Matt and I are both fairly clean people. We get overwhelmed if there is too much clutter in the house or on any given surface, and just generally feel better when the house is tidy. I'll admit, I tend to clean when specific things are bothering me; Matt does a more general clean-sweep of the house in regular intervals.
For a while I felt bad about this unofficial arrangement, because Matt would get the urge to clean, and I would be sitting around reading or something. When I'd ask if he would like help, he would say no. So I felt like a bum.
The real bum. I tell her often she needs to contribute, but she thinks that means "more fur tumbleweeds and revenge-puking!"
Thank goodness she's cute.
But what was funny is that for all the time Matt spent cleaning various things, I felt like he never noticed when I cleaned, and therefore I was convinced that he thought he did all the work.
Turns out, he couldn't actually see the chores I do. Matt has ridiculously bad eyesight; if he's not wearing his glasses, chances are good that you're just a blob of color to him. Even with his glasses, his eyesight fluctuates from day to day, depending on his blood sugar levels. So I don't know what I was thinking, expecting him to notice soap scum in the bottom of our shower or dust along the baseboards. (Or lack thereof, once I'd removed it.) Those are things he would never think to clean, because he'd never notice they needed it in the first place.
Together, we make a pretty good team, and our house is usually not too embarrassing. (You know, as long as we have like 30 minutes' notice before people stop by. Elliott's litter and food are in the downstairs bathroom, and it's impossible for us to keep that room clean for more than 24 hours.)
Who does the cleaning in your house? Do you and your partner have different cleaning styles?
I'll try and clean on weekends when my husband might be working. If he's not working or in school (if the urge comes during a week day) then he'll pitch in. I can only stand so much clutter and I think his tolerance level is a bit higher than mine.
ReplyDeleteI like your way of thinking, Allie! I'm going to pretend that contributes to my husband's way of seeing chores that need to be done as well (his eyesight is NOWHERE NEAR as bad as Matt's btw). :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you guys have a great system! I do most of the cleaning, but Corey has started to pick up more now that we're both working full time. We try to tackle a few small things every night after dinner so that it doesn't all pile up!
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