AN EXPERIMENT OF SORTS

I decided last night that I was going to try something. Something that was going to be very hard for me to follow through with as I am a self proclaimed serial picker uper (I know, it is a made up title.)

Let me explain.

I have a serious issue with random "stuff" just laying around the house. Having four kids makes this little issue of mine very hard to control - I am sure you can imagine. I am constantly finding blankets laying on the stairs, matchbox cars all over my kitchen floors, random toys strewn throughout every room in the house (even though we have a very nice playroom that is supposed to house all the toys). You know, all normal stuff you would find in a house where children reside. This I deal with silently as heck, they are kids, and what kind of Mom would I be if I constantly ran around the house after them yelling, "pick that up!" or "put that away" or "you kids are making a mess!" A pretty crumby one I think. So I spend my time walking around the house constantly picking up and putting things back in their places, and I am just fine with that.

But the Mr, is a whole other story. This sort of behavior is simply not acceptable coming from a grown adult. Nope, not at all. Don't get me wrong, I love him to pieces, but he has a serious problem when it comes to picking up after himself, and he is also sort of a clutter bug. He won't admit to it - actually he is adamant that he is nothing of the sort. But I have proof that can tell you all he is wrong, so very, very wrong: Mail piles up next to the computer (stuff he goes through, then leaves right where it is; garbage or not.) When he comes home on a business trip, his suitcase sits and sits somewhere on the main floor until I take care of it. His closet is a complete disaster, which houses clothes from the 80's and other random clothing that for some reason he can't part with. When he tries something on and decides he does not like it, it gets thrown on the floor in a pile. The pile grows and grows until I can't stand it any longer and I pick it up. When he gets undressed at night his dirty clothes fall right next to the laundry basket. Not in it where they belong, just next to it.

You get the idea, no?

Now I must say that this post is not meant to be dedicated to griping about my husbands faults, or my children's issues with picking up after themselves (as kids will be kids) - 'cause I have many faults of my own. Many. It's just that this particular "thing" drives me a certain sort of crazy that is beyond anything else.

SO, on to my experiment.

The Mr. came home from a business trip last night and plopped his suitcase down right next to the stairs. Same old same old. The difference this time around is that I am not going to pick it up, unpack the dirty clothes, put them in the hamper, and make sure that the suitcase gets put away. Instead I am going to leave it right there to see how long it sits until he realizes I am not going to take care of it. When he comes to this realization, I am hoping he will take care of it himself.

My bet is I am going to be waiting a long time, possibly until his next business trip when he will need the suitcase and be forced to take care of it.

This is all sort of my fault, as for the past 10 years I have taken care of his suitcases, and all the mail that piles up, and his clothes that end up in mounds on his closet floor.

Old habits die hard, don't they?