Well Ladys, How many of you have said, as some one enters your house, Please excuse the mess, as I just didn"t have time to straighten up yet!!! When in all reality, the house is spotless. Or when some one comes up the drive, and everyone is throwing junk off coffee table under the couch, Why on earth do we feel we have to apologize for the condition of our house. After all it is our house,And we are the ones who have to live in it. What do you all think.

-- Irene texas (tkorsborn@cs.com), February 28, 2002

Answers

My house is never spotless. It's usually pretty messy in fact. With two kids, homeschooling, farming, and just living, it always seems like the house just never quite gets clean. And when I do manage to get the living room cleaned up and then start on the kitchen, by the time I'm finished with the kitchen, the living rooms looks like it was never cleaned in the first place! LOL! I've gotten to where, when someone pops in for a visit, I just tell them to shove something off the couch and have a seat.

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), February 28, 2002.

I have a method, I got form Laines Letters, of first making sure the living room and the main bathroom is clean. This way if company pops in at least these two areas are presentable. We do have a family room, so the main living is only used in the evenings by us and when we have company, so this helps a lot.

But I am one of those people who is constantly putting things away too! When people come we usually show them the whole house, with Cale opening cupboards and closets and me cringing!!!! My laundry room is ALWAYS a disaster, with no hope of it ever getting any better! Oh well, I'd rather read!!!!

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), February 28, 2002.

As a friend once told me: I didn't come to see your house, I came to see you!

-- Sherry (tlnifty@ecenet.com), February 28, 2002.

Someone once told me if your kitchen and bathroom are clean, the rest of your house isn't all that important. I guess that's true, as when I go to someone's house, I tend to disregard any disarray in the house. Anyone can have a bad day, a bad week, a day when the kids have just tossed every toy they own into the middle of the living room, or maybe you came unannounced and they're in the middle of sorting a week's laundry on the living room couch. So what.

I also don't find it hard to tell when someone has just messed up their kitchen while preparing dinner or making cookies with the kids. Or maybe their bathroom has water all over the floor and toys everywhere after just getting a 2 yr. old out of the tub. That's just living. However, if I see 3-4 days worth of dishes in the sink, or a bathroom that obviously hasn't been cleaned in weeks, well, that's still their house, but I may not want to stay for dinner, lol. Mess and clutter in someone else's home doesn't bother me at all, filth does.

That said, I am harder on myself. Like Melissa, I like to keep the living room presentable as well as the kitchen and bathroom. With my granddaughter around, that's not always possible as she has no other place to play till we finish remodeling the back part of the house. So when I see company coming, I sometimes am a little embarrassed but I am learning to laugh it off. If they don't like my house, they don't need to visit. My granddaughter is more important than a spotless house anyday.

-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), February 28, 2002.

My mother-in-law is one of those spotless housekeepers. My sister-in- law has said she doesn't know how I live with my husband, as he went straight from her house to mine, and a spotless housekeeper I am not! I usually just ignore him, and go about my business. I try to make sure there's a place to sit, though, or he gets huffy!

I try to keep the kitchen at least presentable - I can't stand a dirty kitchen, but the bathroom is a losing battle living with three men! I try to at least go in there every day and clean something, and sniff to make sure it doesn't smell like a public restroom, but it's rarely all clean at once! For instance, Lance bathed the dog last night, so I cleaned the bathtub, but the toilet and floor need some attention I just didn't have time to offer at 9:30 last night!

-- Christine in OK (cljford@mmcable.com), February 28, 2002.

I understand that the topic here is not caring if one's house is "spotless" and enjoying your family, but one way I can keep a grip on the debris that tends to accummlate around here is to put things away as soon as I'm done with them. When I use a recipe, I'll get out all the ingredients and put them to the left of my work surface. As I use the ingredients, I'll put them back in the cupboard. Not only do I clean up quicker, but I know for sure I haven't accidently left any ingredients out of the recipe. After I finish brushing my teeth, I immediately wipe out the sink (can't stand dried on toothpaste). I keep a rag and spray bottle of diluted vinegar under the sink just for this purpose and it only takes a second or two. Before I go to bed each night, I pick up the living room, straighten pillows, put newspapers in the recycling bin, etc. At least, when I come down in the morning I'm not faced with a messy room. Just a few suggestions.

Wishing you enough.

-- Trevilians aka Dianne in Mass) (Trevilians@attbi.net), February 28, 2002.

Thought I would share a funny thing that happened to my sister. A friend called and said she was on her way over. My sister grabbed a bath towel and wiped down the faucets and before she wiped off the table she opened her oven door and tossed two tupperware bowls and a cake pan in there. Proceeded to wipe off the table and make her house look like she was waiting for company. You probably figured it out, her daughter came home from school and decided to throw in a pizza and turned on the oven. Her company was still there when this happened. Both bowls and the cake pan were a total loss and as for the smell, well.....Anyways, we still laugh about this and that was 8 years ago. I just go to the door and welcome my company with a smile and ask them if they would like a cup of coffee. Jenn

-- Jenn (normaj3@countrylife.net), March 01, 2002.

When I go to someone's house and they start apologizing, I tell them to relax-it feels like home!!!Karen

-- Karen (abbaskid61081@yahoo.com), March 04, 2002.