Tidy rooms...

My wife regularly asks my daughter Debbie to tidy her bedroom. Debbie's response is always either, "I did," or "It is tidy." Here are two photos of the room after my daughter insists it's tidy.

After many years, I still haven't cracked the code. I figure "It is tidy" means one of these:

1. it's good enough for me

2. this matches the definition of "tidy"

3. don't tell me what to do.

To be sure, number 3 applies as a general rule to any suggestion my wife makes to my daughter. "Don't tell me what to do" is a given. But I've come to the conclusion that Debbie actually believes that a room qualifies as tidy even if the floor is covered in paper, empty water bottles, underwear, spilled cat litter, books, CDs, and overturned containers.

Look, my den is often messy. I freely confess it. But, during those times, I don't call it "tidy". Our bedroom is often a mess. (My wife doesn't follow the adage "let she who is without sin cast the first stone.") But I admit the fact.

Debbie's definition of "tidy" is far from my wife's (and mine, but I stay out of it.) There will never be a day when my wife will be able to look in Debbie's room and say, "My, your room is tidy."

And there is only one or two days a year when our bedroom is tidy, and it only stays that way for 24 hours. But that's another story.