Disaster Warning

I have a question: Why is it embarrassing to admit that you have a clean house?

Last night while Visiting Teaching the sister that we visit apologized for the state of her house. Her fiance was moving his stuff into the house in preparation for their nuptials on Saturday. The TV cabinet was a work in progress and there were a few wedding gifts here and there, but otherwise it looked clean. My companion said that she had kids so her house was a disaster. I said that my house was much cleaner that it was before I had kids, but it was still a disaster. We all laughed and moved on with the visit.

But here's the thing, my house isn't really a disaster. It's lived in, yes. There is currently three days' worth of junk mail on the counter (next to the trashcan), a pile of waiting-to-be-folded laundry on my bedroom floor, and a scattering of Cooper's toys on the floor near his toy basket, but overall it's pretty clean. And it's true, my house is cleaner now that it was before the boys were born, mostly because they're into everything and I'm trying to keep them safe. From my experience lots of other houses look like mine.

So why do we want to out-do each other with who has the messiest house? Is this a competition you really want to win? Are we trying to prove that we're human and normal and not intimidating because of our many talents and skills? Or are we afraid someone will drop by unannounced and see dishes in the sink, the laundry half-folded on the couch, and the nest of blankets in the middle of the floor that your kids have been jumping in (are my kids the only ones that do this?) and judge us for it? So we have to prepare them in advance so that reality looks clean and tidy compared to the scenario of destruction we've painted in advance?

What are we afraid of?