Saturday, December 16, 2006

Dirty Toilets and Drop In Visitors

Mrs. B has written a marvelous post entitled "Dirty Toilets and Drop in Visitors". I had to chuckle when I first read it because I have been there!!!!

She offers some great ideas about doing little things each day to keep the house tidy and ready for visitors at a moments notice. Thank you Mrs. B!!

Below is the article, but, sadly, her blog is now gone.

Once, many years ago, some friends of ours stopped by to say goodbye on their way to a vacation out of state. Before they left, my friend's husband asked to use our bathroom. Those were the days before I had any daily cleaning routines set up for myself, and I cleaned whenever I felt like it-or not. Well, this happened to be one of the "or not" days, and my bathroom was rather a wreck. I *had planned to* clean the bathroom, but hadn't gotten around to it yet when my friend needed to use it. Needless to say, I was mortified, and to this day, I still remember the embarassment of that moment.

Last night after supper our pastor called to see if he might drop by for a spur of the moment visit with us. Of course we told him to come on over.

I was so glad then that, over the years, I have learned to keep to some basic daily cleaning routines. I am no longer embarassed when someone asks to use our bathroom, and I don't find myself scurrying around, a stress-filled mess, when someone drops by unexpectedly.

Last night all I had to do to get ready for the pastor's visit was finish washing the supper dishes and put on a pot of coffee. We had a very enjoyable visit with him, very relaxed because I wasn't worrying about the state of my house.

Here are some of the absolute basics that I try to do every day in order to keep our home presentable:

*make beds
*do dishes, clean counters
*make sure bathroom is presentable (swish toilet and wipe counters daily or every other day)
*sweep floors
*put anything away that has been left out in kitchen or living room

After these things are done, I can go on to other projects, resting assured that I could welcome someone in to our home that day with no need to be embarassed. You don't have to strive for PERFECT; you just want to have it comfortably neat, clean, and attractive.

What things do you do in your own home to be ready for drop in visitors?

Have a wonderful day, friends!

No comments:

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin