Is your mother-in-law a neat freak?

My mother-in-law is a bit of a neat freak, and some of it has rubbed off on DH. She had 8 kids, was up at 5am and spent all day doing laundry and baking and after every meal swept the kitchen floor. That's okay in her house but I hope she wouldn't expect it in mine. I have told my husband not to expect me to be like her unless he is going to be like my Dad. And we all know that will NEVER happen. The woman has been "busy" all her married life. She is always doing something. I have seen my brother-in-law, DH's brother, go at it pretty good too. The way he cleans up his kitchen. Not just wiping down counters but with the speed of an Indy racer. My mother-in-law rarely visits. One of the things that bothers me and the kids because we are expected to go down there every summer (an 18-22 hour drive which the kids and I hate) but no one from his family ever comes up to see us. The girls have decided they will only go if we can fly and DH says we can't afford for all four of us to fly. So somtimes he goes alone, by plane. Anyway, when she does come here, if I remember correctly because it's been so long, she will do the cleaning. She is fully aware of my illness and doesn't hold it against me. If she wants the place looking clean as a whistle than she can do it herself!

Hi PackratsHouse! Congratulate your daughter for us! My mother-in-law used to be a neat freak. In the first few years of being married to her son, I would do a full house cleaning before any of her visits. I really expected to be put thru the white glove test, lol. Twenty three years later, I don't worry about it too much. Everytime we would visit her house, it always looked like something you'd see in a magazine. Until all the family arrived anyway. Five minutes after arrival, hers looked pretty lived in too, lol. It wasn't until we all pitched in to help her move that I saw just how much even she misses. I didn't say a word when I found spider webs under her corner shelves. I just wiped them down & packed them. Sure did take the pressure off me though! By the time my daughter graduated & the whole family showed up, I had the house clean but with 20+ people in our small place, you couldn't tell I had done anything, but I knew it was clean. My advice is to understand that you can't make everyone happy. This is your daughters day & you should all just enjoy it. If mom-in-law wants to clean up after everyone, let her, and just say thanks for the help. :)

Funny enough, its actually my father in law thats the picky neat freak....nothing can be out of place, fortunately they don't come over that often and when they do...if they don't like it, they can leave lol!! my house, my rules...and while my house is neat, i am sure that he thinks its a mess, but he can blame his son for that lol!

It's not my MIL but my actual Mother, she's a HUGE neat freak. I usually just tell her to leave whatever it is that's bothering her coz it's fine, it's not bothering me & since it's my house, i can have the odd magazine, piece of paper or dirty dish - it's not a bad thing! I don't think my house is a pigsty if i have something sitting out of place & i think my Mum is finally coming to terms with the fact i'm not a neat freak like she is & she cant keep trying to make me that way.