Housewife Fail?

I was talking to a friend yesterday about how bored I am being a SAHW. She told me if she was home all day her house would be spotless. Well, geez, then I must be kind of sucky at this whole housewife thing. I took a quick scan around me. My house, while conventionally clean, is not spotless. I have piles of clean laundry in the corner of my bedroom; my bookcase hasn't seen a thorough dusting in months; and my fridge could probably use a scrub down. Worst of all ... I haven't removed all of the Christmas decor and tree.

The odd thing is I'm normally a tad OCD in cleaning, especially since we moved into our house. Seeing things out of place makes my anxiety level go up, and God forbid my husband leaves bread crumbs on the counter. Apparently it's something I've inherited naturally through my mom. In fact, she recounted this story to me over the holidays: When I was about 5 years old I was playing with the boy next door at my house. When he touched the end table, I smacked his hands away, and exclaimed, "Don't touch that - my mom just cleaned!!"

I then realized it was unrealistic to expect an immaculate house 24/7, because with unlimited time, it's easier to stretch out the cleaning in bits and pieces throughout the week instead of doing a huge Sunday cleansweep. I shouldn't feel like a housewife failure if the bathroom mirror has water streaks or a pile of paper builds up on the dining room table. Now I try not to beat myself up about the little imperfections - whether it be about the tidiness of my house or just ... me in general.