My daughter once asked me why we cleaned our house before we had company. I glibly answered that we cleaned so that people would think we lived like that all the time. I may or may not have added that we cleaned before they came as a way of showing respect.
We used to have friends and family over for dinner on a regular basis, but after I started working outside of the home, I found that we did it less frequently. I never seemed to have the time or energy to clean the house, cook a meal, and enjoy a visit; and if the house wasn’t clean, I didn’t feel comfortable inviting people over. This has gone on for years. My husband and I recently cleaned because I was hosting my small church community. After the meeting, my friends decided whom would host the next one. A member (a working mother of three) looked at her calendar and said that she could host, but she would not be able to clean. We all said that we didn’t care if her house was clean or not, and we meant it.
This got me wondering if my insistence on cleaning before company was becoming less about showing respect and more about pride on my part. I mean, what? Don’t I want to admit that there is just as much dust falling from the air in my house as anyone else’s? Do I not want people to know that we don’t always rinse the toothpaste globs down the sink after brushing or that sometimes hair falls from our heads? Am I too proud to let someone see that every time I open my front door, flower petals or leaves from the tree in front blow in? Those leaves and petals are constant reminders that I don’t vacuum often enough. I could go on about my white porcelain kitchen sink that is seldom white at the bottom, etc., but I’m sure you get the idea.
There is a plaque on my wall that says, “My house is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy.” This is how we live our lives, and maybe it is time to let others see that. So, who wants to come over for dinner?
October, 2018