I wish also. Or at least someone else living with me was - lol. I spend way too much time just putting things away that I or someone else has left lying around. My house is also usually clean, but it always feels so good to have things actually be where they're supposed to be.

And the worst part is, it's all around me...my brother's wife can make her kitchen go from looking like a bomb went off to spic and span in a matter of minutes...and everything is always where it's supposed to be - even if you drop by unexpected...Same thing at my MIL's and both SIL's on his side of the family! At first I thought they just all picked up before people got there, just like I do - but I have come to realize that it's just a way of life for them to keep things picked up...sigh. None of them would ever hear of leaving dishes overnight if you are entertaining or eat late...dishes get done right when you're done eating. beds get made right when you get out...

I'm curious too.

Definately I am not a neat freak. Heck with 4 kids under the age of 5, I consier it a good day if everyone ate 3 meals and has clean clothes on, anything other than that is a bonus. My mom stayed with us the last month on and off since Hudson was born and we did more organizing than we had done since Hayden came a year ago. I will admit that I have never been a neat freak and it drives DH nuts because his mom's policy is a place for everything and everything in its place, she cleaned out my cupboards and threw out most of my sippy cups for the kids because she decided that I had too many of them, so I have had to go and buy more. Plus I still haven't found everything since her reorganization LOL.

Stacie
who wishes a neat freak would move in and help around this house.

I hate clutter. My mom was the same way. My dad and sister however are another matter! Isn't it funny how small genetic traits are carried on? My dad and sister live together now (Mom, are you seeing this?) and when I visit several times a week I am amazed at what a disaster it is 90 percent of the time. Then sometimes it is spic and span. I can ignore it mostly but sometimes I have to wipe down counters, take out trash, pick up tomatoes and peppers left sitting outside on the table since July.....sigh.

I do pet sitting and see many different peoples homes on a regular basis. Some you can eat off the floor...and they have kids! That is amazing. Some people have 'stuff' (re: carp) all over every possible surface...mail from the Reagan years, flyers, junk of all types...that is amazing to me. Some people I guess find comfort in clutter whereas it drives me nuts. Thank goodness my wife doesn't like clutter either. That is one of the very few things we actually have in common LOL. On the other hand don't look for dust. We both boycott that job for the most part (until company comes!).

Duane

I'm not neat either. Like you, I end up having to straighten up frequently. I totally straighten up every two weeks, the Thursday night before my housekeeper comes. Then I promise myself I won't let it get too cluttered over the next two weeks.

One thing that has helped, both my kids are now away at college. DH is pretty neat so I'm really only cleaning up my own junk. Thank goodness for the housekeeper!!

Definitely NOT a neat-nik here! I think my family has a genetic quirk that predisposes us to be fearful of horizontal surfaces, so every single one of them gets covered in books, magazines, kid toys and generic clutter.

At least that is my story and I'm sticking to it!

Alexa

I like things orderly..but often that's a chaotic order..LOL

I will let the laundry sit for a day or two on one of the couches waiting for the BOYS to put their respective piles away..but often..I pick it up, plop it on their beds and then they 1) sleep on it until they've used the pile up or 2) scoot it to the floor or weight bench(if you happen to be the 16 yr old) LOL
I get up and make my bed every morning. My room isn't clutter free..we have little space here, and I often have a stack of something that needs a new home..But my bed is made..it makes me feel better. That's my order in that room.
In the kitchen it's things I'm working on lined up on one of the counters. In the bathroom it's all the brushes combs and hair do dads in a basket in the cabinet...but..there is no order once you get in the cabinet. LOL

I confess I am a neat freak. Its a curse I was born with and have tried to change over the years but everything has a place and everything is in its place at our house. My mom was like this but not my sister. DD is somewhat in between. I could no more go to bed with a messy kitchen than I could shoot the mailman.

When we built our first house I knew where everything would go. The house was built around my stuff. When my sister built I ask her where her furniture was going and she didnÂt have a clue. Both mom and I spent weeks figuring out every inch of space in our kitchens and knew exactly where everything would go. My sister just said build the cabinets I will figure it out when I fill them up.

Luckily DH is as anal as I am so it works for us but I do envy people who can just walk out the door with the bed not made, dishes in the sink and piles of laundry on the sofa. I am much better since we remodeled this house. I have learned that plaster dust will win the battle and dust bunnies really donÂt come and attack you in the night. I have spent way too much of my life cleaning and organizing so be careful what you wish for.

Claudia

A clean house is the sign of a misspent life.

seagrass

Resistance is futile. I like things in order and clutter out of sight but it does get the best of me.

My current vicious cycle is:

1. Go through paperwork and make piles of stuff (bills, school stuff, bills that were already paid, dr. stuff, etc.)

2. Leave piles on DR Table

3. Someone is coming over and pile everything up into one big pile again and shove in cabinet.

4. Repeat

The hubs is seriously anal! Yesterday I asked him to vacuum the furniture and he decided to use the shop vac and then proceeded to shop vac the entire house - moldings, doors(?), pictures, even the utensil drawer! Give a man a power tool, I guess. But I guess that is a clean thing not neat.

It is sort of depressing doing the same thing day after day.

Lowspark - my sister cleans up for her "cleaning posse" as she calls them. That always strikes my funnybone!

I'm kind of a neat freak, but I have had to develop blind spots since I got married. My DH is most definitely NOT a neat freak, so he doesn't understand why I am constantly wandering around the house with two or three things in my hands putting stuff away. It's just what I do. Kind of like how my dad always kept the yard weed free. Every time he'd walk by, he'd pull a couple weeds. It didn't take him much time at all, and he never had to spend a whole weekend weeding. Beautiful!

Pretty much every time I get up to go to another room or walk through the house, I have something in my hands that needs to go back to its home. And that's the trick, I have to have a home for everything. Homeless objects are not long for the world in my house. It's an illness. I guess that's how I maintain a semblance of organization in a house with a clutterbug. My DH just can't get rid of anything. He thinks it'll all be useful.

So I don't spend a lot of time cleaning on the weekends (maybe an hour and a half or so), but my house is always relatively presentable. I can make it "company ready" in about 15 minutes without killing myself. The one thing I do fight is dog hair and dirt. It's a neverending battle and I'm ok with that.

I think the trick is to be ruthless with what you bring into your house and what you get rid of. I have a hard time coming up with anything I want for Christmas because it's just one more thing to figure out a place for. But don't mind me, I'm in a "purge" frame of mind lately. I just want to get rid of it all and run away to Bora Bora. :)

Bri

I'm very similar to Bri. I can always keep the paperwork under control but struggle with my sheet music. There's frequently a large half-circle of music on the floor surrounding my piano. When I'm finished with a piece I just toss it onto the floor. Then, I quit playing when my pain levels get too high &, of course, then I can't get down on the floor to clean up the mess. So, people sometimes have to tippy-toe through the pieces of sheet music that litter the floor. Other than that, everything has a home & everything in its home. Clutter makes me crazy (or at least that's my excuse!).

If anybody has an idea to organize about 5,000 (literally) pieces of sheet music I'd sure appreciate hearing from you! And NO, I don't have room for one of those wonderful cabinets designed specifically for sheet music. :(

/tricia

All this is very comforting to hear. I guess I look at too many magazines. I spent a small fortune renovating my kitchen a few years ago and I wish the table wasn;t always cluttered with papers, etc.

Maggie, that is the story of my home office/guest room. First I pile all the paperwork that needs attention on the bed in archeological order oldest to newest. Actually, the first stop is a stairstep, waiting to go upstairs.

Then once a year or so, I go through and put them in piles according to category. If I'm lucky, they get filed, however, I usually get a house guest who would rather not sleep on a pile of paper so I scoop it up, return it to archeological order and stash it somewhere.

The other headache is the laundry. Every weekend I sort out the piles and put them on the bedroom floor. By the time I get to the last pile, it sits in the washer all week and has to be washed again. Then I either bring the dry stuff upstairs and dump it on my bed, or I fold it and put it on the bed. Come bedtime, all I want to do is sleep, so it all goes on the floor. I spend the week tripping over it.

Anything I didn't wear that week goes on a hanger. The stuff I did wear goes on the laundry pile and the whole thing starts again.

I wish I had a closet with everything neatly lined up and hanging on those nice huggable hangers. Everything pressed in matching sets, ready to go!

I sit in the den to watch tv and whatever project I'm working on surrounds the spot where I'm sitting. It's paperwork or sewing or books. I build a little nest for myself but I have to leap into the middle of it.

I never put the boxes of Christmas decs away on the basement shelves, they are still on the floor. Too late now! I just have to move the Halloween decorations off of them and get them out again.

And on and on. I guess I just have to learn to accept myself the way I am. Claudia, I wish I had a bit more of the neat freak in me. I think it would make life a little easier.

The attic, basement, garage, yard, car, my office at work -- aaaargh!

Pam, I do one load of laundry a day..If I get backed up..or skip a day..I'm okay, cuz I'll do one in the morning and one later in the afternoon early evening..but miss two days and I'm screwed!!!! LOL
I really hate laundry!

I am not a neat freak, but my dh leans that way. It is not what you would wish for. For most slobs, we're comfortable in a neat house. For most neat freaks, being in a messy home makes them feel physically ill at ease. There is no halfway mark for them.
I wish I was different, but I know I won't make the effort for long.
Jo

Not a neat freak here either. My husband and I drive about 35 miles one way to work and most days I am not off until after 6 so by the time we get home and have dinner and I clean up the kitchen mess I am draging butt and too tired to do much else. I try to catch everything up on the weekends and then the vicious circle starts all over again.

Melissa

Well, you could always do like me and keep all your vacuums out in the living room on display... all 27 of them! Of course you don't collect vacuums, and I wouldn't have them there if I had a second bedroom in my apartment.

I have NEVER been neat. I just don't put things away... I just live. About once a week, I get to the point where I can't stand it and I do a massive cleaning all in one fell swoop. Sometimes, I cook dinner or bake something and don't clean the kitchen until the next day! When I do laundry, I typically leave the clothes in the basket and and just take out what I need. Unless I need the basket... then upturn the basket on the bed or love seat or bedroom carpet just pick the clothes up as I want to wear them, and iron them if I'm going to work... if I'm staying home, the cat doesn't mind wrinkles. Heaven forbid I actually want to SIT at my sewing machine; I'd have to dig for a month just to be able to move the chair.

And Netflix envelopes abound... I try to shred them once a month (my address is on them... sometimes I send 2 discs in 1 envelope to have a faster turnaround time and have extras).

My friend Larry just came over yesterday and organized my pantry closet and freezer. Took 2 hours to do both... I wonder how long it will stay that way. It is SOOOOO weird to find things w/o having to dig! I cleaned my refrigerator a couple days ago. I threw away a lot of "science experiments"!

And you should see my car! It's never not cluttered. If I have a passenger, I have to throw things in the back seat to accommodate them. Heaven forbid I ever come across a hot shirtless hitchhiker... he'd have to sit on my lap. Well, that might not be so ba... okay... daydream over! My trunk so full of stuff, it's an art form to get any groceries in it. Right now there's a spring form pan in there (from when I made my ex a birthday cheesecake back in April), a cat carrier, a flatbed scanner, miscellaneous clothes, junk mail, and a table fan from a month ago when I went to spend the night with my ex (for the final time, haven't spoken since then, but fan still in the car.. I can't sleep well w/o a fan in my face, it'll probably stay there until it breaks from being in the trunk... just like the one I had before it)... I'm sure my awful gas mileage would improve if I got rid of the stuff, but then I'd just fill it back up with other things! When I walk by my neighbors' cars and notice nothing on the seats or floors I think "Are they not human? How do they live like that!?"

I was able to get rid of about 30 Reader's Digests that I had saved over the years and it was very liberating.

I was reading the cleaning forum here some years ago and someone on there said, "If company comes over without notice, or opens my drawers, they DESERVE whatever mess they find." I quite agree.

What I really want to know is how to organize receipts. I can never find the receipt when I want to get a refund for something (clothes that don't fit, electrics that don't work like the humidifier I just bought)... but yet I have receipts for milk and toilet paper... who's going to get a refund for those things?

I've managed to clean the broom closet and the walk-in closet and keep them spotless for almost 6 months, but I don't use them every day! I cleaned the computer desk a week ago, and so far so good.

Should we start a messy anon group?

Yeah, Maggie, I know! It sounds ridiculous to clean before the person you pay to clean arrives and cleans!

But they're two different things. I put things away (she whouldn't know where they belong) and get things out of her way that would hinder her cleaning. She actually gets cleaning solution and cloths and mops and brushes & such and puts them to use. That's the part I REALLY don't want to do!

But I do agree, it's something to laugh at! :)

Ann, as you are a Virgo, I find it hard to believe that you are not neat. Bobby might be an exception, since he is a late Virgo, but I still believe that he has a strong "cleaning" instinct - hence the VCs. Being a Pisces, I have the inverse cleaning instinct - plus I have Saturn in Virgo, which further inhibits that instinct - Saturn being the planet of restriction.

I've bought books and magazine on Feng Shui in the hopes of controlling clutter, only to lose the books and magazines in the clutter. I did clear out the attic, however, although now I am tempted to put things back up there. I've got to clear out the garage, but now that I am working full time again, I am finding it more difficult to allocate the time. I was a lot more motivated when I was younger.

Also when I was younger, I had roommates who were neat freaks and kept things to tidy that I never had to do much, other than clean my own room, for which I had plenty of energy back then. Now I have a bit too much inertia and not enough motivation. I will say that I think Scott is a bit of a neat freak, as his apartment looked immaculate when I visited him, although I haven't been there lately.

Lars (posting from DS's house in Austin).

I'm more of a middle of the road .... my problem is that I'm a procrastinator, but have had to force myself to try and stay on top of things. I've never had a housekeeper and so way early on in the child rearing stages, I realized that I had to dedicate a day to cleaning the house. If I didn't have a committed day then I would only clean when I noticed something really dirty and so it seemed like I was ALWAYS cleaning. I felt always behind and was too willing to just put it off til later.

This way I just devote a day to it and then I don't do a thing til the next week. I don't work so I try to keep Monday free of appointments and I "just do it". If I don't finish, so what... I just don't finish and the next week, I'll at least do the rooms in reverse order. I bear in mind that it is a goal.... not an ironbound rule of life, so when things come up, I go with the flow. My youngest son is home for the holidays and yesterday when he suggested playing a game of Risk for old times sake, I dropped the vacuum and spent 3 hours on the floor with my 18 year old.

When the kids were out of school in the summers (all boys btw), we would all work like mad on Mondays and if we finished in time, I'd treat them to an afternoon movie. There was no way that I was going to be going around the house cleaning all day while four able bodied kids were watching TV!! As a result, they can all clean a house from top to bottom even though they're pretty messy with the clutter.

My problem is the "deep" cleaning that is necessary to do sometimes. You know the ceiling fans, baseboards, drawers, windows.... About two months ago, a friend and I started to get together to attack each others problem areas. Once a week (or so depending on how busy wer are), we focus on one room or area and help each other organize, give advice about what to pitch and give it a good deep cleaning. Today we worked on my closet under the staircase which is home to my luggage, golf clubs, extra chairs, ladders, screens and a lot of stuff that shouldn't have been in there. We hauled everything out, kilz'd it, painted it for the first time since the house was built 23 years ago and got everything back in... took us about 5 hours! Next week, we'll be at her house.

Grace

Lars, my mom was a Pisces and I'm also a Virgo. Must be something to it, eh? My dad and sister were born on the same day Nov.13, which I believe is Sagittarius. I never before considered the astrologial significance!

Duane

For a while I took one room a day and completely cleaned, dusted and organized that one room. I just rotated rooms each day. It wasn't overwhelming that way. And it all stayed looking pretty good. Of course, the kitchen was still a daily task. And I did both bathrooms on the same day. I got out of that habit but I should go back to it. It worked for me.

I am neat--well I try to be. I can't seem to function until everything is in it's place. The paper clutter is my biggest challenge. Someone on the Organized Home Forum suggested a active binder. That has helped me a deal with the paper flow a lot.

Now that I think about it....Nov.13 is Scorpio. Oh well. I don't think too much about horoscopes. They are never accurate although certain traits might be somewhat accurate.

Duane

I try my best to be neat.

It's the one thing totally in my control.

ML

This has been an interesting thread! I honestly don't know what I am anymore. I've been a stay at home wife for a year and a half and I'm the messiest I've ever been. I need the pressure of a deadline to keep things 'perfect'.

Before I quit working, however, things were better. I've seen a few things on this thread that work for me, like... A place for everything and everything in it's place. That really works as long as you put it there the first time it comes into your hand. That's where OHIO (only handle it once) comes into play. Another thing that helps us is that most of our furniture is multi-functional. Meaning, most things have drawers and things to store stuff. I often compare our furniture to others (with regards to storage) and find that we have 20 times more places for things to be in their place. I think that has a lot to do with it. If you don't have a spot to put it then you just don't have a spot! For most people it's not a matter of expanding your house, but expanding your storage.

My weaknesses are books! Whooh, if let myself go we would have pathways between the books to get from room to room. However, we do have one bedroom dedicated to the books and computer. Yet, I still have piles of books cropping up beside the bed and the sofa, etc.

Also, laundry. I hate sorting it!! So, we have 4 laundry hampers now. One for whites, one for dark colors, one for medium to light colors, and one for delicates. Makes the job a whole lot easier when I get ready to wash.

********************

"A clean house is the sign of a misspent life.

seagrass"

*************

That made me laugh. My mom used to yell at me how a disorganized drawer is the sign of a disorganized mind. She is an extreme neat freak that makes people miserable. I sometimes wish I had her drive to be neat, but not to make others be neat. I don't think that comes separate, though.

I guess, in the end, I consider myself efficient. I've known quite a few people who spend far more time being 'neat' than the other messy people around them who get the job done faster. For me, the key to good performance at work and home, has been to just be efficient. Do what it takes to get the job done in the shortest amount of time possible. If being organized will help me do that, great. If being constantly, perfectly organized adds more time to my work and day, then forget it. I'll just go with the most efficient method.

A clean house is the sign of a broken computer.

(My computer is still working!) :-)

SharonCb

I like to be neat and clean the problem is the battle with the 4 little kiddies who drop and go (I get crazy) cant stand a sloppy house it skeeves me out..DH is like me and does help with the cleaning and mopping. I hate dishes in the sink and I always have some sort of pure essential oil in my machine so the house smells like a spa. But again its a big house a big job to keep up on and the kids are little piggy's!!

Lowspark, I would do exactly the same!

I thought I would love my Lazy Susan corner cabinet for spice organization! Ugh! I just spin and spin...round and round we go...LOL Sort of like life!

Mustangs, did you say your sort of neat;)? I have total laundry room envy!

LOL, Canarybird!

It must be a sign -- when I got home last night there was a note in my mailbox asking of I need a housecleaner. Do you think they peeked in the window?

Cathy -- aren't you the one with all the labels in your freezer? In mine every label would say "old frozen stuff."

By the way, the vac is still in the living room (only one, not 27)and the wash is still in the washer, now ready to be re-washed.

I do make my bed every morning, well almost every morning.

I did make sure all the dishes were in the dw last night.

OMGoodness..I have a picture to show you all...But I'll warn you before I take it and post it...

If you are a neat freak..scroll by my next post quicky!!!!!!! LOL

Cathy -- aren't you the one with all the labels in your freezer? In mine every label would say "old frozen stuff."

ROFLMAO! Mine should all read "unrecognizable old frozen stuff."

{{gwi:1456640}}

That is what it looks like right now..the dog walked in just as I was snapping..she can root out cracker crumbs under all that!


This is what it looks like when I clean it!
{{gwi:1456641}}

{{gwi:1456642}}

Oh that kid room pic looks too familiar! With a 16 year old girl, the floor is still covered but the stuff is different, no toys. Shoes and clothes and empty shopping bags, tote bags, backpacks, snowboard equipment, school books and binder papers, empty energy drink cans and water bottles. Right now there is a martingale on the floor, too.

What a great thread!

I am a "fake" neat freak. I don't like visible clutter so I throw everything into a closet, drawer, the basement wherever. So all looks neat but don't dare open a closet, cupboard or kitchen drawer!

Like Grace, my problem is the "deep cleaning"...I 'm terrible for not dealing with what can't be seen!

Funnily I am way more particular at the cottage than I am at home. I think it's because it's a totally open space or maybe becasue it's "newer"...dunno but I "fuss" there much more than at home. You think it would be the opposite

Eileen , I hear you on the daughter's room.....I just shut the door!

PS: Maggie and May you are sisters? Did I miss that?

Thanks for the comments Maggie.

Ok, I am anal...yes my freezer and refridgerator shelves are labeled as is my pantry:

Junk drawer:

These are my shoes:

I'm a Virgo and neat freak! I had to chuckle at Claudia because I am the exact same way with the kitchen, except I tell DH an old Irish superstition that it's bad luck to leave dirty dishes in the sink! I can't cook in a dirty kitchen. Period!

Most of the time, the house is "company worthy" within 15 minutes too, but when times get busy at work, things do slide. I often feel like "all is not right with the world" until the house is tidy and the garden is weeded. We talk about buying a bigger house someday, but all I can think about is there will be more to clean!

Holy Neatness, Mustangs! Yes, I would say that is the definition of anal. You are never coming to my house (kidding, you are always welcome, just call ahead).

Okay, Imelda Marcos, I see 54 pairs of shoes and I have a feeling they are not all in the picture. I guess you never have to blow the dust off of the ones you haven't worn in awhile.

Terri, that could be either one of my kids rooms when they were growing up. The only way to get them into bed was to stand at the door and launch them across the room. Too, too funny. I love it.

Does anyone remember a scene in the old movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind? There was a shot of one of the boys' rooms that was a complete mess. The entire theater gasped, but I slunk down in my seat because it could have been taken in my house.

Nope, not neat. Not anal about it either. My mother alphabetizes spices, so I didn't get it from her.

My house is always clean enough, but seldom neat as a pin. I figure if it's cleaner than the barn, it's good. (grin)

Of course, Ashley is a complete slob. Her stuff is everywhere and it's bad enough that my family calls her stuff "Ashley droppings". LOL

the thing is, I don't really care so I don't make any effort to be more neat.

Annie

I'm kinda neat, but married to a sloppy joe. He leaves a trail of stuff wherever he is, whether it's clothing, cups, pens, papers, eyeglasses. Sometimes he has to put on my glasses to find his glasses. He never puts something where it's supposed to be. Never throws away crumpled papers or mail. The dog is neater than he is. It drives me up a wall.

I have managed to train him to put clean dishes away where they're supposed to go. I don't know what part of his brain can do that. Otherwise I'd train him about the other stuff too.

ROFLMAO! Oh boy, can I relate! I want so much to be Cathy, but I'm really much more like Chase/Sharon! We have a weekly cleaning lady, but I'd ideally like her here (it has to be this woman)3 times a week. Oh, then my cabinets & closets would be nearly as perfect as the seldom-used living room!

DH picks up his clothes and does do some dishes (not clean the counters), but throw away an envelope or bring the mail upstairs and heaven forbid, sort the old magazines? NEVER! LOL

When we get home, everything goes on the kitchen island and it never looks good except when the cleaning lady leaves!
The house is pretty clean, but yesterday when the painters pulled out a huge wood display cabinet in the dining room, the amount of dust and yuck hiding behind it was awful!

When we refurnished our bedroom, I did de-clutter, but where do you store those precious drawings from your kids or the painting that no longer goes with the decor but it's too good to donate to Goodwill? In our case it was behind the wall unit in the dining room!

Annie, I had a friend who didn't care and I always envied her freedom.

To Bobby, my best friend's strategy was to always have the vacuum cleaner in the middle of the living room so guest would think she was in the process of cleaning. We often shared a hotel room at conventions with members of our Junior Women's club (four to a room). She always made the bed in the hotel room--another strategy to give the impression she was a neat freak.

To fun reading all your dirty little secrets!

I am a Virgo and I used to be neat...:o( Now it's just me and the dog and I am not as neat as I should be. Today I just wandered around looking at my very clean and tidy house. Well, of course it's clean and tidy! I just spent two days getting ready for the family Thanksgiving Dinner! I "hid" things, re-located things (that I might not ever find), dusted, vacuumed, cleared off surfaces and even moved the kitchen radio to the laundry room so I would have a clean kitchen table to serve as the buffet.

Bobby, why didn't you tell me that vacuum cleaners do a better job of cleaning if they have a clean bag put in now and then? LOL!

Teresa, that does help a little bit :o)

I knew Cathy would be the neatest one on this forum even if she doesn't consider herself so. Even her junk "drawer" is organized!

I didn't cook Thanksgiving this year, just made a pecan and a pumpkin pie to take to the neighbors. You couldn't tell I didn't cook by looking at the kitchen. What a mess! Pie goop ran out of the pie tin, off the cookie sheet, and down to the oven floor. Flour from the crusts (one of the store bought crusts broke, so I had to make my own) and cinnamon all over the counter, dishwasher top, and floor. Every counter surface covered with something... the range top covered... what a disaster.

I was cracking eggs to put in the pie and I didn't crack the first one forcefully enough. I remembered the advice that I got on this forum about cracking eggs about being more forceful, not being timid, showing the egg who's boss. In a rare moment of masculinity, I slammed the egg down on the dishwasher top (my work top is my portable dishwasher's counter top), smashed the shell flat and the egg ran down the dishwasher front and onto the carpet... I cleaned egg stuff up Wednesday night, but was too tired to do the rest of the kitchen. So, when did I clean the rest of it? TODAY... yes Saturday! Terrible, I know!

Oh--I just remembered the Queen of Neat award goes to Ms. Compumom for her outrageously organized, neat, AND huge closet! So no hiding in the shadows for you.

I could never be confused with someone who is neat. My excuse right now is my house is tiny with no storage (less then 1000 square feet). However I am also not good at keeping things neat. There is clutter everywhere I go.

Terri, I love that photo, it makes me feel better. The thing I hate is how folks who do keep a tidy neat home can be judgmental about it. I figure for me it is partially a choice thing, I have chosen cooking over cleaning. This way I still have time for other stuff.

I had one neatnik tell me it was wrong to let children live in a hose that is not perfectly clean. However she has no problem with feeding them processed garbage.

-Robin

Robin, I used to make conscious choices about what I wanted to do: "Should I mop the kitchen floor and arrange my cupboards and closets, or should I go outside and play in the pool/practice basketball moves/listen to my kids' problems? Since I had to work outside the home, my time with my kids was already limited and they won out every single time. I justified that by finally recognizing that they needed me more than they needed a spotless environment and that eventually they wouldn't need me so I'd better spend time with them while I could.

After some mopping of floors at 3 a.m. when I had to be up at 6 a.m. and at work by 8 a.m., I decided that spotless was unnecessary, LOL. Then my family doctor told me that as a nation we were "sanitizing our children sick", and that by making everything so antiseptic our kids wouldn't build up the immunities they needed to survive and stay healthy outside our homes. That's when I stopped feeling guilty. I didn't want to make my kids sick by being too clean, you know. (grin)

I do agree about some people being judgmental. The thing is, I stopped caring about their opinions too, and I sure stopped allowing/inviting them into my house. If they are so rude as to criticize my priorities, I don't want them as friends anyway.

Annie

Annie, I have often mentioned the immunity thing. I also like to say my method is better for the environment, less electricity to run the vacuum, less toxic chemicals, less water used to wash towels that have only been used once, etc.

Nope, I am not making my kids sick that way. LOL

The only time I felt really bad about how I keep my home was this summer. Out of the blue one night when we were out, picnicking, listening to music and picking blueberries, I got a phone call from my mom's best friend. Her daughter lives in Toronto and she was staying in Burlington on her way home, could she stop by in the morning. I felt that the way my house was reflected on my mother an would have embarrassed her. I felt that I was doing a real disservice to her memory. However I was also not staying up all night to clean.

-Robin

Oh yeah, the environment. That's why I only mow my lawn on major holidays: Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day. All that gas, all that pollution, exhaust emissions into our air. Nope, not going to do THAT to our earth. (grin)

I never knew your Mom but somehow, I think she'd agree that you're a great Mom and she'd be proud of you, no matter the state of your house. Your boys are happy and healthy and have a Mom that loves then with every fiber of her being. Yes, your Mom would be proud, I know she would.

Annie

Annie, Thank you. Your comment brought tears to my eyes, literally. Although based on how my mom felt about my room growing up. I think she still would have been ashamed of my house, proud of other things but ashamed of my house.

-Robin

I had a friend who didn't care and I always envied her freedom

isn't that the way that it goes?

I choose to do other things like Annie does, but I envy (maybe not totally envy - but at least I'm amazed by!!!) those that it comes naturally to...and can clean the kitchen in a quick frenzy and be done with it...

But, I it's nice to know that others might envy (LOL or at least by amazed by!!!) my "freedom" (LOL) to leave the dishes some nights and visit with my guests - rather than taking the half hour to clean the kitchen...:-)