The President of the United States is Coming Over!

With three kids under the age of 5 and me as the Queen Bee, things tend to get a little hectic around the Allen household when company is coming to visit. It's a huge ordeal when one is trying to make it look as though no one actually lives in the house. Chris has actually referred to me as his cleaning nazi wife. I admit that he has a point. But for me, I just can't have it any other way. I realize that I am a little obsessive-compulsive about cleanliness, which is probably a worse character trait than being a bit on the messy side, but I can not have peace and relax with company in my house unless everything is cleaned up, put away, and presentable. Admittingly there is a bit of pride involved here, and I am not condoning my behavior, but what woman doesn't want her house to look nice when company arrives? It's just those last minute, over-the-top details that tend to cause some stress. I almost always end up sitting on the couch nursing Lydia while commanding Christopher oh so nicely to "Open the blinds!" and "Clean the fingerprints off of the kitchen table!" and "Did you close the laundry room door?". I have even told him to straighten the mobile on top of the baby swing. (I know...I'm a little OCD.) Then there are other things that I frankly do not trust Chris to do up to my standards that I end up rushing around the house to do myself like making the beds, fluffing the pillows, and making sure the curtains are pulled back nicely. I even made a little game for the kids to do while I clean so that they do not drag any toys out (because remember, no one actually lives here). They sit and look out the front window and let us know as soon as they see a car pull in the driveway. They actually enjoy this quite a bit since they are usually greatly anticipating the guest's arrival. After all, it is the President of the United States who is coming over! At least that is what Christopher always says. And, no, the words do not come out very kindly. I guess people don't really like to be commanded to pick things up that don't really matter in the first place. Who would have thought??

I didn't quite grasp exactly how crazy my behavior was until today when Ashlyn pounces into the living room while I am feeding Lydia and announces that she has cleaned up her's and Hailey's rooms. She said, "I put all of our toys away and even made the beds." I was a little shocked at her statement so I said, "Really? You cleaned up all the toys AND made both of the beds!" "Yes," she proudly proclaimed, "I am pretending that company is coming over!"