confessions of a less-than-passionate homemaker

i once took at quiz at work to find out if i was energized by tasks or people. not surprisingly, people won out big, which was good news, since i was a youth pastor and not, say, a computer programmer.

tasks just don't do it for me.

i'm not a listmaker. (except grocery lists. i love grocery lists.) i'm not especially organized, and i don't get super amped-up about accomplishing tasks or checking things off my list. i'm not really that big on goal setting, either.

(i do like finishing crafty projects***, but creating something falls into a realm separate from "tasks" in my mind.)

so when it comes to stuff around the house, i'm not exactly a domestic diva.

i do love cooking, and i especially love cooking for friends and family. i will also clean the heck out of my house in the interest of hospitality when we're expecting company, but i have a hard time motivating myself to accomplish daily household chores.

not to alarm you or anything. you don't need to report us to oprah or one of those reality shows that exposes dirty houses or people with hoarding compulsions. i don't like clutter, and i handle my business--i just wish i experienced more of a sense of accomplishment when it comes to household tasks.

i know no one really likes doing housework, but do those "energized by tasks" people find more satisfaction in a job well done?

i don't mind doing things with immediate results. i like to vacuum, i don't mind laundry, and i actually love hanging clothes outside on the line. it's the stuff that needs to be re-done constantly (dishes) that drives me crazy, and the chores without the obvious visual payoff (dusting) i tend to avoid altogether.

we have this awful hunter green counter top in our upstairs bathroom that shows every streak, watermark and smudge and is dirty almost immediately after being cleaned. it makes me not want to bother. so often i don't.

our kitchen floor is also one of those floors that always looks dingy, even if it's freshly mopped, which again, made me less-than-inclined to break out the mop. i found a satisfying "cheat," however--i bought one of those steam mops.

our floor is so bad that it isn't quite the miracle worker i'd hoped for, but it cleans without chemicals, and the floor dries about a million times faster than after my sponge mop had had its way with it--both important factors with a toddler underfoot. mopping my floor is now a regular (rather than semi-annual!) task.

how do you motivate yourself to do unpleasant chores?






***i'd wanted to decoupage a keepsake hat box with dylan's shower/baby cards ever since i saw the beautiful one my sister tiffany did with her wedding cards. now that dylan is almost two, i finally did it, and it turned out so great!