That's where they go...

My mom once read an article about how people perceive if your house is clean upon entering it. Then she told me about it...I am not sure how I should take that piece of friendly advice...Anyway, the list (as close as I can remember) goes something like this.

People perceive your home to be clean if the following items are followed: 

1. There is no mail piled on the counter. There is a very good reason that I pile all the mail in the office and then shut the door....just don't ask to see my office.

2. The beds are made. I pretty much make my bed every day during the week. The weekends not so much. However, the only reason my bed usually gets made is because as I go through the house looking for Fuss' binki, at some point I have to tear my bed apart to see if it is hiding in the mess of sheets and blankets. While I am doing this it just seems easier to make the bed since I am already pulling at the sheets anyway.

3. I think this one was something like if there are no dishes in the sink. Anyone who has come into my house knows that this is a rarity. Every time I get the sink completely dish free, either someone wants a drink, or I find a random dish in a room other that shouldn't have been there in the first place. 

4. I think this one was something like: The house smells fresh and clean. There is no disturbing odor. All I can say with 5 men/boys living in this house, THANK GOODNESS for Glade candles and Febreeze spray!

5. I really don't remember the last one either, but if I were to make it up it would be: There are not random items shoved in random places that don't even make sense. This stems from the fact that while cleaning my house on Saturday in an attempt to make it presentable for Skater's birthday party on Sunday, I came upon a pile of laundry shoved between the night stand and the hamper in mine and D's room. When I asked D why the pile of laundry was sitting next to the hamper his response was, "Those are things that I am going to use again." Really? So, the concept that he is presenting to me is that if we are going to use an item again then we should pile it in a small and conspicuous place in the house. When I brought to D's attention that we rarely use things in our home only once, and that if we followed this rule with everything, he would not be able to get in to bed because the floor on his side of the bed would be overrun with things we were going to use again...aka everything, he just shrugged his shoulders to let me know he didn't really follow my logic. 

All I can say is it is a good thing I am a stay at home mom instead of D being a stay at home dad...otherwise my home might never be clean!