Housecleaning: An Uphill Battle

I don't know if it is just me, but when people walk into my house, I worry about what they think. Will they notice the dog and cat hair that has formed a ball and is floating around my hardwood floors?. If they need to use the restroom, will there be pee or heaven forbid poop stains on the toilet? What about the dirty dishes in the sink, the kitty litter smell, the windows that haven't been washed in years, the dust............what about the dust???

I think that at least some of my friends have this same issue. Many times when I walk into someone's house, they immediately start apologizing for the mess (which I don't even see). The funny thing is, that I honestly don't care what my friends' houses look like. I don't spend nearly enough time with my friends and when I walk into their houses, I am just thinking about how great it is to be there with them. Does this help me and my personal insecurities? Not at all!!!! I really need to get over it.

The sadly ironic part of this whole dilemma is that if my house happens to be dirty, 99.9999999 percent of the time it is not my fault! Why is it that how our house looks always reflects on the wife/mother? I am a very neat person, my beloved family................well not so much. For example, my kids tend to leave drinks all over the house. It is insane. Glasses....cups.......some empty, some full..........in the bedrooms, in the bathroom, upstairs, kitchen, family room, garage.......you name it. You can always tell where they have been. Added to the joy of this is the cat who tends to enjoy knocking these drinks (typically sodas) over! Rug Stain! Once I found a dirty bowl and a spoon in the bathroom cabinet upstairs. I am still not sure what happened there.

No one but a mom can know how much work our beloved pets are. Cat hair, dog hair, kitty litters, hair balls, poop & pee accidents............who do you think takes care of this in most homes? Roseanne once said that the definition of a mother is someone who cleans other people's poop and doesn't get paid for it! I tend to think of that often for some reason.

So what is the point of all of this? I for one, need to get over it! Housewives and moms as a whole need to not judge any other mom\wife on how clean her house is. If you really need to judge, place the blame where the blame is due: pets, kids, and husbands! If we all band together, we can overcome.