not exactly a dirty protest, more a protest about dirt
i come from a long line of OCD-suffering clean freak women, of whom my mother is the worst. it's quite normal for her to be mopping the floors at 11p.m, for at least the third time that day. she has no pets and there is no need to mop, but she still does it. if you want to relax after a meal to let your food settle, forget it. as soon as the last forkful is in your mouth, you're expected to take your plate out, was and dry it and put it away.
christmas day was always the worst. we were not allowed to play with our toys until EVERY scrap of wrapping paper and tape had been put in the bin and our gifts sorted into piles to be taken upstairs. my mum has the cleanest house i've ever seen.
as you can guess, growing up in that house could be a right pain in the arse at times.
as a daughter, i'm fully expected to carry the Hyacinth Bucket gene, too. i do, sort of, but my OCD is more numerically based. i love to count things. if i'm in a building i've never been in before i will ALWAYS count the stairs. a jar of coins is like a magnet to me, i just have to sort and count them.
but where is the protest, you ask. well, if i'm tired, i see nothing wrong with leaving the supper dishes till morning. my bedroom floor doubles as a wardrobe. i tend to buy clothes that don't need to be ironed. my shelves will sometimes get dusty. because of this, my family have labelled me as dirty, my mother has been to my house 3 times in 4 years, as she knows she can't keep her mouth shut if the place isn't up to her ridiculously high standards and we'll have a massive row. my home isn't dirty, just untidy.
don't get me wrong, i do clean up. i've spent most of today blitzing the place from top to bottom. last night, i even had a stepladder in the shower, so i could scrub the tiles closest to the ceiling. i've just always believed that an obsessively clean house is a sign of a wasted life.

sorry mum.
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Sun 14 Nov 2010, 20:05, 7 replies)

I totally agree. My mother was exactly the same - I've been disowned now because I don't like housework.
(Freakmandu, Mon 15 Nov 2010, 7:34, closed)

i hate housework
but i have a little frenzy about once a week, when i put my music on really loud and clean everywhere.
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Mon 15 Nov 2010, 15:54, closed)

Hear hear.
If my mum had been less of a clean freak when I was growing up, my house would probably be a lot tidier right now. As it is, she ensured I developed a strong association between doing housework and wasting one's time.
( .Yeti., Mon 15 Nov 2010, 7:36, closed)

^that^
Although it starts over again when you move in with your partner, along with the nagging to do DIY, now i know what the old man went through for years.
(bROKEN aRROW PUA HVI Master, Mon 15 Nov 2010, 12:25, closed)

my aunt is almost as bad
my 2 cousins say it's like living in an expensive shop, you can look, but you mustn't touch.
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Mon 15 Nov 2010, 15:53, closed)

got home from a mini trip around the UK yest
to find mam had decided to blitz my room for no good reason

Living in filth ain't nice, but cleaning every nook and cranny when there's better things (healthier things) to be doing with your life is an issue
(cs192 is sucking on a Koala at, Mon 15 Nov 2010, 11:56, closed)

my mum did this while i was in hospital
she even tidied my *special* drawer.


i took the spare key off her.
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Mon 15 Nov 2010, 15:52, closed)