Before I homeschooled, I kept a very clean house.  I even have pictures and video to prove it.  But then came the schoolbooks, craft supplies, posters, holiday decorations (because the schools have them, don't they?), bulletin board displays, etc. Mary Pride talks about bulletin board displays in her book, "Schoolproof".  She says they "give precious little information in a precious huge format."  I think I was motivated by the appearance of my daughter's kindergarten, which she attended for two months.  And have you ever seen a neat and orderly public school classroom?  I did try to keep things organized at first, but there's just no way to make this stuff look good.  I challenge even Martha Stewart to make a school area that looks like it's just an extension of a family home!  And then she has to let 3 or more elementary kids in for 4 hours a day!

So it went downhill from there.  My best friend's husband even commented on the difference.  (Thanks, Stephen!   )  

Then we moved to the country and got goats, dogs, chickens, etc. Forget about neatness!  Every piece of wire, every stick of lumber, anything that can be used to shore up a cage or fence has to be saved.

Now that we're done homeschooling (theoretically, because learning becomes a way of life), we're doing foster care.  Back to storing baby bottles, playpens, strollers, walkers, highchairs....SIGH.  Though I will admit, the thought of a DCS worker coming to visit or bring a child is a great motivation for cleaning!

Today I came across an idea that I think sums it up.  This is from a book on country living, "Creatures and Contentments", by Barbara Webster, published in 1965.  She said, "I have learned that neatness is a pinnacle, a split second in time.  You are always working up to it, or receding from it."  Ain't it the truth!