Are you neat, or are you clean? In my experience, I've found that people are either one or the other. But rarely both. Granted, there are some people who are NEITHER. But that's a whole other blog post!!
Here's what I mean.
A neat person generally likes for things to be where they're supposed to be. Every item in the house has a place, and a specific way to be in that place. They don't like clutter. If they walk through the kitchen and there's a pile of stuff on the counter, they disperse the items to their correct place before going on with their day. A neat person likes the house to be clean as well, but they don't dwell on it. They'll clean because they have to, but they aren't sent over the edge by a little dust.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, a clean person generally likes for the entire house to be spotless 24-7. They prefer that the house doesn't have a "lived in" feel. Everything should be pristine. There should be no fingerprints on the stainless steel fridge; there should be no dust on any of the furniture; the floor should be clean enough to eat off. They'll walk into a room and begin fretting, announcing that the house is "disgusting". A clean person likes the house to be neat as well, because things being out of place contributes to the mess. But they are much more focused on the clean aspect.
Which are you?
I am a neat person. Chris is a clean person. You can see how it becomes interesting in our house!
As soon as I walk into a room, I know if something has been moved. Chris likes to angle his soap dish in the bathroom almost at a 45 degree angle to the faucets, and to me this is just not correct! It should be at more of a 20 degree angle. Less harsh. Very anal of me, yes. Every time I walk by it, I fix it. And the next time I come in, he's moved it back!
I am typically the one who cleans the house. Especially in the summer when Chris is doing all of the yard work. I am not as thorough and obsessive in my cleaning as he would like! He is either making comments about how things need to be cleaned, going behind me and re-doing the stuff I just cleaned, or suggesting that maybe he should look into hiring a cleaning lady. Uhh...fine by me!! :) Cleaning the entire house at once takes a full Sunday. From the time I get up until the time I fall into bed. So I've started dividing it into two Sundays...half the house one weekend, the other half the next. That seems a little better. But during the week, as we are living in the house, it of course gets dirty. We have an 11 year old who could care less about a clean OR neat home, and three dogs. Having a pristine house is practically impossible. And that is when the comments begin. Sorry...I am not going to obsess about it every single day and spend all of my time cleaning. There are other things I'd rather be doing, other things that need doing, and really, I'd just like to spend some time with the family.
As long as things are in their place, I'm feeling pretty good!!! Anybody know a good cleaning lady??
2 comments:
AND THEN YOU HAVE THE SANFORD AND SON TYPE (AND WE ALL KNOW WHO WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HERE!) MARRIED TO THE CLEAN, NEAT FREAK!!!! I AM BOTH AND HE IS NEITHER.
I WISH I HAD A CLEANING LADY!
GET YOURSELF ONE.
I say HIRE THAT CLEANING LADY!!
Do it now! I don't know one, but I am sure you could find a good one.
I am like you I am a neat person. I like things in their place. Granted not as annual as you my friend, and I say that lovingly. :) I'm lucky in the fact that Gary is pretty much a neat person also, not so worried about the smudges on the fridge or the dust on the shelves.
Honestly, there are to many other things that we find to fuss about as husband and wife, so if a cleaning lady would solve this problem AND help you out in the process DO IT!! Do it NOW!
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