The Battle of the odors

So the incident at church reminds me of my life in general. I pretty much prioritize cleaning based on whether there is anything in the house that smells. I wake up and immediately run down the list......smelly laundry, diaper garbage, dog smells, bathroom smells, kitchen smells, smelly socks left on bedroom floor smells......it is a race to put out the fires that did not get taken care of the night before or did not occur until the morning. Smells pretty much trump clutter or untidy piles in this house. I spent much of the weekend thinking about how having eight kid living at home is much like fraternity house living (not speaking from experience but from observation- Karin the ex party animal - just kidding) or basic chaos. At least the bottom five do not seem to realize how much work they create for themselves leaving just one thing where it doesn't belong. Multiply this by several days of leaving things lay times ten (everyone realistically does some of this) and this translates into chaos. Ironically I will be sort of sad when the house starts to stay clean for longer periods of time. At least the house smells less than it could with the odor chase going on but even then I have to wonder.......