six month ago. I thought that the system was great and a real motivation. Then I got to a point that I was having to get rid of stuff on a regular basis. That slowed me down a bit. Then I got to a day that I was to add cleaning the toilet in the main bathroom daily. I quit. I didn't want to have to clean my kids bathroom myself everyday. I have boys. GROSS!

So until I find something that really works for me (where I don't have to get rid of a lot of stuff quickly, and I don't have to clean my boys' pee everyday), my house will be messy. My kids will continue to be in charge of cleaning their rooms. My boys will be the ones cleaning their pee off of the floor and back of the toilet.