Can't Be Bothered Thursday: Reprise
So I have decided to embrace minimalism. I have done this by 'tidying' all the papers into the hall drawer and taking the dead house plant outside. I am loving the surfaces darlings. This is, however, all a tiny bit of bloggy magic. Turn around with me and let me share with you the actual state of the house:
Yes, all the precious, precious art projects.. are still there. The blanket fort is still half dismantled downstairs. There is food in the carpet. The children's bedrooms are looking somewhat.. bohemian, but I can't point the finger because this afternoon I tossed a foot high pile of clean washing off the chair in my bedroom so I could read my book. Look up at the 'Housekeeping' tab above there people, and tell me it isn't all just a tiny bit ..smug.
Oh, I hate and despise housework. That is why I invented those housekeeping routines in the first place, because unlike naturally organised people I cannot stand in the middle of a messy house and think about cleaning it up. That would require Advanced Decision Making skills, which I also don't possess. One thing I am good at though, is Developing Theories About That Which I Have No Intention of Really Carrying Through. That would be housework routines. That is not to say that I never do any of them. Seriously, I would be lost without that morning routine. With it I can function almost like a normal person. Without it I used to stand vaguely in the middle of the mess holding a tea towel in my hand, looking pathetically incompetent. Now I still do that, but there is a tiny voice in my head that says, 'Put the washing on, unpack the dish washer, make the bed..' And I just do what I am told, because who am I to question the voices in my head?
Anyway, due to spending all the summer thinking about things that weren't housework, and doing single parent child wrangling, I have tried to get away with doing as little as possible in the house. It is feeling neglected. It has smudges and ground-in food and cobwebs, and cupboards full of ...surprises. It needs someone to care about its grimy windows, its dusty corners, and Oh My Lord have you SEEN what is under the fridge? And due to a deficiency of other suitably qualified candidates, that someone would be.. me, of course.
My two plans so far have been: hire a giant skip and throw everything into it, truly embracing minimalism, St Francis style.
The second is: just clean the damn house.
Leaning towards the first, as much simpler.
However, am putting it off, in the best tradition of Can't Be Bothered Thursday.
Tell me, what would you do?
Comments
And no, I haven't seen what is under the fridge. Does anyone actually look there?
I'd clean one room to sit and escape. (In addition to the kitchen because that's kinda gotta be sorta clean or I gag when I try to make a cuppa.) Everything else can go. After all, I am sure you have done enough cleaning and shown you can do it so don't need to keep practising!
I think what is under my fridge has evolved and taken on other forms. I think it might be "aware" and have a degree of cognisance...I am afraid of what is under the fridge...and the bed...although Earl is also under the bed so good luck to it ever managing to survive let alone get out and wreak havoc…
I think we all shared a can't be bothered Thursday. You are not alone! Jess of Rabid Hippy fame just admitted to me that she did "sweet bugger all" yesterday and although I managed to almost eat my weights worth of cupboard contents in one fell swoop, little else was accomplished here on the northern front. I like the sound of Can't be Bothered Thursday as it seems to be the norm here on Serendipity Farm...I am going to have to rename it Serendipity Jungle as it has decided to become completely feral over the summer and now we are almost in winter it isn't much better. If misery loves company, consider yourself in house cleaning company. Today...I clean...sigh...
Chances are that you set the standards that you are expecting yourself to live up to. So just cut yourself some slack and lower the standards.
I am so 'minimal' in my head, but it is difficult to pull off with a family. There are never enough cupboards to hide all the junk away in. One tidying job that always cheers me up is clearing out a kitchen cupboard - it always looks so organised afterwards.....I seem to remember that you are an expert at this from one of your previous blogs :-)
Lucinda, you really can see into my mind. That is EXACTLY the approach I always take to housework. But when I actually do it, I feel so proud of myself, like I am almost a real grown up, and I love the result.. what to do, what to do? Read a book or sweep the floor? Although I am very taken with your conclusion: yes, I have proved I can do it, now I can quit? Hmmm...
Fran, there seems to be a Mother's Day cleaning epidemic going on. Does this seem wrong to anyone?
I love the sound of the Serendipity Jungle. I picture you going in there in Spring with a pith helmet and machete.
In my dreams i embrace pure white minimalism; and i tend to have yearly chuck-outs during my summer holidays. But mostly I am good at walking past what needs to be done.
Until ... until i know my mother is coming to visit (and truthfully, she has told me she cares less about housework as she gets older, but still). Or until i have friends staying (staying!) for a whole weekend at the end of May, so I'll need to get rid of some cobwebs and wall smudges before then. They probably won;t care and we will be out beign tourists for much of the weekend (and it's dark now!) but just in case...
But i'd have that cup of tea first for sure.
(And read the Billabong, well most of them, as an adult. I know! I should be reading literature or if reading young adult fiction, something modern and gritty, so I can keep in touch with the youf of today. But I like to escape. Let's ride away together for a picnic, Jo?)
I hate housework because by its very nature it is undone as soon as it is done.
Sweet bugger all from yesterday has dribbled over into today although I did at least empty the fridge of leftovers (mainly because the kids and I were all hungry and it seemed an easier option than cooking) and I've stacked the dishwasher. I've also moved my tallow fat around in order to clean up a pot for making soap but that's called fun, not work. ;)
I think the skip sounds the way to go. Annually in this house! ;)
I swear by that saying 'Dull women have immaculate houses' - I'm definitely lively, only not in the cleaning dept!
My house always has about 10 or more projects going on at the same time, so it's never totally tidy. And I can't blame all the projects on my kids :)
If I were you, I'd sit down at that big table filled with art supplies, stare at that lovely shiny side table with those beautiful lemons on it, and start drawing. Yes... just sit, and be still, and draw those lovely round shapes. Always makes me feel better!
Oh no, I need to reprogram my day dream. It has gone off the totally wrong direction.
Siwzy, I am thrilled you are joining me, now I must just rustle up some staff. Lucinda, I wonder if 'staff' was all it's cracked up to be. It would mostly have been untrained teenage girls. I have some of them already..
Oh, who am I kidding, staff would be sublime:)