Classification Essay

 Growing up I don't think I paid any attention to whether someone's house was clean or dirty. I just remember playing over at different friend's houses, but I never cared about what they looked like. Later in life I began paying more attention and soon realized that some people are " put things away in the right spot and call it clean" people while others are " everything needs to be wiped and dusted " people and then there always seems to be the " I have plenty of better things to do than clean so screw it" person. It's interesting to me that you never really know what someone's cleanliness level is until you have been inside there home. I have quite a little group of stay at home moms that I hang out with on a regular basis, they are all great, wonderful women but let me tell you; not one of them are the same when it comes to how they keep there home.
 Let's start with the "put things in the right spot and call it clean" classification. I've come to the  assumption that this is how the majority of women clean, simply because it's the easiest, quickest way to get noticeable results. I'd say that this style works really well for women who have a lot of random drop in house guests. I personally have used this style of cleaning on so many occasions I can't count, it's perfect for when the kids have a play date over because you want the house to look good for when the parent drops the kid off but you know darn right that it's not staying that way for long with an extra kid over. I have one friend who has a cute little cozy home that's way too small for her family of six, but she makes it work because she always has everything in it's place. My lessons learned: A neat, tidy home looks larger than it really is, and even if it looks clean, that doesn't automatically mean it is clean.
 Moving on to the " I don't want to see a speck of dust " classification. This is what I call the military style of cleaning. This takes a real intense house wive to complete such a task, and is usually associated with a huge type A personality. I know one woman friend of mine who runs her household with an iron fist and it shows in all aspects, especially in the shine on her linoleum floors! She must have her house spic and span all the time. I literally have been to her house at least 100 times and it never ever looks any different, that's just not normal. Lesson Learned: There isn't enough time in our life to worry about having a immaculate home 24/7, and no-one is happy with a stressed, anal momma.   
 Finally we get to last style of cleaning for classification, the "I don't give a rat's behind". The person with this idea of cleaning obviously doesn't care what her house looks like. This can be because she is either too busy with other projects or duties that take precedence in her life and simply can't find the time to get any cleaning done. I'd like to think that this is the case for all the people with this going on because if it's not the case then it means they are just too downright lazy to do it. I do admit that cleaning is a job, no-one likes to do it and it can take a lot of hard work and elbow grease, but come on people! My best friend in the whole world happens to be guilty of this lifestyle, she happens to be the one who is just too busy with all the other responsibilities in her life to get some scrub time.
Lesson Learned: When it all boils down, how a person keeps there house doesn't define them in the least. Someone can have it all together in all other aspects in there life and just decides to let the housework slide.
 So it is pretty obvious now that I have spent too much time for my own good focusing on cleaning habits. I don't think there is anything wrong with either one of these types, I just can't help but make quick judgements based on how clean they keep there home. I have spent a ridiculous amount of hour's analyzing and scrutinizing others cleaning styles.  And for what! These are my friends for goodness sake, women I love as much as sisters and what kind of respect do I show them? I apparently have nothing better to do then pay way to much attention to these mundane tasks. I seem to be stuck in this inner battle of mormon; wanna be perfect jessica vs. human; mentally flawed jessica. I already know I have a case of OCD when it comes to my own cleaning but it sure as heck doesn't mean that anyone else has to be as crazy as me in order to keep their own home clean, and more importantly if one of my best friends decides to ignore her domestic duties then so be it, that only makes for more time to spend hanging out!