Summer’s over.
Routine is back.
For these few weeks before dance classes and Bible Study get going, I’m trying to be incredibly focused. You know, see the things that normally escape my Selective Slob Vision.
So here we go. Ten things that no normal person would have put off for most of an entire summer. Ten things that should have been done because each took all of about 20 seconds. Ten projects (that aren’t really projects) that I’m way too proud of.
Number 10:
A simple straighten.
You know what’s so awful about this one? I was ready to quit cleaning the kitchen when it looked like the before picture. All the dishes were done, so I thought I was done. The straightening was an afterthought.
Number 8:
Again, I tend to justify that it’s okay to “be done” when the dishes are clean. I remember having some food-service training once where they said that air-drying is most sanitary. This rationalization just worsens my slob vision issues.
Number 7:
I really am proud of this one.
Number 5:
Considering how proud I was of myself that you could even see the top of the dryer, I felt like a housekeeping diva when I picked up the coins and fork. But then . . . I WIPED DOWN THE TOP! Surely not even Martha Stewart would have taken the time to do that.
(Those price stickers were too much trouble. I’ll leave them to serve as a reminder of my garage-sale-addiction days.)
Number 4:
Moving this chair from it’s Friday-night-movie-watching-spot to its place in the dining room is one of those “projects” that makes me groan. How in the world did I not see it sitting in the living room for an entire three days? Even when I tripped over it, somehow its presence didn’t register.
And obviously, being a flat surface, it couldn’t help but collect random clutter during its stay in the living room.
Number 3:
Time taken to pick up ultra-slippery-on-a-wood-floor item and return it to daughter’s dress-up box: 30 seconds.
Time that item was in that spot: Don’t want to think about it.
Number 2:
Laundry. Because one day of wearing a girdle with workout capris because there’s no more undies in the drawer . . . is one too many for this slob.
Number 1:
The NUMBER ONE project that totally isn’t a project that I’m ever so proud of:
Instant beautification!!! Yes, folks . . . I really am that proud of closing my cabinet doors!
This post was mostly fun, but it reveals a big part of my slob-problem. Simple maintenance gets blown way out of proportion in my mind. Things that are minor adjustments or finishing touches on the tasks I’m already doing feel like projects to me. And it’s much easier to justify putting something off if it’s a “project.”
Each of these before/after sets of pictures showed one very small thing that I had neglected over the course of the summer, even though we were doing the big stuff like mopping the kitchen and cleaning the bathrooms. Even though I was running the dishwasher every night and kept a pile-up from happening in the kitchen.
Each of these neglected areas may be small on its own, but if you put them all together, you have one messy, cluttered house.
I’m linking this up to Top Ten Tuesday over at oh amanda.
Great Job! Maybe this will inspire me to vacuum tomorrow:)
You rock! Good job taking care of these little messes that can add up to a big mess!
This cracked me up. I have been doing similar "projects" around here.
And I agree with you on just closing the cabinet doors!
Girl, this is right up my alley. We should be friends. I posted Ten Easy Anti-Clutter Tactics #20 on ohamanda, but yours is a bit more true to life. 🙂 Can I just say, for the record, I am proud of you–especially for the bit about closing the cupboards! Do you repeatedly stand up into the open cupboard door, creating an open wound, and then still fail to close the door? I do!
Love this post – looking at your pictures I can see so many similar spots in my house! My kids go back to school tomorrow so I am raring to go and this gives me some good inspiration. Thanks!
Great job! Right now I am about to tackle the clothes in my bedroom. Ugggggggggg.
Looks like we operate the same way…and have the exact same dining room table and chairs! Only yours isn't all scratched up like mine is 🙁
So true…doesn't it feel great to have a clean table??? I just hate it when stuff piles up on the table {or anywhere for that matter!}
Little projects are STILL projects…great work!
Girl, you inspire me. Simple maintenance is one of the biggest problems in our house. We're starting a "de-junkification" so we can get to the point of maintaining. 🙂 I love reading your blog.
I love before-and-after pics, especially when it comes to organizing!!! These made me smile — and now I'm off to clean up the top of my sad washing machine. 🙂
I love this post! Such honesty! 🙂 I'm with you–little spots that aren't completeley clean just make a messy house. *sigh* I need to find my countertops…
Thanks so much for linking up!
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I can SO identify with each and every one of the things on your list! I'm a slob, too. I don't want to be – I really do prefer it when my house is clean & orderly. But I'd so much rather do other things than take the time to take care of little jobs like this. *sigh*
I can SO relate! It's amazing how clearing off my kitchen island- even when it's just clean dishes there- makes my whole house seem less cluttered. I have to remind myself of that daily!
This is really interesting! I think my husband does the same thing you do – he just gets overwhelmed by things that don't look very big to me and I can't understand why he can't just DO it – but his brain works differently than mine. I'm going to follow your blog in hopes your honesty will give me more insight about my husband 🙂
OK, the girdle day made me laugh. I know we've all been there at some point.
And, I have to ask, why do you even still have a highchair?
Jen, thanks for following. One of my round-about hopes for this blog is that it will do just that, help people who love slobs but can't understand them . . . understand them better.
BusyMommy, we only use it on movie nights. We have this routine of where everyone sits, and that's just been my 4yo's spot for forever. It was in her room for her dolls for a while, but got moved back to its old spot.
MAN, do I ever need to make a run through the house and just pick up a little! I know it won't take too long, but I can't seem to get it done. (Yet here I sit… I know…) Preschool starts tomorrow morning, but my mom is coming in the afternoon so if that doesn't give me a kick in the pants, nothing will!
Can you come clean my house? I have at least 10 of those same type areas waiting to be cleaned up right now!
You are going to despise me for commenting on this, but on behalf of all non-slobs who follow your blog and absolutely love it… wiping down the washer and dryer is a weekly chore for us tidy people. (Just cuz it gets so dusty and we don't want that lint to get on the clean clothes, and the detergent spills can make a real mess)…but you are doing AWESOME! And someday you will be crazy like us and wipe down the washer/dryer weekly too! And we will miss Nony the Slob terribly.
Hahaha! Wearing a girdle with workout pant because there were no clean panties!
Loved this post!
They seem like projects to me too. I never quite finish the job. Here’s hoping!
I was raised as an only child and told I had no siblings. Pretty sure you and I are twins and share a brain.
i didn’t even notice the fork! had to take a second look at the picture. what does that tell you about MY slob vision?
I love this post.
This has inspired me to walk around my house and look for simple clean up piles. (yes I used the word ‘piles’) Thank you for the inspiration.
Great post. I know exactly how you feel about being through in the kitchen when the dishes are done, except that I realized a month or so ago that I was stopping when I had one or two items left to wash. WHY would I do that???
I read/showed this to my husband during our lunch date (no clean dishes at home? Eat out!)
We laughed and laughed. Her kept saying “That is SO you!”
Oh my word! You GET ME! Thank you so much for sharing your struggles!!! This is my first day checking out your site and I’m so excited to see more and stop feeling like a lonely failure of a housekeeper.
Wow, I’m glad you remembered to close your closet, but look inside your closet. Do you remember what they looked like when you first started? You got so used to them looking the way they do now, you don’t realize how far you’ve come. (I just realized I’m talking to you, ten years ago, lol)