Saturday, July 5, 2008

What's Up With That??





I just have to ask yo~ what's up with everyone saying I cheated. Y'all suck! Am I such a freakin hot mess you thought I cheated? Hmm sisters... who needs them? Ok, I do... But seriously!

My pics were all a matter of perspective. I am going to show the super, super ugly now just to show you how clever I am.. and Dani so help me if I have a Cathy Church moment over this...I KNOW WHERE TO FIND YOU!!! I think you know what I mean! I know someone somewhere will be talking smack about me over this. What the crap.

Ok, I am so bad at keeping a clean house. I have six kids folks and it is not easy. Plus I just plain stink at it. Here's how I stack up with it.

My kitchen~ It is clean most of the time..I can't stand to have it out of control. The floors usually need to be mopped but the rest of the kitchen is usually ok. It never goes more than a day without being done. dishes and all. I love to cook and my life feels out of control if my kitchen is out of control.

My Family Room~ It is a disaster about 3-4 times a day, but We pick it up every day over and over. At any given time it could be spotless or look like a bomb went off. Just depends on what time I tackled it that day.

My Bathrooms~ Hardly do them. Kids get that job. Hannah had bathrooms this past week and has not done a good job. Heck she barely did them.

My bedroom~ is usually a freaking mess, but I stayed up until 3 am the other night cleaning it and my closets. The ac went out upstairs and I won't have anyone in my house until it is clean, and the unit for the ac is in my closet. See, my closet was clean cause I had to have it so I could get my ac fixed!

Living room~ Mostly clean 98% of the time

Girls room~ Disaster daily. even a hour after I clean it

Toy room~ Disaster daily. We clean it, they dump out all toys moments later

My carpets are what get me the most. I don't even invite people over because I am too embarrassed by how sick they are. Stained and nasty, nasty. They were sick to begin with and my kids have added to the sickness! Sherri, once I work up the courage, I'll have you over for a bbq and swim Ü

I wish I were more like these women with perfect houses and perfect looking kids etc, but I don't think it is in my makeup. As hard as I try, I just can't seem to get there. My kids look like ragamuffins. They prefer the panties with boots look and who am I to argue? Tony likes that look too! Just kidding!
I do let them pick out what they want to wear and if we are not going anywhere, what do I care if they don't match or don't want to wear clothes when it's hot? I think I need to be more on the ball. I look back at my mom struggling to keep a clean house with 8 kids, and I feel bad we didn't help her out more when I was younger. Her house is perfect now, so I have high hopes one day mine will be too! I have gotten better over the years but there are just some things I am not good at!
Ok~ here is my proof I didn't cheat you boogers.
So, when taking the pic of the bathroom I stood at the door to do it. I didn't come in. Perspective, yep, perspective. What you didn't see was what I am posting today. The cleaning glove in the sink, The counters not wiped down, and the best part is next to the trash. Hannah hid everything in this corner so I wouldn't see it. clothes, dishes(umm why are there dishes in the bathroom?), toys, and yes trash. See, filthy bathroom, I just aimed my camera so you didn't see it so much. So, humiliated again... there you go!!
Oh, and just for kicks and a ego boost for some of you I'm gonna throw in a pic of the WORST room in the whole house right now. The toy room!!!! We put a mattress in there cause it is cooler in there for the girls and instead of sleeping once again they dumped all the toys!

I accept that I am a work in progress but am inpatient wanting to have a clutter free clean house.
Does anyone else out there struggle to keep their house clean?
Do you feel inferior when you are unsuccessful?
How do you stay motivated?
Do you feel a clean house is reflection of who you are?
And...why do you think for some people it comes easy? Are they born that way? Is it nature or nurture?I couldn't even begin to imagine being so on top of it!
SIGGHHH



14 comments:

goingsome said...

Oh, girl, you were on a roll with your blogging today. After I photographed my house last night, I got up today and cleaned those dirty dishes and some other stuff. Yes, perspective, it all depends on where the camera is. I am actually scared that another challenge will be called out, so I have been having a "new" set of eyes on my house, just in case. Hee Hee. Amen sista for the bravery of today!!! You go girl!

goingsome said...

15 minutes after my last comment.........I got up and paced through my house and..YES, we all have pockets. I can't even bear to pick up the camera and show you the other areas.......way too embarrassing. It was bad enough to publish the ones yesterday...you are more brave than I. Perspective, Perspective!!!!

Lori ~ LL-K said...

You totally crack me up!! Anyone that has kids has a house like that! (Well, if they let their family “Live & play” in it!) I would rather have a messy house and let my kids live than live in a house that was like a museum!! How boring would that be!!

Nutsonurse said...

Oh Sweet Cheeks!
Didn't you know that a disaster of a house is just your season? I promise it will change as the kids grow.Even more important is that I know that you spend your time being a good mom. What do you remember more? Mom having a messy house? Or mom playing games and in the middle of house cleaning saying "hey, let's all go to the beach!"? I remember the fun with her most. It'll be that way for you.

Shelli said...

Ah, sister -- for the record, I never said you cheated. I just thought (and I still do!) that you're better off than you think you are. The house isn't that bad! You're doing a good job. I am so happy you took a picture behind the toilet. It looks exactly like our kids' bathroom! Except, instead of diapers, we get sanitary napkins there sometimes. I'm afraid to post pictures, because I just blogged about happy home cleaning school, and I'm sure people would say, "OK, I can only imagine what it looked like BEFORE you cleaned!" And they'd be right!

Jenifer said...

Perspective. Think about that when you see perfect houses and perfect children. They don't exist! It is just how that camera shows it at that moment. My kids wear clothes now because it is the law, but they were always naked. Up until not that long ago.
I think I'm a hero half the time and I only have two kids. I admire all you women out there with a lot of kids. I just don't know how you do it all.

Crazymamaof6 said...

lady! you just described every issue i have with house cleaning. that i how i live too! we are SO on the same page. and like i said i shot just so you couldn't see the mountain on the floor. you aren't alone. if you figure out how to magically overcome my reality and yours let me know! i need all the help i can get. and really, like my blog picture says , "a clean house is a sign of a wasted life!" since if all i did was ever clean, I'd be the hugest witch in the world! more than i am already. plus i don't have the energy. and my carpet is SICK! horrifyingly DISGUSTING! i can email you pictures . let me know if you wanna see the stuff I'm not brave enough to post.

sherry said...

I love the stash behind the toilet. I have a kid like that. One day when the girls were really little $ and 5 years old) I was so impressed when I walked into their room and it was all clean. Then I went into their bathroom, and it was all stacked up in a pile behind the door! In the bathroom! They learn to be sneaky pretty young...What are you going to do, do all 6 kids jobs for them? Oh, and I had a sister the other day tell me that I was known for a messy house. Lovely.

Kendra said...

Like I said before, you are amazing. I stuggle every day with my house mess. It stinks. I think we all kind of buy inot the thinking that the outward appearance of being clean and organized is indicitive of our personalities/inner self. If that is the case, I am a mess, because my house certainly is. I would love a clutter free house if I didn't have to be cleaning it 24/7 just to keep it that way.

Aprilyn said...

I keep trying to do the FlyLAdy thing but I'm such a lazy bum! I can't keep up. Well, sometimes I'm just lazy, sometimes I forget, sometimes I'm outside with the kids so my 3 yr old doesn't do some suicidal move! He's too dangerous for his own good!!!! The best thing for me is giving my kids jobs. I only have 2, and only my 9 yr old REALLY does his jobs. The 3 yr old has to be threatened with bedtime if he doesn't do his jobs. It's tough around here right now.

Britta said...

I loved reading your post. I can not get it together. My husband works from home now so we just leave during the day so he can quietly work and the house has gone CRAZY! I can't even vacuum until night and by then I am so done. I would never post a picture of our toyroom- you can't even see the floor. You're a good sport. I refused to do post pics of my home.

DANI KYNASTON said...

I was just teasing about the cheating. Hey, we're sisters, we gotta pick at the scab. I think that it is a matter of priorities. People with spotless houses choose to take from other places. You could have a clean house, but then something else would be lacking. As far as I am concerned, why should I spend all my time doing something that any old maid could do when I should be spending time with my kids and husband. It is hard, but I do think it is a season. For our house, it is tornado season.

Ana said...

Hey, our house looks like that, except maybe a little messier. Well at least in the office and bathroom.

Lynda said...

Your house looks like your mom's did... and she raised a bunch of great kids, so you and she did and are dong something right.
I spent my life worrying about how the house looked and cleaning all the time. It's nice to look at, but exhausting and you never get to sit down, relax, reflect, paly with your kids, and mostly you're always annoyed at everyone because you just cleaned and they messed. Totally not worth it.
One time when your mom was coming to vist and I was cleaning my oven at 11:30 at night.. what was I thinking? Cathy came out and asked what the hell was I doing. Okay, she was 18 or so and the hell was okay. I replied, Aunt Ginger is coming tomorrow so I'm cleaning my oven. Cathy asked... do you think she'll look in the oven. Duh moment. Then she taught me something I try to remember every day... if people are coming to visit to see if your house is clean, they ARE NOT your friends. If they're your friends, they are there to see you and don't care.
So the tables have turned. Your mom's house is now clean all the time. I'm more relaxed and spend most of my time doing what makes me happy. When I'm not working, I sew, I read, I cook, and when it gets too bad spend a day cleaning.
Clean houses take time away from your life. Probably not worth it!
Remember This! Aunt Lynda