I'm a recovering control freak! Where I was once rigid, set in my ways and a complete perfectionist, a workaholic and (some {like my husband} would say) I was considered to be Obessesive/Compulsive.

The weird thing is I was only a control freak about cleaning . . . . and messes.

I know what it stems from. It's super easy to explain.

I grew up in a house where one parent smoked NON-STOP, in every single room of our home. There was no escaping the smoke, the ashtrays filled with ashes and forgotten buds, overflowing onto tables and counters.

It was disgusting and as vile as it sounds.

My other parent was a tobacco chewer. Which is on the other spectrum of disgusting and vile.

It drove me batty!

Once I moved out into my own space I noticed that I could not stand one single item of mine out of place. In addition, I cleaned like a person possessed! All the time.

When my husband and I started dating and he would come to my condo and stay over. He would wreak havoc with my nerve endings. He was so messy I could barely tolerate it. I would rarely let him come over to my condo for those reasons. He messed everything up. He just laughed it all off in good humor (thank heavens).

When we married and bought a new house, we both worked so very much we were hardly ever home to mess anything up. When I decided to become a SAHM, I could really keep up with the household chores and our home was as sparkly clean as I loved it to be. (I literally spent hours a day cleaning).

Come eleven years later,

three children later,

a dog,

a rabbit,

a bird,

mud puddles,

cookie crumbs,

crayons, pencils and papers,

shoes and jackets left on every surface they are not supposed to be on.

Dust everywhere I hate it to be.

And I'm cured!

Literally, my brain can't keep up with the compulsive need to clean and I have caved. Caved I tell you!

I relish the messes now and just go with the flow of a household with growing children and a very messy adult man who happens to be my husband.

Secretly I can't wait for the day when I can eat off my floors again!