I am not the best housekeeper, not by a longshot. I don't have a lot of time and like any mom will tell you, things don't stay clean long. I'm constantly picking up one mess only to come back and find it recreated for me by the kids. This coupled with spending so much of our time in the main rooms of our house has created The Partially Clean House effect. Basically you can walk in my front door and come upstairs to the main level and all looks somewhat in order. There may be dishes in the sink and some clutter on the counter, but all in all, not bad. I try to keep it company ready or at least 15 minutes from company ready. And that is where it ends.
My bedroom is where all the clutter I clear away when someone is coming over ends up. In piles, boxes, laundry hampers and on the floor. And that is where the laundry ends up before the long journey to actually getting folded and (almost never) put away. The master bath is cluttered, the floor of the closet holds as many clothes and shoes as the racks and shelves and the massive soaking bathtub is full of the maternity clothes I am now done with (hopefully forever). Add in my husbands clutter, computer desk and seemingly untrainable act of throwing laundry on the floor rather in a hamper and you have a disaster. I often say that my bedroom looks like a TV crew is going to show up on my porch, clean it out, host a garage sale and use the money to redecorate. I know it's not quite that bad, especially since we can still walk around and the bed is mostly clear.
Don't get me started on the basement that has become a kids' play area/guest room/storage room/craft room.
Or the garage.
But even with those three allowably messy areas (for now, judgement day is coming), I still try my best to keep the house in visitable shape. I've said in the past that I'd rather spend time with my kids than clean, true. I've said that it's too difficult and even unsafe to clean in those rooms with them underfoot, also true. But the reality is that it's just plain hard and I don't know where to start. I'll get the laundry sorted, but inevitably at the end of the day it's back in piles as we push it off the bed. I'll get some clutter cleaned up, tended too and tossed only to find a new one has grown back in it's place. So for today, this random Tuesday, it's back to sweeping the main room floor, getting the dishes handled and probably some dusting while the rest sits untouched. And someday soon, I will climb the mountain of laundry, albeit clean, and conquer my bedroom. Huzzah!
