I have a system so that my cleaning regimen only takes me about 2 hours every other week to get it sparkling, not including laundry. I vacuum the two bedrooms and living/dining room, dust all surfaces including fans, sweep and mop the bathrooms and kitchen, scrub toilets, sinks, and showers, and wipe all counter surfaces down with Clorox wipes. Yes, that last one is a bit extreme but the house just doesn't feel clean unless I do it.
For this reason, among others, I have a really hard time living with other people. I have only had one roommate that wasn't a complete and utter slob. I'm not talking these people just didn't live up to my version of clean, I mean people that would leave pots on the stove with food in them, and the spoon still sticking out of the cemented food. I am talking people who I'd find my dishes in their bedrooms. I am talking people to whom keeping the common space clean because it was the polite thing to do, meant nothing. And don't get me started on the, "Oh, I finished your chocolate Silk. I'll replace it!" Umm, no.
So I was going to take a friend in for a year and it would help me out to pay off bills and do some stuff around the house. We get along really great, and he's clean and handy, and I honestly thought I was going to have a roommate for a year and I was trying to wrap my head around it. Then I realized he has three kids every other weekend, and my house is only 1000 square feet, and that there is no way in hell I could handle that. So I will just continue to be poor, pay off bills slowly, and stay on the "my house will be where I want it in about ten years" plan. It's just not worth the trade off.
I realize it's sick that the only time I feel super comfortable in my own home is when it is sparkly clean. If I am laying on the couch watching tv, and I see a hint of dust on the tv base, I have to get up and dust it. If I walk by the litterbox and there is ANY litter outside the box, I have to sweep it up. If there is a small bit of splatter on a mirror I have to Windex it immediately. I know this isn't normal, but it is my normal, and it's one of my many things that I am totally not ashamed of, and I'm actually okay with. It doesn't disrupt my life in any negative way, and it makes me feel like my home, which is my safe zone, is truly a place I can breathe and wind down.
Happy picture of the day: the higher the hair the closer to god. Now THAT'S a saying I can get behind. Viva la chola!
a clean, tidy house is conducive to feelings of tranquility. have you ever lived in a disorganized chaotic mess? it makes you feel tense and anxious. studies have shown that those who live in a disorganized mess are more tense and stressed out!
ReplyDeletewhen i was in university, i lived with 5 guys. 2 were upstairs and 3 were downstairs. i MUST have a clean bathroom otherwise i cannot shower or do my bidness in there. when i moved in, i made a deal with the guy who shared the bathroom with me - that i would clean it but he must also do his share (read; not piss all over the toilet seat or leave nasty pubes/beard shards all over the place). i also had a lock on that door so the rest of the guys downstairs wouldn't pollute my bathroom.
one day i was downstairs trying to find something and went into the downstairs bathroom to check if it was in there. it was the MOST disgusting thing ever -- not only did it stink like a public toilet but when i looked in the shower, the ENTIRE bottom surface of the tub was completely BLACK and there was a single white circle which was directly under the shower head. i swear, i nearly threw up and ran out with that horrible image in my head. i never set foot downstairs ever again.
My obsession is with the washing up. I just can't relax if there are dirty dishes in my house, I have to wash them immediately.
ReplyDeleteThat girl in the happy picture is freaking adorable. From her high hair, straight down to her Chucks. If I had abs, I would totally rock that outfit! Love it.
ReplyDeleteI used to have OCD tendencies about keeping my house clean. One day (because sometimes he can be a total dick) when we had people over, The Husband thought it would be funny to show them how sick I am. He placed one single black thread in the middle of the floor I just swept and then told our friends to watch and wait. Not knowing what he did, I came down the stairs. My eyes zeroed in and I made a beeline straight for the freaking piece of string. They thought this was just hysterical. But I was super upset. I couldn't help myself from picking it up. I wouldn't be able to sit down and see it sitting there in the middle of my clean floor.
I have to say, after I had the girls, and became so sick, I stopped having a lot of the issues I used to have about keeping the house spotless. I had zero choice in the matter, I physically couldn't keep up with it anymore. It still bothers me if the house isn't up to my old standards, but I can deal with it now.
But oh my gosh, if someone puts on an episode of Hoarders, I will literally start to hyperventilate. It makes me crazy.
PS: Sorry I took up up so much comment space.
The last guy who made fun of my OCD stuff has never been back to my house since.
DeleteWhen my cousin lived with me, he was cleaner than I was, and I'm clean! Not to be stereotypical, but he's gay and lives up to the myth :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, roommates are the worst even if they're your best friends. People just have different, individualized expectations of cleanliness. Like you said 3 kids every other weekend is untenable, and that's from someone who lived in a 4 bedroom apartment with 9 barely domesticated other humans.
ReplyDeleteI think your system sounds reasonable. The cleaning experts say that you should clean a little each day to avoid a full day of cleaning, so if you're only giving the full sand-blast to the place every other week, you're doing something right.
I do little things like sweep around the cat box an dishes every day. But deep cleaning every other week is it.
DeleteSuppose I gave you a trained monkey who could do all your cleaning. Would you keep him?
ReplyDeleteHeck yeah. I love monkeys. Especially ones who clean.
DeleteWhat is this OCD and cleanliness that you speak of? I can't relate. Nope, not at all ;)
ReplyDeleteI know you can't understand what I'm talking about at all. :)
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