Seneschal - January 12, 2000
Jan. 12th, 2000 12:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hel_anaMy house is clean. Well, my sewing room needs some work, but it also needs about 30 square feet more space, so it's not surprising. Mostly it's clean but in dire need of more storage space and organization. But the rest of the house is good. It's been good for a while, and I've actually been keeping it up.
One of my major problems with housekeeping is that I'd much rather read a good book. (Ironically, I just bought that new book Home Comforts, which is about keeping house. I have to keep myself from sitting down and reading it, rather than putting it into practice. But it is inspiring.)
My other major problem with housekeeping is that I grew up with an incredibly active mother. She's a full-time nurse, has three children, sings in the choir at church, is heavily involved in community and church service, and is a big hockey fan. (At least where my brother's team is concerned. :))
All of this left her very little time when I was growing up. And she had the philosophy that these things were more important than the house. Certainly she never negelected us for the house. And so I always had a fairly dismissive view of housekeeping. I figured that there were things that were more important. And so my house was mostly a terrible mess, even after I'd moved into adulthood in all the other areas of my life.
I'm discovering that I like routine, and living in a pleasant environment. (My mother started doing regular housework after I left home. She twigged earlier than I, or perhaps just got more time.)
I'm making time now for a clean house. Like I'm trying to make time for this journal. It's these tiny, tiny steps, like every day making sure that the dishes get done, that I measure my progress in. Tiny steps, like working on this web site, rather than surfing other peoples'.
And maybe, just maybe, one day I'll be able to take bigger steps. Like consistantly achieving the big goals (rejuvinating the canton for one) that I didn't have a chance of when I was crawling. I'm still not convinced I won't fall down, but it's working out so far.
One of my major problems with housekeeping is that I'd much rather read a good book. (Ironically, I just bought that new book Home Comforts, which is about keeping house. I have to keep myself from sitting down and reading it, rather than putting it into practice. But it is inspiring.)
My other major problem with housekeeping is that I grew up with an incredibly active mother. She's a full-time nurse, has three children, sings in the choir at church, is heavily involved in community and church service, and is a big hockey fan. (At least where my brother's team is concerned. :))
All of this left her very little time when I was growing up. And she had the philosophy that these things were more important than the house. Certainly she never negelected us for the house. And so I always had a fairly dismissive view of housekeeping. I figured that there were things that were more important. And so my house was mostly a terrible mess, even after I'd moved into adulthood in all the other areas of my life.
I'm discovering that I like routine, and living in a pleasant environment. (My mother started doing regular housework after I left home. She twigged earlier than I, or perhaps just got more time.)
I'm making time now for a clean house. Like I'm trying to make time for this journal. It's these tiny, tiny steps, like every day making sure that the dishes get done, that I measure my progress in. Tiny steps, like working on this web site, rather than surfing other peoples'.
And maybe, just maybe, one day I'll be able to take bigger steps. Like consistantly achieving the big goals (rejuvinating the canton for one) that I didn't have a chance of when I was crawling. I'm still not convinced I won't fall down, but it's working out so far.
