Would This Be Acceptable...

...to the Department of Health? I find myself asking this question when I peruse the state of my kickboard under the kitchen cabinets. I am quite sure that most days the Department of Health would not certify my kitchen "A", given that I routinely have bits of stuff in that annoying under cabinet space where my vacuum cleaner does not reach and I have to use the wand attachment to clean out. And frankly this only happens every three weeks or so, when I ask myself "the Department of Health" question and thereby convince myself of the necessity for vacuuming my cabinet kickplate space.

Of course you think to yourself that "people will notice!" when your house is dirty, but the reality is that most people probably don't notice, and I've been looking at other people's homes to reassure myself of this fact. When company is coming not everyone has the entire house spic and span. Mind you, most of the people we know have their house significantly less cluttered and decidedly minimalist, but I am afraid you'll have to give me another decade or so to unlearn ingrained family clutterbug tendencies.

I think most people have their hot button things that they can't have dirty when company comes. As I discovered during my recovery from DS' birth, my MIL cannot abide cluttered surfaces, and swept all of our clutter into bags for her own personal sanity in advance of guests arriving. Personally I don't like having dirty toilets when company is coming. If my commodes are less than spic and span, I am not a happy camper. I can tolerate dirty floors to a degree if they are freshly vacuumed, and can even tolerate mildly dirty floors in need of vacuuming. I absolutely cannot have dirty dishes in the sink or a dirty stovetop. Kickplate space I can ignore as a general rule if I had to vacuum in a hurry. Likewise clutter is completely not on my radar.

I've been lucky today because both of our urchins tolerated a good vacuuming with reasonable good humor, although their beneficence in the behavior arena did not extend long enough for me to clean the birdcage. And now that I really need to fold about 4 loads of laundry and put them away, of course DS is being, well, bratty. He is insisting on conking his head on every surface, has spilled stale urine from DD's training potty (the potty itself awaits DH's cleaning attention, as I get so P!$$ed, haha, that he has the nasty habit of not emptying it promptly after she uses it), and is in general being an Obnoxious Teething Monster. DD is being very good, and has drawn a lovely collage of faces for me. Apart from the fact that she is in a PullUp after having yet another accident, she is doing good.

Now the plan! I'm going to fold laundry when DH gets home, sans children. My own little 30 minutes of child-free time, watching a snippet of "Pride and Prejudice" for the umpteenth time. Ahhhhh. Everyone has to have a plan, even if it's asking yourself, "Would the Department of Health tolerate this?"