There is a difference between "mess" and "dirty."
i cant even live with "dirty" even tho I been forced to many times , when u live certain place that is just the way of life, and aint really shit u can do about it, but as far as my folks house when I was a kid, etc it was neveer dirty only messy.
If that dont make sense ill explain it a lil better.
dirty is like...unsanitary. like, you got a dog or a cat and they piss or shit on the rug and you just put a paper towel over it and let it dry and leave it like that (That sounds nutz but i known ppl who treated it that way and thought that was "cleaning" it up.) There is dust and dirt in every corner, on the floor, under every table and chair, etc. It never ever ever ever gets vaccumed or sweeped up. There is pet stains on everything, the couch , the chairs, the rug, the floor, etc. There is cookin grease on the back of the stove and the kitchen wall behind it, cuz it never gets wiped off after its done so theres a layer of the shit there. It stanks like ass in the house, smells stale, musty, smokey, like animals and dirty pet shit. The floors never get cleaned up in the kitchen so they all sticky and dirty and shit. The counters tops is sticky and covered with stains, etc. dirty dishes covered with food sauce and shit, laying out for weeks til they get mold on them.
that house, could have everything in place. Not a thing out of order. But it is filthy, dirty as shit and i would go insane tryna live there. I seen my share of houses like this , in the projects alot of ppl dont take care of their home at all and even when u get outside the hood there is some peopel who just dont clean, ever , and are content to bitch about it but never to clean it. I know somebody who will just let the animals piss and shit on the rug until its so dirty its unbearable then just throw it out after about a year and get a new one, but its always covered again a few mos later and all disgusting n nasty again, they would rather do that than keep the pets outisde or walk them on the regular, and the idea of renting a steam cleaner , etc, never occur to them.
"Messy" is just a regular house that is clean, like sanitary wise it aint all dirty and infected...There might be dirty dishes pile in the sink, there might be clothes layin on the floor or the cushions of the couch is pulled out, or a plate or dish here or there but the house itself is clean, the counters tops are wiped off, the floor is vaccumed or mopped or sweeped, in the bathroom shit might be a lil cluttered but the tub is clean and the toilet is clean,etc.
For me it is more important to have a house that I dont feel disgusted to lay down on the carpet and play with the cat, than it is to have a houe where everthing is in perfect place. If i can lay on the couch and not worry about gettin fleas, thats cool. There might be a sheet on the couch becuz someone slept on it last night and didnt clean it up yet, but its a clean sheet and the couch is clean and it dont smell or nothing like that, u feel me?
I grew up 1 of 3 kids so we made alot of messes. the house was always cluttered up or messy in some way even tho my moms was stayin home with us , her concern was with shit like mopping the floor, vaccuming shit, making sure everything is sanitary and clean and not disgusting or filthy, and if there is some toys laying around or some shit like that, fine, pick your battles, you know?
Honestly This shit might sound a lil weird coming from me but I really like cleaning and I feel like its important that when I get a place with my man once we get section 8 for the baby and get our own lil apartment or house or w/ever, I will be proud to keep it clean. becuz i want him to be able to say "Yea, my girl takes care of the house. she is a great cook and she keep the house clean too." i feel like its nasty when a dude be like "My girl is dirty as hell, she dont clean the house for shit, she dont take care of the house its sloppy and dirty as fuck in there" I feel like damn, I mean i kno its mad sexist of me to think that way but i just feel like, for me personally I am proud to be a good house keeper and good cook and take care of my man any way that i can. dont feel like i GOTTA , i just LIKE to do it. I am old fashioned. Italian and Hispanic women especially , alot of times get raised that we need to take care of our man and its just how I always been. I enjoy doin it and part of doin it is to make a nice environment for us to be in together.
I worked as a housekeeper for a few yrs too so I am good with it for sure I can clean a mean house and do it fast too, so while I know that once this baby comes there is gonna be some messes that i just gotta accept, i still take pride in keep the house halfway decent. I also knew kids whose house was always like, perfect, and i saw how unhappy it made them of how they always had to clean up everything perfect, and could neveer just haev some fun and make a mess once in a while, their mothers was like straight crazy about it, and that kinda shit aint no fun for a kid, it fucks them up and give em the neurotic shit. So I aint gonna be a bitch about it, aint gonna be one of them "OMG!! NOO! NO SHOES IN THE LIVING ROOOOOOMMMMM! NO EATING IN THE LIVING ROOM!" type of moms....But i will keep a clean house and i feel honestly like I cant rest and be totally comfortable when the space around me is mad messy. It makes me feel like shit is outta order, like inside i feel cluttered when its clutter around me so i like to just make it halfway decent, tidy up and make it so that its just bearable so that i can sleep easy. I got a laid back approach to it, the shit im most concerned with is makin sure that my baby can crawl on the carpet without me feelin worried that its dirty and gross, so as long as the house CLEAN and SANITARY then a little bit of clutter or mess is OK, as long as it aint dirty mess and is only clutter mess. u feel me?
I just hope the tent in the garden will be comfy enough for you all 
but then again i enjoy life more when i have a nice tidy house! So im dammed if i do and dammed if i don't!
). My house is small, so that helps too. I just enjoy tidying up. It helps me feel well emotionally.
I love ratties. RIP