Doing Housework

It's always been a cinch doing housework at the trailer because it's so small.  With the apartment, it's turned out to be just as easy because it's smaller than the house and also, big improvement, I made sure I didn't clutter up the space with unnecessary stuff.  I don't like being bothered with housework but I can't stand living in a mess, either, so it's a necessary evil.

My mother and grandmother kept an immaculate home even with what I would consider considerable clutter.  We had 5 people living in basically 2 rooms but there was never anything out of place or dirty.  I'm kind of in awe about how this was accomplished but my memories of my childhood hold images of either my grandmother or my mother always cleaning something.  This is not how I've wanted to live my life.

On my own, especially, I've found it easiest to clean up as I go and not letting mess build up.  My husband either was never taught this principle or he just chose not to follow it.  I resented having to clean up after him and took it as an insult that he thought his time and energy was more valuable than mine.  My morning ritual used to be going into the kitchen and closing every door and drawer he'd opened, washing crumbs off the counter and putting his dishes into the sink or dishwasher.  Then I'd go into the bathroom and pick his wet towel and dirty clothes off the floor, all the time seething inside that this was apparently my job.  No matter how often I'd complain, he never changed...until we bought the trailer.

Miraculously, and I'll never understand it, drawers were never left open again, counters and dishes were still left for me, but the best thing of all was that he never left a towel or dirty clothes on the floor again either at the trailer or the house.  He even began smoking outside in all kinds of weather.  I've often wondered if he'd suffered a silent stroke and that's what changed his daily patterns.

All in all, it does help if we clean up as we go and not let mess accumulate to the point where it overwhelms us with it's size.  Moving into the apartment allowed me the opportunity to get rid of so much unnecessary excess that had built up in the house because it was either cart it to the apartment or toss it.  I really considered carefully before choosing what was to stay and what was to go and was amazed at how much I could do without.

I'd noticed while spending winters in a small trailer how cozy it was and how little we actually need to live comfortably.  We're spoiled by the expensive doodads that we're convinced will make us happier if we buy them but we really don't "need" them.  With each load of stuff I disposed of, I felt a weight coming off my shoulders.  I knew I'd been carrying this stuff around too long when I could have gotten rid of it years ago and never miss it.

Yesterday I did my dusting and mopping.  Every day I clean the kitchen and bathroom.  My work is done.  Now to get on with the fun stuff!