No career moves in that direction

There is a family in our lives that has different standards of "housekeeping" than I do. My house is often messy, I get upset when I start seeing dog furballs rolling around and mad at myself when I wait too long between vacuuming. There are nights when the dishes are not done. I'm not perfect.

But this house is beyond my comprehension. The house itself should have been torn down when the family bought it. But instead they have spent 6 years "rehabbing" it. The village has had to step in and demand professionals help with certain pieces of the project. So as it stands, the house has new siding and looks okay at a glance.

We went inside today after an egg hunt and I came home furious. It is just so unfair and I think they are doing their children an injustice by letting them live in such squalor. The kids don't know how to take care of their things because there is nowhere safe to put them that they will not get stepped on. It's not a matter of no cash flow, there has been plenty of money dumped into garage sale junk over the years. And it's not time, the husband has entire summers off of his job to throw into remodeling.

Some things that drive me crazy-
*They remodeled the kitchen with IKEA cabs and took an extra 2 years to finish one strip of tile above the countertops. The framing at the doorways and windows is all exposed, they never put trim on any of it. So it's choppy drywall that's getting ripped to shreds.
*Clutter, Clutter,Clutter. It's not a huge house, but get a grip on buying junk you don't need, can't find, and is broken. Just because it's cheap or free doesn't mean it belongs in your home.
*One bedroom has been declared unuseable after a sizeable splinter on one child's foot. So they moved everything out and bought new laminate flooring for that room the next day. That was 3 years ago. Now that room is covered in old grungy rugs which are covered in every piece of junk you can imagine. Including things well outgrown by their children. And it's never been vaccuumed because it's covered in junk. Not even trash like wrappers, just "stuff." So now their kids share a room and it drives the son and daughter crazy, because they do each have their own room, it's just "unuseable."
*Throughout the entire house there are chunks of plaster falling off the walls and ceiling, exposed wood framing, no trim on any of the windows that have been replaced, exposed electrical boxes and none of the floors meet the walls. There is dirt, dust, animals dander from the dog and hampster and crumbs hanging out in every crevice and you can see it all sitting there.
*Nothing looks "clean." I know from having an older home that spraying some Swiffer type product on your tub will not get you anywhere. To clean my tub I have to use a combination of bleach powders, a stiff scrub-brush, a toothbrush and soft scrub. Not to mention a lot of elbow grease. Nothing has been cleaned with any amount of effort. Ever. She has a few times mentioned she has never really washed the hardwood floors, or does it once a year. Absolutely disgusting, especially looking at the floor.

So I guess all this feels good to type out because I can home so angry I wanted to scream at everyone in the house. And it hit me that I am very happy I am not a social worker or someone who deals with kids that have been abused or neglected in any way. I just cannot handle the news when I hear a parent was horrible to their child or some injustice has been done. I definitely could not come home from a day of walking into a house like theirs, saying "the kids are loved, there is food in the pantry, all is okay" and in good conscience let it continue. I wanted to tear into the mom next door and tell her it's NOT okay to live like that but I didn't. So I guess I'm not brave enough to speak my mind on the subject openly either.

Whew, it feels good to get all that out. Now off to go clean something!