I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to say it: I’m not the greatest housekeeper. I have to admit, I’m okay with this state of being, to a point.

My mom and her friend were on the same topic of conversation just a couple days before: “My friend said her mother always told her that either you take time to clean or you take time to work on a project.”

That kind of stopped me in my tracks. I’m obviously not in denial about my housekeeping skills and I agree with philosophy of “will your children remember all the fun they had with you or your clean house?” but there has to be a happy medium.”

Most of us would agree that it would be nice if we were comfortable with people just stopping by unannounced or with little warning. Such happenings would be further enjoyed if we weren’t running around throwing things in closets and making excuses for the toilet and sink in the hall bathroom (“It’s my kids’ bathroom, I’m not at fault for its state”).

There are people who actually make a living writing books and blogs giving us a diagram to make our homes company ready. I follow them, but not necessarily their advice, because I choose not to obsess about it. I mean how many people drop by unannounced anyway?

Lately, though, my viewpoint that because I didn’t mess up the house alone, I shouldn’t have to clean it alone isn’t holding a lot of weight. I find the older my kids get and are out of the house, the more often I truly am the one who messed it up or used it the most.

There also comes a limit to the level of tolerance for even those of us with a numbed sense of messiness. When my husband and I start making jokes about whether or not we’d notice if he cleaned the beard trimmings out of the sink (“as a matter of fact, it would match the décor of the rest of the bathroom”), it’s time to clean the bathroom.

So yesterday, as I was about to jump into the shower, I decided to do just that. “Just the shower,” I told myself. “I’ll get to the rest later.” I like cleaning my non-tub shower in the nude just because I’m already wet and it keeps the water contained in the shower, which may be a stark (pun intended) picture for some of you (not as much as when my sister-in-law found out, via my blog, the day after talking to me one day that I was naked-cleaning when she called).

After the shower and my body were clean, I stepped out to the rest of the bathroom screaming for my attention. As the bathroom is not in view of a low-lying window, nor is my laundry hall where the cleaning supplies are, I went ahead and finished cleaning in the buff so as not to mess up clothes with cleaning detergents.

I was so pleased with my accomplishment, I figured my husband and daughter would be ecstatic. Neither of them noticed. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, because my daughter didn’t mention its advanced state of horror after being at college the past few weeks.

So today, as I observed the kitchen floor, I realized if I’m going to clean, I should just do it for me and since no one else seems to care or chooses not to notice (that is up for debate), I don’t have to do it all at once.

Sweep today, mop tomorrow – if I feel like it.

Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Covington. She is committed, maybe, to cleaning one thing at a time. You can also read more of her writing and her daily blog on her website livingwithgleigh.com or on Facebook at “Living with Gleigh.” Her column is available every week at maplevalleyreporter.com under the Lifestyles section.