Having a Clean Home

When I was growing up, my bedroom often became messy.  I would just throw my clothes wherever once I had worn them.  My room wasn't so much dirty as cluttered.

In college, my room was in a similar state.  I don't think it was ever really super dirty, but it would occasionally be cluttered.  I liked to have my things out where I could get to them easily and quickly.  It didn't bother me that things were occasionally on the floor.

The first year that Grig and I were married, we had a beautiful apartment.  It was small, but not too small.  It was just the right size for two college kids just starting out.  When Kevin came, it became a bit of a tighter squeeze, and it was pretty much constantly cluttered because there just wasn't room for all of our things.  It didn't really bother me unless we had company, then I would quickly straighten the place up because I wanted it to look as nice as it could.

When we moved to this new apartment, we suddenly had room for all of our things.  A gradual change then began occurring within me that I hadn't been aware was happening.  When we didn't have room to put things away, it didn't bother me if they were cluttering counters and desks.  However, now that there is a place for everything, I like it in its place.

Suddenly, I can't stand it anymore if the house is messy.  The other day, I was straightening things up, and Havelock came home.  He seemed confused and he asked me, "What are you doing? Is something happening tonight?"

I told him no, I just wanted the house to be clean.  He said, "Ah.  I guess you don't only have to clean when we have company." I thought it was a funny thing to say.

I've started realizing that I kind of get stressed out when my dishes aren't done or my floor is messy.  Yesterday I went on a crazy cleaning streak through the house.  I finally got my bathroom clean (which isn't easy with a 1-year-old).  My mother suggested Kevin have a bath while I cleaned the bathroom and that worked perfectly.  He happily played in the tub while I scrubbed the mirror, the sink, and the toilet.  After his bath, he fell asleep and I finished scrubbing the tub. 

I had already finished the dishes early that morning, and so I finished straightening the house quickly while he slept.  Then I wrote for a while, but having a clean house felt wonderful.

Kevin enjoys helping me clean.  When I am putting things in his bedroom, he is bringing them back out. While I put the books back on the bookshelf, he likes to pull them back out. We're working on him helping me in a more helpful way.

It turns out having a clean house feels nice and I rather like it.  I never thought that a messy house was going to bother me.  Go figure.  However, it's not a bad change and certainly makes things easier in the long run if I clean a little bit every day.  It's also more conducive to the Spirit to have clean house.

What are things that bother you?  Let me know in the comments.