Missing Keys

M has been searching for a set of keys for a couple of weeks. There is some question as to who had them last. He insists that C used them to get into my car for something and didn't give them back. She says no. He's even asked me a couple of times if I've seen them....really, do you have them?....NOPE!

Don't tell anyone, but his Suburban starts without the key. So, he doesn't really need the keys unless, as I'm guessing, there is some type of important work key on there or something to explain his frenzy to find them.

C has lost her house key. Both older kids have keys to the house and they are needed to be carried daily now since my parents bring them home and let themselves into the house. (My parents have a key, too, just in case.) Z misplaced his last week, too, but he found his. Small miracle, too.... What is so hard about using the key and then putting it immediately back into the backpack?

The point to all this lost key talk is this? I would see the lost keys as an opportunity to clean and get organized while looking for them. C had a texting war of words with her dad yesterday starting out with her request for a replacement key. (She had gotten locked out of the house when M and I were both gone.) M came home to look for her key himself in her room. Uh, oh. He wasn't happy with all the junk underneath her bed--the pot calling the kettle black. I came upon him looking for his keys again later that afternoon. Instead of him just finally putting away all the crap next to his bed while looking for his key, he looked through it and then put it all back on the floor!!!! I asked him why he didn't just put stuff away? I asked him if he didn't know what to do with the stuff?!!! I've been waiting for him to do something with it all, but my patience has run out. He said to me that he would "deal with it later, but for now he was just looking for his keys."

I'm not perfect. I let stuff pile up. OMG, though..... There comes a time when you have to get things done. I've given him months to deal with his stuff and it still sits. I've begged, cajoled, and nagged for him to go through stuff and find a place for it all.

I am so torn about this and other things. If I put stuff away, he's going to be mad at me. If I continue to bug him about doing stuff around the house, he's going to be mad at me. If I let things sit, I'm going to unhappy and mad.

I think a lot about this and other things as one might guess since I write about it constantly.

Part of our problem is that this has always been our problem. It' why NOTHING ever gets done. We can never agree on anything from paint colors to furniture placement. He's way too involved in stuff like this. Gulp... He also doesn't like to be bossed by me.

I admit to having this philosophy: I think of the house as my domain. I think I should be able to have things the way I want them. Leave the decorating to me, as one might say. I also think everything should be picked up and have a place. (This doesn't mean that I expect a spotless house. Far from it!!!!) Most of my friends and people I read about have this type of situation. I want M to butt out and just do the improvements as I want and need.

Shocked?!

At this point, though, I'd probably be willing to go along with any decisions he would make as long as he would make them and stuff would be put away. Black walls? No problem? Mirror on the ceiling, why not?! Pool table instead of a dining room table? Sounds wonderful! Just get it done.....