I was intrigued to do another “quotes” post when I read the Blogging Quote Challenge from Cresting The Hill (I did a “quotes” post in July of last year).
This busy September, when I have taken on additional responsibilities at work, will be traveling eight of the 17 days that are left, is perhaps the wrong time to confront this life issue, but I am so tired of excuses and disarray.
Therefore my three quotes are dedicated to the CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome) of my home.
Quote Number One (Source: Flylady)
Your attitude has to change from “Why do I have to do this!” to “This is my home and I deserve to have a wonderful place to live, this blesses my home, and my family and most of all me!” 
My attitude about housecleaning caroms all over the place, from resentment that I have to do it, to frustration that I am so incompetent at it, to amazement at my inability to delegate, even when our home health people are being paid to help, to guilt that I have raised my
children in a place where you always get your laundry out of the pile on the love seat and unexpected guests throw life into a panicked scramble.
Quote Number Two (Source: Six Word Memoirist enginethatcould)
Guilt trip tickets are always non-refundable.
The place that should be my haven and a safe source of comfort (which is different than being an interior decorating showplace: I just mean a reasonably clean and orderly refuge from the rough edges of the world) factors into the weight of guilt I carry around, almost constantly. Guilt at having fun writing a blog post, running, or doing volunteer work when I could be scrubbing baseboards, scrubbing the accumulation of years of neglect off of our bathroom tile, or folding laundry.
In addition to the house, there’s something else I would like to whisk away: guilt.
Quote Number Three (Source: Philadelphia (writer: Ron Nyswaner))
Every problem has a solution.
This one won’t surprise readers familiar with my blog, especially since I featured this quote during Blogust.
It’s time for me to prove to myself what I believe to be true in espousing “every problem has a solution” as one of my favorite quotes.
What has worked for you to overcome tasks which you have avoided (for decades!)?
Wife of one, Mom of two, Friend of many. My pronouns are she/her/hers.
I love your quotes! I live out of laundry baskets. If I put things away, I forget I have them. That is true for everything I own. I’m strange that way.
My house is semi-company ready at all times. Thanks to Jim, who is very regimented. He literally has a schedule in his brain when things get done. For instance, today is Sunday, so it’s the day our sheets are washed. And I hear the vacuum running upstairs so I am assuming the mattress was just flipped or maybe he just decided to pull it away from the wall so he can vacuum around it!
He’s a great surface cleaner, but I go in and clean everything thoroughly when I have the energy. Since I’ve become annoyingly chronically ill, it’s not as often as I like. But when I take that toothbrush to the faucets or the waterpik to the shower door, I feel good!
Plus, no one cares about the state of your house. They only care about you!
Thank you, Susie (and props to Jim!).
When I was married and we both worked full-time, I had a twice-monthly cleaning service and it was the best money I ever spent! When I wasn’t working, I faithfully cleaned every two weeks – baseboards, bathrooms, blinds, everything. Now that I’m single, I do my own cleaning, and I’ve enjoyed testing the limits of standards. How long can I ignore the dust bunnies in the corner? It’s time to clean only when I see the mold along the rim of the toilet bowl.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Colleen. The time period when we had a cleaning service (before the bigger house which ate up all the cleaning service money) was definitely much less stressful on me!
My wife keeps our house in tip top shape. She cleans..A LOT! When are family or friends come over they know she’s been cleaning because they can smell the BLEACH outside. She vacuums at least 3 times a day. I stopped helping because she would come behind me and rewash a dish or tidy things up differently. She tried to do it so I wouldn’t notice but I did. I know I shouldn’t complain but I am always telling her that I’d rather we have a messy house and more family time then a clean house and spending 6 hrs each Saturday cleaning the house from top to bottom.
Thx for sharing, Moe – so challenging finding a balance.
We have a cleaning service but they don’t put things away (my personal challenge) and they only surface clean. My husband is also the organized one – when he starts moving I’ll get up and start doing things. But you can’t let it fill your day. It’s much more important to prioritize the important over the urgent.
This is true … thank you for your comment.
That’s one thing I’ve never had a problem with. Both my husband and I are both OCD and a clean house is a must for us. I can’t concentrate on anything if it’s not in order. My problem is mom is a messy person so trying to keep calm while constantly cleaning up after her is challenging sometimes. The more Alzheimer’s affects her the worse she gets.
The addition of an elderly relative with memory issues has definitely added a challenge — the piles of kleenex, cigar wrappers, and other detritus are one more thing. Thx for your comment!
I love the quotes. Especially the first one. I do deserve that.
You really do deserve that. Thank you for dropping by.
I don’t have a quote. Saturdays have always been my day to do laundry and clean house. For the most part, I’m disgustingly organized. Now that I live in a tiny house, if one thing is out of place, even a book, it looks cluttered, so that’s my motivation. xoxo, Brenda
I think that there may be something to be said for a small space …. with a huge space it’s easy to start “a pile” and not get around to it. Having the belongings from my husband’s parents’ home, which we need to sort through, has definitely not helped my feeling of “suffocating from stuff.” Thank you for dropping by, Brenda!
I couldn’t relate to this more. I’m about as disinterested in domestic tasks as one can get. I carry guilt about it all the time. Fortunately, I’ve got an understanding hubby who knows there’s more to me than being a homemaker and is happy to pitch in and clean tile grout.
Yay hubby!! When my husband was laid off for over a year, I kept thinking “I will come home to clean floors one day!” Lo and behold he doesn’t read minds and I never worked up the nerve to ask/insist. Hmmm. 🙂
I’m a clean freak so generally, it’s all good. I like to think everything has a soulution at times it doesn’t feel that way lol.
You are right Carolann. Everything definitely has a solution. I just need to break through the resistance in my head and DO IT. 🙂
How funny, Paula! I can certainly relate. In fact, I was just trying to work my way into doing things “the Flylady way.” Unfortunately, that means putting up the electronic device distractions and actually getting up and working! :-). And Katy, I can relate to your comments as well. It seems that if my husband is up and doing things around the house, the guilt is enough to get me going! Well, now it is time to tackle “Mt. Washmore.”
Thx for your comment, Marjane!!
Wow! You hit on several things I’ve beens concerned with lately. I feel like now that I’m at home, I should have a spotless house. That’s why I’ve been on this cleaning frenzy and frankly, I’m tired! I do have a sense of accomplishment, however, and everyone pitched in when gathering up junk to get rid of.
I have always done most of the cleaning in my home with no outside help. It amazes me now when my husband or kids see me cleaning and ask, “What do you want me to do?” I want to say, “Are you blind? Can’t you see what needs doing?” UGH!
Thanks for sharing. Always a great read.
Thanks, Pam! I guess the family deserves props for asking what they can do! This post could have been twice as long as it was, especially if I had addressed that type of thing. We have home health care people several times a week who are PAID partially to do light housekeeping but I have found it a struggle to define what they should do. That’s one of the things that got me thinking about this topic. Also, when Wayne was out of work more than a year, I definitely hoped/wished that would result in bit more domestic cleaning activity. I kept thinking I would come home to clean floors. JUST. CLEAN. FLOORS. but I never overtly said that’s what I wanted/needed him to do. SIGH. I appreciate your comment.