My house has been a mess since I got married (2013), which was not long before we had our first child (a 2-year-old mother with No. 3 on the way). Yesterday, when my husband invited my in-laws to visit me for an hour, I went upstairs, I had a panic attack, and I couldn't go down to visit him. I'm terribly ashamed of my house, and I hate that I don't want ANYONE to come. It's so hard to admit. Here are some of the factors that brought us here:

1. My husband and I are entrepreneurs who started our own business after losing our jobs the same week we got married.

2. I was depressed at the time and didn't know about it. We were expecting our first child and were not financially stable. I didn't have the energy to clean up, or even to unpack my things completely. Just enough energy to focus on business and survival.

3. On top of that, I'm a little ashamed to admit that I grew up a spoiled only child and probably got out of cleaning. I have never studied this discipline, and sometimes I hear my 15-year-old self dissuading myself from doing anything to improve our home.

4. As the children appeared and the business grew, the house became less of a priority for me... which is sad. For a while I became obsessed with work. Something I'm also working on. I really like what I'm doing, but I understand that this can't be my life, otherwise I'll go crazy.

5. Now we have two children (4 and almost 3) with a child on the way, as well as two foster children who never visit me, and I can't help but blame myself for our house, which is inconvenient to be in, and I'm at a loss. Now that I'm pregnant, I realize that everything smells. I understand that the floor is DISGUSTING. I never really finish washing the dishes every time I do it. I find it so embarrassing that I don't have this housecare thing because I'm a woman. And the feminist in me wants to say that I don't have to conform to gender standards, but deep down it greatly affects my pride and self-esteem. Definitely more than my husband's, because he doesn't seem to care, or he's learned to put up with it.

6. Oh, we're both creative people and naturally disorganized, but I can't live like this anymore.

Well, look, I used to do business with my wife, too, and we didn't have time to take care of the house. After a while, we saved up money for Affordable Home Remodeling, and when our business began to grow, we had no time for our house. Since we had money, we concluded that we needed to hire people who would clean the house. Yes, I had to spend money to pay for their work, but everything was always beautiful at home. Sometimes we even had to call plumbers, well, almost every day we had a cleaner working, thanks to which our house looked lovely. Try this thing also. So good luck to you!