Hee. Only a little kid gets punished with risotto.

I was thinking the same thing.

it is pretty hard to do a bad job unless you have vision problems or are paying no attention

I think it's the second part that gets people in trouble.

In conclusion, I want a dishwasher.

Back when I had roommates (and by far the lowest tolerance for mess among us), I used to start cleaning the kitchen in plain view during quiet times without saying anything, and eventually a sort of herd mentality kicked in and they'd start helping. I always had to be the one to get things started, but at least they didn't feel comfortable just sitting there and watching me work. Self motivation works much better than being told to do a chore by someone else—they'd feel good about pitching in later on rather than being resentful about me bossing them around.

Self motivation works much better than being told to do a chore by someone else—they'd feel good about pitching in later on rather than being resentful about me guilting them into cleaning.

I would much rather be directly asked to do something than passive-aggressively guilt-tripped into it. YMMV.

I would much rather have asked them upfront to do some cleaning, but that almost never actually worked when I tried it.

I think the reason I let dishes pile up so long is that I am a total perfectionist about cleaning them, so it takes me awhile. I also have not figured out how not to get totally wet from my neck to crotch while washing dishes. I am sure other people do not, but I don't understand. I know at least part of it is having short arms, large breasts, and being fat, but still, other people do it.

I still have some combination of passive aggression/aggressive aggression to get stuff down around here, but I use [link] to at least quantify how far ahead I am on chores. (It also helps that he gets chore points for things like driving me everywhere and talking to strangers.)

I think the reason I let dishes pile up so long is that I am a total perfectionist about cleaning them, so it takes me awhile.

You know, I started washing the dishes every night before bed (thank you, FlyLady), and it is SO GREAT to only have to do a small amount every night now, instead of both sides of the sink piled high with dishes (and dirty pots on the stove). It takes 5 minutes now. I love it.

FTR, there are some nights I don't do to the dishes, because I'm the boss of me and I would rather read a book than wash dishes. But I think 9 nights out of 10 I wash them. And the nights when I have 2 days' worth of dishes to do suddenly SUCK. I can't believe I'm actually sticking to that habit. I should probably add another.

I also have not figured out how not to get totally wet from my neck to crotch while washing dishes.

I don't get *totally* wet, but I generally get my shirt pretty wet. I had to stop putting on my nightshirt before I washed the dishes, because I would just have to change into a new DRY nightshirt when I was done.

he gets chore points for things like driving me everywhere

Aha! Light dawns!

I lived with a couple grody roommates right out of dorms, and I was really lazy, so I did enough to maintain and not make worse, but it kind of burnt me. The last quarter of our trio, that had better sense than trying to live with us (took me a year to work out, she was more effectively asocial for a codependent) got fed up one day and got me to help cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom.

Motherfucker! The room wasn't beige. It was one of those things you had to finish when you started, because half cleaned reminded you of how much dirt you'd been ignoring before.

I admit, I'm a slacker when I'm alone--both my mother and sister are manic cleaners, and I...I don't have the energy and I haven't worked out how to integrate intermittent professional cleaning into my routine. But I do need to. I really should.

Who in LA has a cleaner they'd recommend. How does it work? Do they do weekends? You need to be there? (Jamaican cleaning works *way* differently, and we had a helper Jamaican-style even in England and Canada).

It is a sad day for my city-- Eastman Kodak is filing for bankruptcy.

You know, I started washing the dishes every night before bed (thank you, FlyLady), and it is SO GREAT to only have to do a small amount every night now, instead of both sides of the sink piled high with dishes (and dirty pots on the stove). It takes 5 minutes now. I love it.

I should go back to Flylady. I did it for a year, and then just couldn't take it anymore. Not sure why.

My habit for this month is putting my bus pass in its little case and in the pocket of my purse. I have such a habit of tossing everything loosely in my purse.

I feel like I need to go back to childhood and learn how to be a grown-up.