So, I am a self-proclaimed Neat Freak. I honestly feel like I can't relax in my house unless it is clean and organized. This past week I have started to notice things that I do and I have questioned, why?
For example, I have to make my bed EVERY single day. It really bothers me to walk into our bedroom with an unmade bed, so I will spend the extra few minutes in the morning to make sure the bed is made and that the throw pillows are perfectly positioned. Why? Really, I'm sure Ray could care less if the bed is made, especially considering he usually has a pile of close laying next to "his side" of the bed. This pile drives me insane, but since it is on his side, it is mostly out of my vision so I try to avoid looking at it and pretend it's not there. It's also the one spot that I kind of let him be messy, and on the days it really drives me nuts, I just throw everything back into his closet.
Another thing that has been getting to me is the toys. I can not just leave a pile of toys laying around on the floor. Even when I know Kenley will be up from a nap or playing with them after she eats I have to pick them up before we move on to the next activity. Everything has to go back into the basket, or toy bin, or any other place I have discovered to sneakily hide toys. Luckily, Kenley is learning to pick up toys, and now she can help a little bit. I was actually kind of happy when she grew out of her swing since I never felt like it was in the best spot, and even though I loved the pink polka-dots, it didn't really go with our earth-toned furniture.
Then, I get obsessed about the little things like the dust that shows up so easily on our dark wood furniture, or dog/cat hair on the couches, dust bunnies in the corners of our hardwood floors, toothpaste spots in the sink, the junk drawer(s) piling up, the clutter of mail and God-knows-what next to the stove, and fingerprints all over the stainless steal appliances. I'm sweating just thinking about all of this.
Now that the weather is getting nice, I have also started to obsess over the outside of the house, mainly the grass. It seems like many of our neighbors either have lawn services, or have time to cut their grass twice a week. We do not. Over the summer I will normally do most of the grass cutting since I am home and don't mind it too much, but while Ray and I are both working, we always struggle to get it done. I tried to convince Ray to lower the mower as low as it would go so that our grass would get cut really short and maybe it wouldn't look like it needed to be re-cut 3 days later. That was pretty much a disaster becuase the grass clumped up, our mower kept dying, and it looked like crap.
I know that I need to let these things go, and sometimes I do. Right now, I am planning on boycotting cleaning for a week or two and then using a Groupon that I bought a few months ago for a maid service. Every Neat Freak deserves a break every now and then, right? I might even "forget" to make the bed one day this week, well, maybe.
