This is a guest post by Nancy Evans, a freelance writer who enjoys writing on the topic of health and cooking. This post brought a smile to my face, as I frequently make a mess in the kitchen while cooking, but its my husband who cleans up after me. Its when I decide to tackle my bedroom that I get on a cleaning frenzy.
Now my mother in law, on the other hand... her whole life is a cleaning frenzy!
I’ve never thought of myself as much of an obsessive person. Sure, I’ll sometimes find myself double-checking my car, home, or garage door to make sure that it’s been locked. And, as someone who simply cannot stand the sight of unkempt or dirty fingernails, there’s no question that you’ll often find me inspecting my hands or wandering the aisles at Target looking for the best tweezers available. But on the whole, I’m really not the obsessive type. I don’t struggle to make decisions. I don’t need every detail in my life to be perfect.
Yet every once in a while all that goes out the window. I don’t know what causes it, but there are always a handful of days every month where I descend into a kitchen-cleaning frenzy – a frenzy that doesn’t stop until every corner of the room is clean and immaculate.
My cleaning tirade usually starts after a make a particular mess of the kitchen while making a meal. As I wash the dishes under hot water and scrub them with soap, I gradually find myself relishing the chance to turn a dirty collection of plates into a clean and fresh one. I drag out the washing process, dry everything off, and then carefully put my clean handiwork back into the respective drawers where it belongs. Then I start cleaning down the counters and scrubbing the top of the stove. Before I know it, I’ve got a mop in one hand and a dustbin in another. The floors are clean in no time.
My frenzy concludes by removing from the kitchen the last remnants of filth: the trash. Even if the trash bag is not fully filled, I take it out of the can and carry it outside to the dumpster. It is only then, once the trash is gone and a new, clean bag has been put in its place, that I can contently glance around the kitchen and reassure myself that it’s finally done – that the kitchen is truly, completely, sparkling clean.
I always feel accomplished after a thorough cleaning, but on the following day I’ll often feel no inclination to do even a fraction of that work. I guess I just need to get it out of my system from time to time. If that qualifies as obsessive, well, perhaps it’s not the worst outlet to have.
How are you when it comes to cleaning? Are you a neat person? Are you messy? When you clean, is it a bit at a time, or do you do a ton at once?
As for me- I noticed I'm a bit of an extremist when it comes to cleaning- I don't bother doing it if I don't have the ability to get it perfect, and so the mess accumulates until I have the time and energy to tackle it and make it perfect...
See my disclaimer.
Now my mother in law, on the other hand... her whole life is a cleaning frenzy!
I’ve never thought of myself as much of an obsessive person. Sure, I’ll sometimes find myself double-checking my car, home, or garage door to make sure that it’s been locked. And, as someone who simply cannot stand the sight of unkempt or dirty fingernails, there’s no question that you’ll often find me inspecting my hands or wandering the aisles at Target looking for the best tweezers available. But on the whole, I’m really not the obsessive type. I don’t struggle to make decisions. I don’t need every detail in my life to be perfect.
Yet every once in a while all that goes out the window. I don’t know what causes it, but there are always a handful of days every month where I descend into a kitchen-cleaning frenzy – a frenzy that doesn’t stop until every corner of the room is clean and immaculate.
My cleaning tirade usually starts after a make a particular mess of the kitchen while making a meal. As I wash the dishes under hot water and scrub them with soap, I gradually find myself relishing the chance to turn a dirty collection of plates into a clean and fresh one. I drag out the washing process, dry everything off, and then carefully put my clean handiwork back into the respective drawers where it belongs. Then I start cleaning down the counters and scrubbing the top of the stove. Before I know it, I’ve got a mop in one hand and a dustbin in another. The floors are clean in no time.
My frenzy concludes by removing from the kitchen the last remnants of filth: the trash. Even if the trash bag is not fully filled, I take it out of the can and carry it outside to the dumpster. It is only then, once the trash is gone and a new, clean bag has been put in its place, that I can contently glance around the kitchen and reassure myself that it’s finally done – that the kitchen is truly, completely, sparkling clean.
I always feel accomplished after a thorough cleaning, but on the following day I’ll often feel no inclination to do even a fraction of that work. I guess I just need to get it out of my system from time to time. If that qualifies as obsessive, well, perhaps it’s not the worst outlet to have.
How are you when it comes to cleaning? Are you a neat person? Are you messy? When you clean, is it a bit at a time, or do you do a ton at once?
As for me- I noticed I'm a bit of an extremist when it comes to cleaning- I don't bother doing it if I don't have the ability to get it perfect, and so the mess accumulates until I have the time and energy to tackle it and make it perfect...
See my disclaimer.