I know you won't be surprised to hear that I don't make my bed.

It's a habit I started back in my middle school days when I had a bunk bed that was in the corner of my room.  Trying to make that thing is pure evil.  That same exact bed is now in my daughters room.  In the corner.  Still just as hard to make.  Have you ever tried to tuck in a sheet while sitting on it?  Evil.

I have heard all the arguments about why making the bed is some sort of "necessity" but I don't buy them.

The "it just looks nicer and that makes me happy/inspires me/motivates me to clean/etc" argument.  Do what works for you but for me it really doesn't make a difference.

See, we have this fancy device on our bedroom called a door.  Once shut, the room disappears like magic.

I get up in the morning, leave my room and shut the door.  I usually don't go back in there much during the day unless it's to put away laundry (or let's be honest, dump it on the bed to put away later only because I can't climb into bed at night until all those clothes are put away.)  I just don't hang out in my room very much during the day.

I also don't show it off to company.  Hey, wanna come hang out in my bedroom?  That's something I haven't said in many years.  Because that would be weird.

Some people prefer to climb into a made bed each night but I am honestly not one of them.  It's one of the things that drives me crazy at hotels.  Those tucked in sheets that don't quite pull up far enough.  And they might as well be glued in there for all the good pulling and tugging and yanking will do.  Annoying.

Why would I want to replicate that in my own home?

I know what you are probably all thinking.  You know that if you don't at least sort of make the bed then that flat sheet gets all twisted and tangled.  It gets untucked and pulls up off your feet.  It gets scrunched up down at the bottom of the bed where you can't reach it.

My solution?

Ditch the flat sheet.

Welcome to the 3rd annual No Housework Party blog hop hosted by   the Coolest Non-Domestic Mamas on the Block … Jenn   and   Rachael !



*This post may contain affiliate ads.  Read my full disclosure here.

There are certain household tasks that I consider utterly unnecessary.

For example, ironing.  Really.  Clothing gets wrinkled so we iron the wrinkles out.  Then we wear the clothing and it gets wrinkled.  Then we wash the clothing and it gets more wrinkled.  So we spend extra time and effort to iron the wrinkles out and repeat the cycle.

I really want to know who decided at some point in time that wrinkles were undesirable.

What did the wrinkle ever do to you?

Is it really hurting anyone?

No.  I thought not.

You know what has hurt someone?  An iron.  That's right.

People have this aversion to wrinkles drilled into them.

If everyone stopped ironing their clothes then no one would even notice the wrinkles anymore.  No one.

Also, that's what the dryer is for.  And did you know they now make wrinkle free clothing?  That's right.  Problem solved.

Dusting.

Dust settles on stuff so you swish it off.  It all flies up in the air, swirls around a bit, and settles right back down on the thing you just dusted off.  Big fat waste of time.

Vacuuming.  I mean how bad would it be if I just stopped vacuuming?

Last year I told you how much I hate doing dishes.

This year I am going to let you in on a shocking secret.

I love doing laundry!

Laundry

I know!  I know!  I don't deserve to call myself Non-Domestic.

But hear me out.

I started doing my own laundry when I was about ten years old.  Not because I was forced or even encouraged to.  I'm sure my mom made the casual comment, "Why don't you do your own laundry."  In response to some complaint of mine that this shirt wasn't clean or that skirt or whatever.  I doubt she actually expected me to take her seriously.  But I did.

And so it began.

I soon discovered the joy of laundry.

Maybe it's a bit strange but I used to love standing in the laundry room and listening to the sound of the washing machine.  It was always so soothing.  It was quiet.  I had peace and solitude in that room.  In the spring birds would lay eggs in the laundry room vent so the sound of baby chicks would mix with the swoosh of the washer and the smell of clean.

Heaven!!

Now in case you are getting too freaked out by my confession, I'll let you know the entire truth.  Yes, I love to wash the laundry.

However...

If you guys are anything like me you flipped your calendar over to April and were greeted with quite a shocking realization.

One of the biggest holidays of the year is less than a week away?!  How could I be caught so unprepared?

Never fear!  It's under control.  Jenn and I are here to help you celebrate.

We had so much fun last year, we decided to do it again!

That's right.  It's almost time for the second annual...

Here are a few writing prompts.  Get creative!

-How are you celebrating No Housework Day?

-What do you do instead of housework?

-Tell us about that time you tried to clean something and it backfired on you.

-How did you become a Domestic Goddess / Domestically challenged

-Share your housekeeping/organizing tips and tricks

-Confess your mess…be brave and show us pictures of your messy house

-Tell us your most/least favorite chore

-Why you hate/love housework

-How to you make housework fun (or at least bearable)

-Do your kids help with the housework?

For the Domestically Challenged

Do you hate housework, are you no good at it, or are there simply just not enough hours in the day to do it all?  You’re not alone.  All over the country non-domestics just like you are sweeping the cobwebs aside (figuratively…we don’t sweep for real, silly!), stepping out into the world and declaring, “I hate housework!”.  We’re walking right past our piles of organized chaos and confessing to the world, "I am Non-Domestic" and “I have better things to do than dishes.” Join us on Saturday to link up any of your domestically challenged blog posts.  Show us what you do instead of housework, how you plan on celebrating No Housework Day, or tell us about that time you tried to clean something and it backfired on you.

For the Domestic Goddesses

If you’re reading this while wiping your computer screen with a special cloth…you probably need to declare a holiday more than any of us (put the cloth down and back away, you weirdo!).  Can’t take off a day of cleaning?  You might feel like you don’t belong here, but you couldn't be more wrong, my friend!  You are welcome to link up any of your housework posts…make us feel guilty and show us your tips, tricks, and lovely organized closets.  We’ll call you a show off and give you a ;) winky to your face and then we’ll probably talk about you behind your back…but seriously, you’re totally welcome to link up!

Start planning how you’re going to celebrate No Housework Day (or if you’re a non-domestic...procrastinate and try to come up with something at the last minute ;) ) and then meet back here at Non-Domestic Mama or at Coolest Family on the Block on Saturday to party! 

I should be doing the dishes.  They have piled up again.  Instead I stare at the massive crusty pile and wish them away. But they stubbornly refuse to clean themselves.

I should be cleaning the living room.  It has been overrun with all the things that belong somewhere else but somehow creep back in when I'm not looking.  Then I turn around and am greeted with a scene from a horror movie.  I should be putting all the things back where they belong.  I should be scolding my children and making them put the things back where they belong.  But I lack the energy to follow them around pointing out each item and explaining in detail how and where it should be.  Instead I watch and listen to my children blissfully playing. Totally unaware of the chaos that surrounds them.

I should be writing a blog post.  Something insightful, or eventful, or charming, or witty.  Instead I stare at a blank screen as the words refuse to form themselves.  My head swirls with tiny snippets of thought that flee like butterflies from my net.

Something rather mysterious has been occurring in my kitchen recently.

The other day I did dishes.  I know this in and of itself is nothing short of miraculous, but this is not in fact the mysterious incident to which I am referring.

I washed a load of dishes and then returned to unload them.  I KNOW!  Still not what I am referring to.

I had just finished unloading the dishwasher and was about to start reloading (yes, I know, STILL not what I am referring to...) when I looked down and noticed a little soap packet in the soap tray.

Wait...

Didn't I wash those dishes?

Did I already put the soap in for the new load?

Has the dishwasher started automatically refilling the soap?

Could the dishwasher be broken and not opening the soap dispenser until after the wash?

Do we have a Dishwasher Pixie?

Am I losing my mind?!?!

As you probably are already aware, I an well renowned for giving life changing advice.  Readers all over the world flock to my blog seeking my wisdom.  Well, here I am again to tell you my top 6 reasons not to clean your kitchen.  You're welcome!

6. You just don't want to.  It's your kitchen after all and you should be able to decide where and how things are kept.  If you want to store a basketball hoop in the middle of the kitchen floor you should be able to do just that!  If you don't want to do dishes you shouldn't have to.


5.   You may make some rather disturbing discoveries.  Remember that box of food you packed when you moved from your apartment to your house?  It's still there in the corner of your kitchen.  Hiding behind other boxes disguising itself as extra dishes or appliances or something.  Recall the fact that you have been living in this house for over three years now.  You were just better off not knowing.


4.   You will start to experience delusions of grandeur regarding all the ways you can redo and reorganize your kitchen.  You will then start googling kitchen updates.  After several hours pinning your discoveries to your Pinterest boards, you will discover the necessity of creating a new Kitchen Board on Pinterest, to accommodate all your new pins.


3.   Someone may start to get ideas regarding your cleaning capabilities.  You wouldn't want anyone to start thinking that you might, in fact, be perfectly capable of doing the dishes on a regular basis, now would you?

2.  You might have to start cooking.  If the kitchen is clean, you will have one less excuse to avoid cooking.  Again, it could be assumed that, if you are capable of cleaning, you can certainly learn to cook. This assumption is quite mistaken.

As will inevitably occur, when one has a three day weekend, with oodles of time to do things, like blog, and read blogs, and blog some more, the internet decided to go down.  It seems it decided it deserved a vacation, just as much as the next person/artificial intelligence.  Which of course left me staring at the little blank icon at the bottom of the screen, willing it to come back on, as I futily clicked the refresh button, repeatedly.

Refresh? No.

The cable company promised to get right on it.  They would schedule us for Wednesday.  Wednesday?  It was only Sunday!  What to do for an entire 3-4 days without internet or cable?!?!?

Refresh? No.

There was only one obvious solution.  Start honing my Angry Birds skills.

Ever have house guests?

You know how despite the fact you are really happy to see them and are excited for their visit you tend to breath a sigh of relief that they are gone.

My brother and his wife were here for a weekend visit and left an hour and a half ago.

Now that Easter is past and Summer is lurking right around the corner, I got the wild idea into my head that I might try out this "Spring Cleaning" thing I have heard so much about.  I thought that since we had company on Easter, which inspired a wild fury of cleaning, consisting mostly of hiding things, but did result in some clear spaces that are slightly wider than the normal paths, (my husband gets the majority of the credit for this) I could take advantage of this and motivate myself to do some actual cleaning.

Gulp.

I know big stuff right?  I have pondered this decision all day.  It's not something I can just jump into after all.  I really think this is the year to go for it!

I am faced with one slight little hitch in my plan though.  I am turning to my readers for help on this one because I am hoping you will be a little more familiar with the "spring cleaning" concept.  I have never done this before and am at a bit of a loss as to where to start.

Trying to come up with a plan of action I wandered about my house in a bit of a daze.  More and more confused I meandered from room to room looking high and looking low.

I have searched the whole house twice now.

I know it's a chaotic and disorganized mess so sometimes things are staring me right in the face and I still miss them.

Seriously though . . .

You know how after a night of wild drinking you wake up hungover.  At least that's what I've heard.  Not that I have ever experienced that for myself or anything.  I've just heard rumors.

Well this morning I woke up with a hangover.  Not that kind of hangover.  I wasn't consuming large quantities of alcoholic beverages yesterday.  Instead I took the day off from doing any housework.

This morning I awoke in a fog, a haze.  I had some fuzzy recollection of a wild and crazy party the day before.  Was it a dream?  Did it actually happen?  What did I do yesterday?

So . . . I just got a phone call from my husband.  He was calling to inform me that my mother-in-law might be stopping by today.

Um . . . Today is No Housework Day !

<a href="https://nondomestic.blogspot.com/2011/04/no-housework-party.html/"><img src=" https://www.nondomesticmama.com/1bp/-1Zcs9oBbpGs/TZoGreVUCZI/AAAAAAAAAJU/AzSEldeMstE/s1600/nhwp10c.jpg "></a>

Today is "No Housework Day"! Welcome to the first annual No Housework Party blog hop hosted by the Coolest Non-Domestic Mamas on the Block …Jenn and Rachael!

Whether you never lift a domestic finger or you are a dedicated domestic goddess…we’re giving you the day off !




Link up any of your housework related blog posts.
Here are a few writing prompts. Get creative!
-How are you celebrating No Housework Day?
-What do you do instead of housework?
-Tell us about that time you tried to clean something and it backfired on you.
-How did you become a Domestic Goddess / Domestically challenged
-Share your housekeeping/organizing tips and tricks
-Confess your mess…be brave and show us pictures of your messy house
-Tell us your most/least favorite chore
-Why you hate/love housework
-How to you make housework fun (or at least bearable)
-Do your kids help with the housework?

Link up here or at Coolest Family on the Block Thursday April 7 through Sunday April 10 to party!


If for some reason you don't see the link up here let me know and I will be happy to add your link!





Want to post this linky on your blog? Click below to grab the code!
(Please include a “No Housework Party” button with a link back in your post!)
get the InLinkz code


You can also party with us on Twitter at #nohousework where @coolfamilyblog and @nondomestic will be tweeting links and housework related quotes throughout the day :)

The Dreaded Dishes

When I was a little girl I remember wanting to help my mother wash the dishes so badly.  She would sadly tell me I was still too little and I would have to wait until I was older.  I would wish myself bigger and dream of the day that I could wash the dishes all by myself.

Every once in a while when my mom was feeling extra nice/insane/bored she would allow me to "play" wash the dishes in the kitchen sink.  I would pull up a stool and fill the sink full of water.  Then I would take a cup or two and she would squeeze a little soap into the water to make suds.  I would splish and spash in the water and pour it back and forth between the cups.

When the opportunity presented itself, and my mom was distracted by my younger sister or brother for a minute, I would add a squeeze more soap . . . ok half a bottle or so.  Now I had mountains of bubbles!  By the time she returned from changing my brother's diaper or pulling my sister back down off the bookself, I had created my masterpiece.  I would be soaked from head to toe (bonus no need for a bath that day) the kitchen floor would be flooded (it needed to be mopped anyway) and there would be bubbles splashed all over the walls and counter tops.  (I was thorough when I "cleaned!")

Right now I have a huge pile of dishes in the sink waiting for me.  There are several baskets of laundry screaming for my attention.  Toys are scattered across the floor.  I really should make a dent in clearing off the dining room table.  So, I am going to do the only logical thing I can think of and tell you about ten things I would rather be doing.  The dishes can wait . . .

Hosted by the Coolest Non-Domestic Mamas on the Block

You my dear readers, get to be part of something very special.  In celebration of this most glorious day of all days on the calendar Jenn from Coolest Family on the Block and I are teaming up to host the first annual No Housework Party!  Oh yes.  Not much will be different for Jenn and I since we avoid housework every chance we get…but for those of you dedicated domestic goddesses…we’re giving you the day off!

 This Thursday, April 7, stop by and link up your post.

Yesterday we took down the Christmas tree.

Yes, I am aware of the date.

Yes, I know when Christmas was.

Yes, I have had plenty of time to do it.

To be honest I just didn't feel like it.

This month I am participating in the SITS 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge.
Day #1: Write an Elevator Pitch for Your Blog
" An elevator pitch is a short summary used to quickly and simply define a product, service, or organization and its value proposition. The name 'elevator pitch' reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver the summary in the time span of an elevator ride, or approximately thirty seconds to two minutes." - Wikipedia