Shelrie, Lani, and Damian
10 April 2008

My mom arrives tomorrow, and the house is not yet clean.  I place responsibility for the messy house directly at the feet of the two devoted minions of Chaos who follow behind me and undo all my work.

While working against Chaos and its two little minions who live in my house this past week, I realized that we have a cultural lie that, for some reason, we all support and even nurture:  the idea that we can raise children, decorate our house like the homes on HGTV, and keep the house spotless while making home-cooked meals every night.  No one wants to be that person who says, “You know what, my house actually looks like a tip right now and I am unable to keep it clean.”  What a loser.

My house is only 1300 square feet (small by today’s standards, normal by 1970’s standards), and I cannot keep up with the housework.  How do housewives with 2500 sq ft houses do it?  Really.  How do they do it?

So I’ve decided to be that person.  Maybe people will think “What a loser” or maybe people will think, “Finally!  Someone came forth and told the truth!” but here it is:

My house very often is one ginormous mess and I cannot keep up with the housework and I don’t make nutritious home-cooked meals every night.  So take away my June Cleaver badge — I hated trying to vacuum in heels and a meticulously-ironed dress anyway.