Own Your Weaknesses

We talk a lot about knowing your strengths but no one likes to talk about owning your weaknesses. So I’m going to let you in on one of my weaknesses. Housekeeping is not my strong suit. You’d think with just two adults and a dog, our house would stay relatively clean. Think again. There are many reasons why we have a housekeeping issue. Notice how I transitioned this from a “me” problem to a “we” problem.  I think Hubby should own some of this; I’m staring at a stack of his architectural magazines at least a foot high. Some of you may not consider this a weakness, just “life”. But to a perfectionist like me, it’s definitely a weakness. Years ago Hubby recognized this weakness and convinced me to hire a housekeeping service. Best. Decision. Ever. When the lay-offs hit we cut back everywhere but figured out a way to maintain housekeeping once a month. I honestly think I would go without eating before I would go without housekeeping. Let’s take a look at this weakness that keeps our house from looking pristine. Our lovely dog-daughter is a shedder. That’s right; I’m going to blame some of this on the dog. I’m sure those of you with kids would blame them for poor housekeeping; since the dog is our daughter this makes sense. Each time we brush her there’s enough fur to make one large dog.   Her accessories, which are full of her hair that require cleaning, include two custom beds, a crate, assorted towels, and a large mat where she lays to look out the back window.   Her collection of 80+ stuffed toys is kept in two large baskets – also full of hair. Clearly some fault is hers. She wags her tail as if to say, “Whatever”. People like us too much. We must be super-popular because we are inundated with mail. Each day I stand over the recycle bin to throw out the obvious junk. The rest – bills, Hubby’s work-related mail that looks important, and magazines – gets stacked on the counter for review at a later date. I’m considering making the stack into a sculpture so it’s less offensive. Meet our obnoxious friend, Clutter. Clutter follows us, like a shadow. I’ve read countless articles about organization, bought tons of cute storage bins, cleaned out our files and more. Yet somehow clutter magically appears again.  My cute storage bins are bursting at the seams, the file drawers won’t shut and both of our desks hold stacks of miscellaneous papers. Houston, we have a problem. We’re sentimental fools. Hubby and I are pretty good about purging our closets of clothing that we don’t wear or no longer fits. We used to be even better. When the lay-offs hit, we started getting “clingy” with our clothing, worried that we might not have the funds to replace items that were tossed. Plus I’m totally sentimental about some things: I still have the outfits Hubby and I wore on our first date; I’ve got some of my dad’s ties; and my first set of luggage in an ugly plaid fabric my parents bought me when I left for college. Seriously, plaid luggage. What I am doing with that? When it comes to cleaning we are champion procrastinators. Hard to admit but it’s true. It’s easy for us to put off cleaning when we’ve got 80 shows on the DVR to watch. Funny that procrastinating only affects us in this area.  We are great at prioritizing almost everything else: family, work, groceries, exercising, etc. Just don’t hand us a dust rag; we will drop it like a hot potato. I seriously dislike housekeeping. Really. I mean it. Friends have tried to tell me about the satisfaction; the “high” they experience from cleaning. Nope, not me. There is not one miniscule part of me that enjoys it. I do, however, feel great walking into a clean house. That someone else has cleaned. The cure? I don’t know if there is one.  We’ve tried all sort of remedies and my storage bin budget is tapped, folks. I’m aware that this is a #firstworldproblem, for sure. It’s time to own my weaknesses and figure out how to work with them, not against them. Do you hear that noise? It’s cheering from our housekeeping service; they now know Hubby and I are life-long customers. And I’m okay with that.