Keep it Clean

Dust, germs, bugs, and messes have been in existence since the dawn of creation.  Its a never ending battle to keep uncleanliness at bay in our homes, yards, and communities.. a battle that we have spent millions (if not billions) of dollars doing.  Think about it, how many times do you wash your hands in a day to get them clean, vacuum your house, wipe the kitchen counter, tidy up your room?  This is all the effort to maintain a 'civilized' environment.

Personally, I get a thrill from cleaning up my home and seeing the 'before and after' of the effort.  It may sound crazy, but after I vacuum I like to just lay down on the carpet and feel its softness before a cat comes by and dispenses half of its body hair on that exact spot. The house smells better, feels better on the bare feet, and it energizes me to want to do some good ol' organization of closets or cabinets.  I have reorganized the structure of my closets at least 10 times in the last 2 years and I feel another one coming around the corner.  There is always a better way than now!!

Sharing the responsibilities of cleaning is where it gets really dirty though...the agreement.  I am 'lucky' now that I am the only person here to clean the house, so I know and can control the regularity and quality of the process.  But what happens when your significant other comes into the picture?  Not only should they share some of the responsibility of cleaning, but also there is the issue of knowing that they may be dirtying up the place more so than you do. Have any of you said "Honey, if i knew you were this messy, I would have reconsidered marrying you" ?  or at least thought it.... A good suggestion to those having that thought, is to sit down with him/her and see which chores they least mind doing and then assign ownership to them.  If both parties don't like a particular task, then take turns doing it and stick with what you agree.  When kids come into the picture, be sure they get their fair share of the work also.  On the quality aspect of the job, refer back to a previous post on trying harder than the previous day...

On a final note, its a good idea to gauge the cleanliness of your mate before taking the plunge into living together or into marriage.  You might have to be covert in your discovery of the true habits they have, which would require a surprise visit to their place, or a look under the seat of the car, to find what craziness might be lurking.  If you both are on the same page and have the same level of desire for the state of cleanliness in your home, things will be much more peaceful day to day when you live together.  If you aren't on the same page, then save up some money to spend on a cleaning lady...or rethink your relationship options.