4 kids and you can still get a house clean for company!? Let me just say, WOW, great job! And that goes for all mothers (and fathers, too). Kudos to you.
White Wolf
Sometimes sanity takes vacation time on me. - Savage Garden
You’ll be over in ten minutes?
Throw the dishes into the oven, wipe the table off. Everything laying around the public rooms goes into the bedroom, and you lock the door and close it. Vaccuum the rug in the living room if they havn’t arrived yet.
I’m only your wildest fear, from the corners of your darkest thoughts.
As far as I know, in a womans world, her home’s neatness, and decor, is like her resume to other woman. Most men could care less about someone elses house.
I wouldn’t frett too much about it. But you should kick your husband around a bit to prevent a repeat of this episode. Start casing on him during the climax of a tv show he may be watching. That will get his attention.
Well, if I know ahead of time you are coming to visit, yeah, I’ll clean up the house. Just popping over unannounced? Tough. I live here. It’s not a museum. I have four hair shedding animals and about twenty active hobbies so the house is always “messy” but never “dirty”.
P.S. Durning the climax of a TV show? No-no. Wait until he’s climaxing… that will REALLY get his attention!
Best!
Byz
Okay, to be fair to the husband, I usually have the house in pretty decent condition by the time he gets home from work. I stay at home, so I have lots of time and I don’t mind doing all of the housework, except for the trash. BTW, it is still sitting there, and I don’t know how much longer I can take it!
When my husband finally got home that night, after going to the friends house, he looked at me and said “I’m so glad that you’re my wife, cause Mario’s wife made him corndogs for dinner, and you always make real food.” He hadn’t even noticed the house was messy!
My first husband was a neat freak. He was also abusive, so I learned to keep the house and the kids spotless. I kept up this behavior for the first three years or so with this relationship, but my second hubby is a complete slob and could care less if I ever clean the house again, as long as he has clean clothes to wear to work. Since the only chore I actually like doing is laundry, this hasn’t been a problem. So for the last couple of years, I stopped obsessively cleaning the house and pretty much let it go because he doesn’t care, so why should I?
Tatertot? My hubby’s only job is to take out the garbage, which explains why there is four full garbage bags sitting in my kitchen. I have to practically beat him with a stick to get him to take it out.
Shadowfox
“Distinguished” Sexy assistant to Head Honcho,
Self-Righteous Clique
Wow. I’m gonna rear my ugly Alan Alda/Phil Donahue touchy-feely Father Around The House head here for a second. Flame away after.
It’s a woman’s RESUME??? Holy Moley. It’s 2000, and it’s a woman’s RESUME? Man oh Manoschevitz. I’m home a lot, I freelance. I do the kitchen, attempt ( ahem ) to get my kids to keep their nightmarish Pokemon infested sticky game bits in their rooms. I cook when I’m not working. She does the laundry. Not only do I do the trash, but I built a lovely fenced in area at the end of the driveway last spring, to HIDE said cans from view.
Almost everyone I know works, AND helps to manage a home. The ladies I know who don’t work keep their home no more or less spotless. I would beg someone who sees that as a woman’s resume to find other things to admire. That could be something highbrow, or- to be blunt-something coarse. But jeez Louise, it’s just housework. Am I a lousy Husband because my office frequently looks like it was just hurled from a ShopVac? I don’t think so.
Grrrrrrrr… And, ONE more thing. Tatertot- it’s called Respect. I would never think of showing up at home with someone unannounced. If I did want to bring someone home, I’d most likely bring DINNER home too !!! AND, I’d call ahead. I’m not some freaking hero here, I just think that doing what hubby did smacks of disrespect. It’s like letters from home when you are at summer camp. Gotta give em to get em. Nuff said. 
Cartooniverse
If you want to kiss the sky, you’d better learn how to kneel.
Um, Cartooniverse, you kinda hurt my feelings there. I think that I get plenty of RESPECT from my husband, it really is no big deal if he wants to drop by with a friend, I think I mentioned that in the OP. It was just a temporarily embarrassing situation, and today I can laugh about it & my stereotypical “housewife” reaction.
The trash thing does bother me, but I know he’s not doing it out of any disrespect for me, he’s just forgetful.
Let’s not read more into the situation than is necessary, okay?
Shadow, after meeting you and your hubby, this picture makes me laugh!!
My mother is the cleanest person I’ve ever met. She is so obsessed with her house that she can’t enjoy having people over her house. I kid her that we’ll have to bury her with her Hoover. “Ack! I can’t stand all this DUST!”
Me? I’ll feel right at home!