What is the biggest pet peeve you have when it comes to the housekeeping habits of others? Because let’s face it. There is probably something that others in our home do that we wish they wouldn’t do.
For instance…I wish my family wouldn’t leave the empty cardboard tube on the paper towel holder. And instead they would throw it out and put a new roll on.
I wish my family wouldn’t keep stuffing garbage into the can, when it is clearly starting to fall out, and instead see it needs to be taken out. I wish I wouldn’t go into the freezer to grab a drumstick and stick my hand into an empty box.
It’s funny how these things can really get to us. And I’m sure we would say for good reason.
Like the fact that my oldest son never brings down his cereal bowls, so after a couple of days when I finally go to retrieve them, Fruity Pebbles has to practically be chiseled out of the bowl.
Or my daughter who never hangs up the bathroom towel…instead, she leaves it next to the sink where it gets soaking wet.
Then there is my youngest son who leaves peanut butter and jelly all over the counter….along with the crumbs from his sandwich. And let me not forget my husband’s bad habit of leaving his used tissue all over the house.
Do things like this get under your skin?
Here is a suggestion…leave them there, under your skin. Let these poor housekeeping habits bother you but don’t let them overtake you. Don’t let the annoyances of these acts keep you from enjoying your family.
I guess only now am I starting to see how truly unimportant these things are.
It took my 18-year-old son cleaning out his bedroom in preparation for leaving us. He will be going to Texas for basic training with the Air Force.
So on the day he was cleaning his room, he brought down a stack of bowls I didn’t know I had been missing. Instead of making a snide remark or sighing loudly in frustration, I almost cried at the sight of them.
Pretty soon there won’t be anymore dirty bowls up in that room. We won’t open the cupboard to find an empty spot where clean bowls should be.
Suddenly those bad housekeeping habits don’t seem like such a big deal. People are what really matters, not the keeping of your home.
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Photo by edkohler in Flickr