Saturday, January 23, 2010

please don't blame my mom - she's way cleaner than I am!

Well thank you to all you brave blog readers who answered my questions. Wow! I was impressed with your responses. So much so, in fact, that the very next day I washed all the sheets in the house.


So apparently I'm in the minority with that one, and I guess I should have scabies or flesh eating disease or something by now. Good thing I don't! And I guess you are all thankful that you don't have to share a bed with me? (Sorry, Greg) Just don't blame my mom on this one, OK? I'm sure she taught me that I was supposed to wash my sheets somewhere between once a week and once a month (this is the norm, from my online research) and I just forgot or didn't listen or something like that. I plead "I didn't know any better" as my verdict. The only person I ever really remember having a conversation with about this was one of my more cleanly friends, and seriously people, do you think I could count on that response as accurate? This came from a girl who won't use a mop because she thinks they're too dirty (I'm not kidding). So I really thought what I was doing was "appropriate". Guess not. My new goal = wash sheets every couple weeks. (just as an aside, so you know that I'm not a bad mom and all, Asher's sheets get washed usually every week because I can see that they're dirty). So thank you for enlightening me on proper sheet washing protocol. I feel so much more grown up now.


And as for this bit about me being anal, I thought I'd clarify that one for you. For those of you who know me well you know that I am a bit obsessive, but it's more with things being tidy. Everything has it's "place" in my mind, and there is a way things are just supposed to be. The pillows have to be just so on the sofa. The towel has to be hung this way in the bathroom. The stacking toys all have to go in this bin. The toaster has to be put away when we're not using it. The toilet paper has to be coming over the top of the roll. I literally cannot sleep if there are dirty dishes in the sink. I may not have washed my sheets as often as I should have (past tense, ha!), but the bed had to be made every morning. Some may call this obsessive-compulsive, but I like to think that I'm just a tidy girl. And hey, that's an important part of being clean too, right? (Erin, don't burst my bubble on this one by quoting the DSM or something crazy like that!)


And as for the rest of it, I think we're all not too far off from each other, eah? We all suck at flossing (except Andrea and Rachel), we (mostly) clean our floors weekly-ish, with little spot touch ups here and there, and we all spend close to the same on groceries, whether we have baby stuff or pet stuff to buy along with that (how do you do it on so little Andrea?). I'm glad to know that only washing your hair every other day is something that other people do too. I still find it hard though, and my hair is usually in a pony tail on day 2. But I'm a mom, so that's how I roll.


And the vegetable/fruit issue. I'm going to go with majority rule and say tomato, apple, pepper as the sequence. Size can't be a good indicator for this stuff because the one strawberry is the same size as a bunch of grapes and a corn on the cob. Hopefully we won't confuse Asher too much with this pretend food set we have.


So thanks for those of you who answered. It was so fun to read your responses! I know there's many more of you who read who didn't answer, but that's cool. Seriously, it killed me to put my answers up and this is my blog!


Signed,
the "sheet-redeemed-tidy" girl

10 comments:

mel said...

I suspect the "mops-are-too-dirty" friend is also the "toilet-brushes-are-too-dirty" friend!

mel said...

(Who is clearly NOT me!)

Mandi said...

Mel - I hadn't heard the "toilet-brushes-are-too-dirty" line, but I'm SURE it's the same girl! ;)

Andrea said...

i'd like to mention that a few weeks ago at the dentist they found 6 cavitities!!!!!! That's why i'm a big old loser about flossing daily. When it comes to the groceries..hmmmm. When andrew and i were married i only spent $40 a week on groceries but with kids i'm double that for sure!! We had basic veggies and fruits then where i buy a lot now. I rarely buy boxed stuff..no chicken fingers, meatballs, no sandwich meat, etc. just roasts, whole chickens (or peices. Leftovers go into casseroles, sandwhiches, and soup of course is a great stretcher!!!(I do realize none of that helps you since your not buying meat!) i make my own bread, granola bars, cookies, yogurt, etc. The main secret...is very little convenience food. That's how it all adds up so quickly and you don't get much out of them..oh and as i mentioned earlier...i use cloth diapers so i'm only buying diapers (for nights) maybe once a month or so.

Erin said...

you know I was noticing how much I got mentioned in that last post and I'm going to out myself...and wear it proudly...yes I scrub my floors on my hands and knees...that's why I don't do it often AND you can blame Mari Lynn because I never used to until I started hearing all of her logic. I'd be happy to pass it down to you if you want :)

Ha ha ha Mel, you got it ;) Seriously you remember that? Toilet brushes are gross!!!!! Mandi I think you knew this because I tried to convince Greg but it didn't work....

Lastly...how dare you think that I would quote you on DSM material. What kind of friend do you think I am? Certainly not one that makes fun of you on my blog....OUCH!

Ha ha ha dude if you could see my house right now in this moment I think you'd be happy :)

Anonymous said...

OK. I feel I need to comment here. I too don't use a mop. I have to agree with Erin on this one. Mops ARE gross and I just think they only push the dirt away. And as for toilet brushes... seriously folks! It grosses me out to have one in my house. So Erin I guess you are not alone in this. However I do know I am a bit obsessive. I have to clean my oven weekly because I feel like my kitchen is not clean if my oven is dirty. Is there a medical name for that!!!

Carol said...

That last comment was me! I don't know how to use this thing!

Erin said...

Hi Carol....I don't know you but I love you :) ha ha If I ever do meet you though, please don't look in my oven. I'm really NOT as much as a clean freak as Mandi's trying to make me look like. However thanks for backing me up on the toilet brushes and mops. So sick eh? The thought of having a toilet brush that you use over and over again sitting in your house makes me squirm.

Mandi said...

Andrea - you make your own yogurt?!?! I don't know that I like my kitchen as much as you do, but wow, girl, I'm impressed!

Carol - I totally forgot about the oven thing, that's right! Knowing that, it really must be a big sacrifice for you to work where you do some days. Yikes! And I don't get the no mop or toilet brush thing... I don't get it. You're crazy :)

Erin - you would like Carol, you're right. You guys could talk about how gross my mop is together :P

Andrea said...

yup..i make yogurt..it's pretty darn easy and the girls and i love it..your right about loving my kitchen..well...no actually i hate my kitchen it doesn't have nearly enough room in it..super small BUT i do love baking and making things with my hands!!!! It makes me feel so good to serve something that i made from scratch....

oh and i agree with the mop thing..i also wash my floors on my hands and knees with a cloth that i can wash when i'm done!!!!!!