Yesterday, I worked like a fiend.  A week or so ago, I told you about how Odie called our house a shit hole and that it hurt my feelings.  I asked him to make a list of the things he specifically felt made the house look shit-holeish.  He finally did on Sunday.  It took much prodding to get him to do so.  He kept saying stuff about how if something around the house were bothering him, it was his responsibility to fix it.  We went a few rounds like that until I finally asked him to PLEASE just tell me what he wanted me to clean and or tidy so that I could get to this business of making him happy.  Jeez.

It turned out to be a pretty manageable list, all in all.  I suspect he wanted to put thirty more things on it, but he was concerned about me getting my feelings hurt, which is sweet.  From my perspective, I just want to spend the time I DO spend on the house to be on things that he really wants to see done. 

For Odie, it’s mostly an issue of clutter.  He hates it.  He also likes things to be "tidy."  For example, one of the items on the list is "toy explosion contained."  Baby V has a LOT of toys.  Most of them are baby toys handed down from her cousin, but she has many of her own as well.  Inside the Thunderdome, there ends up being, well, a toy explosion.  One of Baby V’s favorite things to do is take her toys out of a box, so I will often fill her empty diaper boxes up with toys and put them on the floor so she can "discover" her toys anew.  Or just dump out the box and try to eat it.

I don’t resent the list.  I ASKED him to make it.  I have to silence the little voice that wants to say, "Oh, you hate clutter, huh?  Then quit supplying it."  I want to argue because that’s what I learned growing up.  Mom bitched at Dad.  Then they divorced.  Then Mom bitched at her next husband.  Then THEY divorced.  I do my best not to bitch at my husband; I don’t always succeed and I sure do hear the bitching inside my head.

As an addendum to "What do you DO all day?" here is what I did yesterday:
Washed a load of towels, cleaned the kitchen floor (on my hands and knees with a scrub brush), made dinner in the slow cooker, cleaned up the dishes, ran the dishwasher, cleared clutter off of the washer and dryer and the "dining room" table and off the bathroom counters, swept and washed the bathroom floor, cleaned the litterbox, and met all of Baby V’s needs all day and night (including her nightly bath).