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Bloggers Have Messy Homes & Other Thoughts on Housework…

“My House was clean yesterday. Sorry you missed it.” – I want this wooden sign. I want to hang it over the front entry way of my home, so people know what to expect. But, I saw this picture on Facebook, with no link, so I’m unsure of where to buy it. I searched the web, and all I can find is some shopping site from the UK, but I don’t have UK money. I don’t know what those little L shaped dollar signs even mean. So if you find this for sale in US dollars, please let me know. Better yet – Tell Santa. He knows where I live.

A Clean House is the Sign of a Broken Computer

 

“A Messy House is a sign of Creativity”

There are tons of bloggers who have beautiful homes. People like the couple over at Young House Love – they blog, and they blog about the amazingly creative upgrades that they do to their home. And their home is clean. Not while they’re doing projects, of course. But even when they’re ripping out a wall and building something from wood that probably came from a tree that they grew from a seed, and then cut down themselves with hand tools {they’re amazing, and I’m sure that they do this} – Even during those big remodels, I’m pretty sure their house is still less of a disaster than mine is. So, while many people say “A Messy House is a sign of Creativity” – the creative bloggers I’ve seen all have amazing homes. I try to keep up with housework – while I wait for my camera to upload new pictures for a review, I throw a load of laundry in. I blog while I cook dinner. I multi-task. Yet still, between bottles and snacks and backpacks and homework and writing and giveaways and bath time and story time and answering emails – the housework lingers. It mocks me from the messy corners, knowing that I don’t have time to leave my computer chair and tackle it. I should tackle it too. Football style.

“I hate housework. You make the beds, you wash the dishes and six months later you have to start all over again.” – Joan Rivers

Surprising fact – I like cleaning. I get excited over new kitchen sponges with cool designs. I love buying the latest cleaning gadgets – the Black & Decker Steam Mop thrills me ten times more than my new iPhone. I’m a bit {ok, my family would say a lot} OCD – I insist on all of the drinkware being put away on the shelf in rows: juice glasses, mugs, then tall drinking glasses. In rows, people – we’re not animals. You don’t just stack a drinking glass in front of a mug? Who does that? And the canned goods should also be in rows, according to type, with all labels facing forward. Who puts a can of corn in the green bean row? Right? Books and DVD’s should be organized according to color. Why is this so hard for the savages that I live with to understand?

“Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing.” – Phyllis Diller

The problem is this – 2 years ago, I lived alone. Just me and my cat. She was a neighborhood stray that adopted me when I moved into my new house. I asked her what her name was; she said “Meow.” Weird name, but I don’t judge. So I lived in a clean, neat, and organized home for a couple years, just me and Meow. Then life threw some curve balls, as it tends to do when things are going along too comfortably. First, my mother moved into the spare bedroom – with her 4 little dogs. Then, my brother and his 2 boys remodeled my basement, and moved in too. They brought a few fish – but they had a tank, so that was ok too. Then I found out I was pregnant. Woah. So my boyfriend moved in with me. He brought a dog. My house was now a bit different. And by “a bit”, I mean like flipped upside down. Flipped like one of those rides at the fair that I’m much too old to ride.

“I will clean house when Sears comes out with a riding vacuum cleaner.” – Roseanne Barr

What at first was going to be a temporary arrangement has become the new normal. Our house is filled with messes, craziness, and mayhem – but it’s also filled with love. I drink much more coffee now than I ever have before – {and if you know me, you know I drink it by the bucket!} – just to keep up with it all. My mother and I decided to buy a new home together last November – it’s not that much bigger, but it has a pool, and a really big property, and is in a much better area. I love this house. I love the view from my back door, of the beautiful snow-covered fields and trees. And I love the view inside – of Abby smile when she’s dancing in the kitchen with Grandma, while Daddy cooks us a great dinner, and Uncle James plays with those wild nephews of mine. My brother and the boys will probably move out sometime this next year – so for now, I try to ignore the chaos, and enjoy having them all here. With a full house, Abby can’t yet move to her own room, and is sharing the Master Bedroom with her Daddy and I. But while she may not get her own room – she gets to play with her cousins every day. She gets to see Grandma and Uncle James every night. She’s surrounded by a big bunch of people who adore her. And a house full of family, love, and happiness is about as good as it gets. So, I suppose the cleaning can wait…

“And this mess is so big
And so deep and so tall,
We cannot pick it up.
There is no way at all!”
―Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat

What do YOU think?

Share your stories in the comments… Are you a blogger who actually has a clean home? How do you feel about cleaning up after kids? Do you clean up after kids? Or do your children play board games with the dust bunnies? I love hearing from you guys.

A few more things you might like….

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Comments

  1. I’m glad I’m not the only one! :D

  2. Ha! My house is always clean and I blog constantly. It looks just like Martha Stewart’s home. I’d love to have you over any time you like to show you… just make sure you tell me when so I can have some warm bread straight from the oven and some fresh coffee ready for you. We can eat on the veranda and look outside at my perfectly manicured lawn and fields of wildflowers :)

  3. I love the Rosanne quote!

    My house is clean twice a day – before the kids wake up and right after they go to bed.

    We used to have a multi-generational household, too. Hubby & I, our 4 boys, my parents, and 2 of my siblings. Everyone else has moved out, but not all of their stuff did…I cheated and hired a friend to come in and clear out the clutter. My house is finally cleared out (except my room for some reason) and mostly organized. I’m using the FlyLady.net routines to keep it from going crazy again.

    Still nowhere near as clean as my moms house & I highly doubt it ever will be – even if my computer breaks :)

  4. I’ve never been a really neat person except when I lived alone. I like my cups in order and the canned goods organized too. But, now that I have 2 dogs, 2 cats, 5 fish, a bajillion chickens (that thankfully reside outdoors), 2 kids of my own, a SD and a hubby and a new blog…. my dust bunnies are no longer acquaintances that stop by occasionally, but are old friends that have taken up permanent residence. I give up. I hate cleaning now because it’s impossible to keep up with! Loved the blog post btw!

  5. I love this post. And I love the quotes. My house is straightened most of the time. With 4 kids, it is almost never completely clean. I have it clean when I first get up in the AM, then the kids get up. And I clean it all up again at night.

    I love the flylady and I use an app that is very simliar

  6. We have a cleaning lady who comes once a month… and we have to clean the house before she arrives!!! I’m waiting on Rosie the Robot Maid to become a reality.

  7. So, I was never good at cleaning to begin with. I am a right brained art teacher…organization does not come naturally to me. I like things clean and organized, I am just not good at keeping it that way.
    But now that I blog, forget it, between work and blogging and potty training ….well, my house is a mess. it really really is. Every time I get caught up with the laundry, there is another huge pile waiting to be done. We have had some ups and downs this year, and basically are working really hard to pay the bills. so, I blog and blog and blog…I hope someday my blog can make enough to pay someone to help me clean the house. I think I am far better at blogging, than I am at housecleaning.
    I think if I didn’t work outside of the home 3 days a week…it would be better

    by the way, I loved your post! it is awesome! love it.

    I have a friend who makes custom signs, they are really nice, and affordable, if you want I can get you their website.

  8. Sarah Sparks says

    Hey Meagan! The sign you saw was just featured on a recent episode of Clean House New York. The family in that episode had one on their wall. No idea where they got it though. I always watch these shows in order to be inspired to clean and organized. I never get that far though. I guess I spend too much time watching tv and blogging.

  9. I love it! “A Clean House Is the Sign Of A Broken Computer!” That is the truth! I would love to have that sign right on my front door also. That’s a project for later. I love the Joan Rivers quote! My children are 21 and 19 and no longer live at home. It’s just me, my husband, 2 little dogs and a cat. You would think things would stay pretty clean around here, wrong! I am constantly picking up shoes, socks and (yes) underwear… picking up dogs toys, and washing clothes. My husbands likes to change like 2 to 3 times a day. I like you, blog while cooking and while waiting on laundry. Great post!

  10. Haha, it’s funny that you think our house is clean during projects (or even after them). Let’s just say that I love all the quotes you included a little too much… and we’re definitely “at home” with some everyday messiness! Especially with Burger and Clara around!

    xoxo,
    s (& the fam)

  11. I love having a clean house, and actually start to get really anxious about it once my house passes a certain level of messiness. My husband and I are busy people, though, and if my home isn’t always immaculate, well, it’s not for lack of appreciating cleanliness. We just don’t have time to keep up with the house work and don’t have the money to hire someone to do it for us, so there you go.

    True story: when I see bloggers who have homes that are not only immaculate, but well-decorated with painted walls and matching furniture, I kind of hate them a little.

  12. I’ve never had a clean house… My room growing up was always a mess, my apartment in my late 20’s was clean only because I was there for just 3 months.. Now I blame the kids but we all no better.

  13. We just today gave in and hired a cleaning lady. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be able to leave a messy house and come home to a clean one. Yippee!

    We moved into this house about two weeks before my 2-year-old was born and am now expecting #3 (I also have a 3 year old). I’m pretty sure I can say that this house has not been completely clean since we moved in two years ago!

  14. My goal for this year is to make enough money blogging so I can hire a maid ;)

  15. Hahahahaha! Clean house? What’s that? Mine was almost clean for about 10 minutes over Thanksgiving weekend, when my BIL could watch the kids for me for a couple hours. That was the last time it was clean. Three nights this week, I’ve gone to bed with dishes in the sink. I had a little sign that said, “Sexy women have messy kitchens.”. Have no idea where that went. Probably under a pile of something!

  16. Thanks for the chuckle :)

    As a busy mom (aren’t we all?) I just can’t keep up with the housework, even on holiday. Now that I have been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, one major task I hate above all others is laundry. It hurts so much to fold and put away! I’ve gotten terrible about it.

    My kids complain, too, and I keep asking them, “So when are you going to invent a machine that does all of this for us?” or “When are you going to invent clothes that clean themselves?”

    Sadly, neither one of my sons has a working prototype yet.

  17. LOL! Love these quotes…especially Joan Rivers. I “thumbs up” you on Stumble! Think your linky is a great idea!!

  18. Stumbled here!

    I love all of those quotes!!! They are all so true. I go in spurts where I am a crazy clean person and drive everyone in my house crazy – then I get really messy. I’m totally in consistent. I love having people over because it makes me clean in a major way.

  19. To be honest, I can’t relate to this. Blame my father’s OCD gene which may or may not have been passed along to me, my mother’s tendency to hoard, which I grew up with, or just my own quirks – but I have a super-clean house. I sweep daily, I mop the floors and vacuum the carpets every other day. I clean the bathrooms three times a week. I scoop cat litter twice a day. I dust weekly. I do laundry almost every day so I never have more than 2-3 loads at a time to deal with. In short, my house is clean and organized at all times.

    But, that doesn’t mean that I don’t empathize with why housework may get put to the side sometimes. :)

    • Sunshine and Sippy Cups says

      Oh lordy – I have SO much OCD too when it comes to cleaning and organizing – which is why it’s SO hard for me to live with so many people, lol. I’ve had to learn to relax, and just know that for now, I have to live with a bit of disorder. It’s crazy with so many people here – but it’s a ton of fun too, which makes up for the messes. And it’s also only temporary – so, eventually when the boys and my brother move out, and I have more order and organization again – I’ll miss the mess and the noise I’m sure….. :)

  20. jody nelson says

    before i go to bed the dishes are washed and the house is tidy but some where in the night the mess- my – house – up monster comes out ( 3 TEENAGE KIDS) and POOF i wake up and dishes are in the sink and the house needs to picked back up. then like perfect timing one of my neighbors come over and the first words out of my moth is IT WAS CLEAN! it never fails . Sooo at least once a week i GIVE UP lol i know my kids know how to pick up after them self’s so i tell them if you can eat off the plate or drink out of the cup YOU CAN WASH IT …. lol that last about 2-3 days OHHH WELLL i guess that’s just how things go when you have a house full of KIDS i wouldn’t change it for the world

  21. It’s so true! With a 15 month old and a 12 year old, my house looks like a tornado ran through it no matter how many times a day I try to pick up. It’s a pointless task

  22. I come from a family of 10 kids so I’ve never experienced one of those pristine houses. My house is a lot cleaner than the one I grew up in. There are messes and occasional chaos, but I keep my house relatively clean. My husband works long hours so I can’t rely on him to do the cleaning (boy I wish I could, I hate cleaning).
    I don’t multi task very well, so my blogging usually has to wait until the kids are in bed, napping, or having their tv time.

    • Sunshine and Sippy Cups says

      I’m the QUEEN of multi-tasking, lol. If I wasn’t, not a darn thing would get done around here :)

  23. That’s funny!!
    One of the very 1st *newbie questions I asked of other bloggers was “When do you have time to mop your floors?”

    I’m still looking for time for that. And laundry… it gets washed still AND folded too… but it’s in a big pile ON the dresser not IN the drawers…

    CREATIVE!
    :)

  24. Haha. I saw something on pinterest the other day that said “My apartment is always cleanest on the night before I have an essay due” and this is SO true for me! I always end up cleaning the most when I’m avoiding doing homework or some other important thing, haha.

    My father in law always says “Don’t mind the mess…it was worse yesterday” which I’ve always thought was a cute spin on the traditional “oh don’t mind the mess” that people feel obligated to say when they have company over. :)

  25. My house is definitely not clean. I figure as long as there are no rats or ants running around…. Right? I try to keep it cleaner than it usually is and it gets a thorough clean right before I have company but then it inevitably gets messy again.

  26. Since the arrival of the little one there is definitely a lot more clutter! I am a stacker so I often have stacks of papers around. I try and keep them tidy. I don’t love cleaning but sometimes I get in the mood and I’m like a whirlwind!

  27. I love this! I give up trying to clean my house after about the 5th time of picking up toys each day. My philosophy is that if you have children and a clean house, you must have a maid – LOL!

  28. I want that sign too! My house is a disaster… and I freely admit it… not 5 minutes after we get things picked up, they are right back out… hubby and I try very hard to deep clean and sanitize the house once a week from top to bottom and I vacuum at least one other time during the week, but it’s so hard with young kids…

  29. Oh my goodness!!! I am so guilty of procrastinating when it comes to cleaning. I always want to finish “one more review…” But, one day I will snap and just clean like crazy all day! Then it seems like that is undone within 24 hours! Ugh.

  30. My internet was down for an entire day last week and it was amazing how much cleaning I got done in that one day without the distraction of blogging/social media! I’m trying to reach more of a balance now, so I make a daily to do list that includes both cleaning and blogging specific tasks, and when I sit down at the computer now it’s for a specific purpose and only that purpose. I used to leave tweetdeck open and get all sorts of distracted following links on twitter. I’m still working on it but it’s a lot better :)

  31. Who has time to clean? Not me! If I’m not blogging, I’m with the kids, or cooking, or doing laundry, or whatever…but there’s no time to clean! But thankfully, the toys strewn around the house cover up the dirt pretty well. :)

  32. I can make a sign like that for you!! Let me know if you are interested. It would be about $30.
    You can visit my etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/thepaintedboard .
    p.s. I love your blog.
    ~cheryl

  33. This really made me laugh. Great read, Meagan!

  34. Your house sounds like fun! Chaotic, but fun. :) My housework is never done either (I could use that broken computer sign, too) but I seem to be the only one usually bothered by it. I’m lucky to have a husband who doesn’t complain, he just throws a load of laundry in when he’s out of shirts. :D

    • Sunshine and Sippy Cups says

      That’s exactly it – Chaotic, but fun :) By next year, my brother and the boys will have moved out, and it’ll be quiet and cleaner… But I KNOW that I’ll miss all the craziness I have now! It’s stressful sometimes, but really – I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love that everyone has lived together like this for my little girl’s first 2 years, so she’s gotten to have all that family around every day!

  35. My house is pretty darn near clean all the time. With six kids, we all take our turn at cleaning.

  36. I have always struggled with neatness, sigh. I clean and I swear the dirty monsters come in 30 minutes later and mess it up. IT doesn’t help that I have two indoor dogs, four kids, and a husband. I feel like I am always working, always overwhelmed, and never accomplished. Between that and knowing I have obligations to my blog sponsors, like you I do work around the house, but there are just times I don’t have the time to get it done, Ih ave to be at the computer!

  37. THis is HYSTERICAL!! Love Rosanne quote- can they invent that. I would probably clean a lot more now. So, I am a terrible cleaner. Fortunately for me, my husband has slight OCD and it is about cleanliness. So, he cleans the house. Crazy , I know but true. I HATE cleaning. This post is all sorts of awesome!!!

  38. My house is very clean in the evenings, but you’d never know it if you stopped by during the day. After my other half leaves for work, the kids create utter chaos. I am sure to get it all picked up before he gets home though!

  39. Great article!!! I sometimes think I’m the only one who can’t keep the cylce of clean balanced!!! thanks for linking up to the fav post contest! http://hobbiesonabudget.com/2012/07/25/bloggers-favorite-post-contest/

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