Monday, March 31, 2008

On Housework, Homeownership, and Murphy's Law

Why is it that I have to clean my house in order to clean my house?

In order to sweep the floors, why must I first pick everything up off the floor so that the broom can connect with the tile? The same thing goes for vacuuming. Why must I first tour the house and pick up all the laundry that has yet to make it into the laundry basket before I can begin sorting laundry? Likewise with the dishes: why must I first tour the house to pick up any cups, silverware, plates, bowls, etc., that have been left lying around? And why must I must first put away DVD's, CD's, miscellaneous papers, household files, pens, pencils, newspaper, and a variety of other items that continually litter our dining room table, coffee table, end tables, desk, and any other place with an open area that looks as though it could suffice for storage, so that I have unobstructed surface areas to actually dust?

Why is it that what should be simple household fix-it projects are never that simple?

When your father-in-law says that the leaking bathtub faucet can be fixed by just "turning it here and tightening it," and your husband proceeds to do exactly that, why can't the stupid thing just turn and tighten like it is supposed to? Why does the part that is supposed to turn not turn, and the part that's not supposed to turn does actually find a way to turn, causing the little tiny pipes that connect the faucet to the main pipe to break off, thereby resulting in an even bigger mess than what you had to begin with?

Why is it snowing outside, even though on my calendar it clearly indicates that we have now entered the season of spring? Did you hear that Mother Nature? Spring. S-P-R-I-N-G. As in flowers blooming, not 6 inches of snow falling.

Why did our snowblower break during the last snowstorm?

6 comments:

Jillian said...

I have a question of my own: Why do you have to wash dishes before you cook a meal? Argh... I HATE that.

*****

Maybe this post is what it will take to wake Mother Nature up!

Colleen said...

Sounds like you need some sunshine! Call me crazy, but I'm so excited that in a few days I'll be driving up to Utah where I might actually meet a tiny bit of snow.

As far as the housework goes, I feel that it's a never-ending battle. I do have one helpful hint to make laundry easier. I keep a laundry sorter in each bedroom to use as a hamper. When we take our clothes off, they go into one of the 3 bags. Then when the bag gets full my whites, lights & darks are sorted & ready to go in the washer. I only have to sort the clothes that were left on the floor or hanging on the chair. I still find my kids' clothes in random places around the house, but this system sure cuts down on time sorting loads of laundry. Even my 3 year old is learning how to get his dirty clothes in the right place.

Good luck with your Spring Cleaning. I hope Spring will arrive soon for you.

Mrs. R said...

Jillian: HAHA. I forgot about that one! Yes. I would agree.

Colleen: That is a great idea. Now if I could only get my husband to do that, I'd be all set!

Suburban Correspondent said...

We never have a simple plumbing repair, that's for sure. Either a valve gets stripped, or we have to cut a hole in our livingroom ceiling to access a plugged-up drain upstairs in the tub, or a 25-cent tub toy necessitates an entire new toilet...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. My before picture of my stove did not do the mess justice - it was truly disgusting. If I turned any of the burners on, the gunk in the burner pans would smoke and stink. Honest.

Queen Goob said...

Gosh, and I really wanted to bring a moment of sunshine and good news. I can’t. The cleaning the house before you clean the house NEVER gets any better. And the laundry sorter thingy that was recommended earlier? I tired that……once…..IF the dirty clothes made it into the hamper they most certainly were NOT sorted so ultimately I had to empty three hampers and sort clothing instead of just one. Mine is now being used in the garage as a miscellaneous yard tool holder (i.e. extra hoses, sprinklers, giant yard bags, etc.) Works really well if I don’t say so myself!

Mrs. R said...

Queen: One of these days, I will break down and hire a maid. :)