Does it alternate generations?

My mom was never much of a house keeper.  Counters were for piling up with stuff.  Tables were covered with this and that.  And we won't mention the dust or the floor.  Her attitude about stuff tended to be:  Don't throw it away; you might need it.  A true child of the Great Depression.

I am the exact opposite.  It's the same obsession, I suppose, that makes me go nuts when parishioners don't put the hymnals back all facing the same direction AND with the ribbons inside, thank you very much.  Is that so hard to do??? Anywho, I DESPISE it when my desk gets cluttered; I LOATHE stuff sitting out on the Kitchen counter.  I absolutely enjoy walking through the house in the evening when every blasted thing has been put into its place, the kitchen is spic and span ready for the morrow, the coffee and tea all ready to brew.  To me it just makes life so much simpler to keep stuff clean and neat; and whenever possible in the kitchen, to clean as you go.  And if you don't need it, GET RID OF IT.  Why keep the junk?  Long ago Cindi and I were infected with the Don Aslett bug.

But my children... They are more like Mom's generation!  So Cindi and I come home from our workout at the Y, lunch, and bit of grocery shopping.  The kitchen is a mess.  David had made himself lunch.  David had not cleaned up lunch.  He told me later, in deference to my frowning brow, that he was GOING to clean up, but wanted to eat it while it was hot.  No problem with that - I like my food hot too.  The hotter the better.  So he proceeds to "clean up" after himself.  I shook my head once in dismay the first time he "finished up," so he came back and wiped the counter that he had spilled stuff on.  He did clean the stove top (just not the handle of the stove with a nice spot on it from whatever he made himself).  Sigh.  I hope Meaghan is a clean fanatic because otherwise I'm afraid to see what the inside of their house will look like after David's been turned loose on it for a bit.  It will no doubt be a microbe treasure trove.  Now, Bekah likes to clean, but doesn't seem to have a compulsion to have everything in its place.  Lauren, like my mom, seems to believe counters are for filling up.  Sigh.  Where did I go wrong?

Bekah laughed today:  "Usually it's the mom you worry about your house being clean for, but we're going to have to panic when dad comes over and starts cleaning."  Darned tooting.