Hi all,
I have just joined the group and am ecstatic to know that not only am I the only clean freak but that there are so many of us!
I've often wondered where my cleaning needs came from, I remember being the messiest teenager imaginable but as time soldiered on (and it does!) I've become my own mother. Approached 40 fast I often think I got this cleaning "illness" from my mother but is that true of all of us? Did my mother get it from hers? I can't imagine it as my grandmother never dusted in her life! Where does this need to clean come from? Does anyone have a theory?
Sarah
I have just joined the group and am ecstatic to know that not only am I the only clean freak but that there are so many of us!
I've often wondered where my cleaning needs came from, I remember being the messiest teenager imaginable but as time soldiered on (and it does!) I've become my own mother. Approached 40 fast I often think I got this cleaning "illness" from my mother but is that true of all of us? Did my mother get it from hers? I can't imagine it as my grandmother never dusted in her life! Where does this need to clean come from? Does anyone have a theory?
Sarah
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United Kingdom
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Re: New Member with a Question
Sun, March 11, 2007 - 7:25 AMMy mother was a total slob, and my father was a "get your chores done before you go out with your friends" type (they didn't share a household). I seriously *try* to emulate my father, as he is so pragmatic about cleaning, and I'd like to be that cool about it all.
In reality, my cleaning is more of a neurosis, I think, born of an abject dread that my home ever seem like my mother's <lol>. The germophobe part of me just can't stand the thought of showering in an icky shower, or preparing food in an icky kitchen. Heck, I won't even eat food prepared at some of my friends' homes, because I know that the state of thier kitchen is scary.
So, yeah, early childhood horror of the green-funky thing growing in the back of the fridge, and what its biota maigh do...that's probably where mine comes from. I don't mind clutter (lots of mounds of books and paper around here), but I hate anything potentially germy/funky/dirty.
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Re: New Member with a Question
Sun, March 11, 2007 - 8:42 PMGreat question! I'm interested to see what the other members say...
Both my parents were slobs. I was a pretty good slob until around 12 or 13. I think I got so embarrassed by our house that started making sure my room was clean enough to make up for the rests of the house!! My grandmother is also a complete neat freak. She used to clean the woodwork (base trim, door trim, window frames, etc.) once a week!!
I'm not that bad...any more! Having a family has certainly made me compromise a lot of my cleanliness (in exchange for sanity!). But underneath it all, I still feel that there's nothing like sleeping in a fresh set of sheets, showering or soaking in a freshly cleaned tub or lounging in an immaculately cleaned living room! -
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Re: New Member with a Question
Thu, March 15, 2007 - 11:55 AMPersonally, I'm neurotic. I just like things to be clean and tidy. I find messes and clutter to be depressing.
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Re: New Member with a Question
Fri, March 16, 2007 - 6:44 PMMy mother has *the gene* but it didn't fully manifest itself until she was in her early thirties. I'm a fiend. I have four kids, the newest born just last weekend, and for three weeks prior, I had a gal coming to clean once a week. Her contract has been terminated . . . looking for someone with a similar standard. Can't be sure I'll find it but I'm gonna have to try to come up with something better.
Bottom line, not enough time to attend to everything I'd like to be *perfectly clean*. Between me and a new cleaning person, perhaps it will happen one day LOL.
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Re: New Member with a Question
Sat, March 17, 2007 - 11:37 AMWell it seems to be passed down. Either as a similarity to a neat/clean parent...or as a reaction against a sloppy parent.
I really feel my physical environment is a reflection of my mental environment. My chaotic and messy household growing up was a reflection of my parents and what they were going through. It also has to do with control. I can't always control the world outside, but I can always control my living and working space. And when that is controlled and clean and neat, I feel a certain sense of peace. To me, a neat and clean space is like a blank slate, a starting point. When it exists, I feel freer to get other things done or simply relax. Otherwise I look around and think "now if that could be put away over there, and those things up there, and that cleaned up, and that taken out..." etc. It's just what I focus on first. -
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Unsu...
Re: New Member with a Question
Tue, April 17, 2007 - 1:20 PMhopefully it's just primal instinct
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Re: New Member with a Question
Tue, May 13, 2008 - 3:50 PMi agree completely with this, X!ne.
when my inner life is in chaos, my house falls apart, and until i make time to put it in order, i can't heal whatever else is going on. i can't relax unless my space is in a minimum state of tidiness. i don't require antiseptic, just orderly and pleasing to the eye (and nose).
when order and cleanliness have been achieved, i feel i have the strength and peace of mind to deal with the chaos and mess of outside life. and when i come home i can rest in my clean space, safe and protected.
growing up my mom was pretty clean but not obsessive; i think my actions are about parallel with hers, but my mind is a bit more OCD.
my dad never cleans, as far as i can tell, but he also doesn't leave messes. (i didn't grow up with him, just applying him to the genetic question.) i have never actually witnessed my nana clean anything, but somehow her house is always spotless... weird... (i wish i had those psychic cleaning powers!)
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