(December 21st)
Since I first wrote this post last week, I took an entire day off from work and did NOT clean my house from top to bottom. Of course, my daughter did NOT return home from her day at the sitter's and did NOT destroy my clean oasis in mere moments... but it was completely, utterly, 100% mess-free... for about 15 minutes!
Let's start what I promise will be a dirty, nay, filthy post by coming clean...
I have not NOT (notice the double negative there? sometimes I confuse even myself on "Not Me! Mondays") cleaned my house since Halloween.
Cleanliness is one of the casualties
of my life as a working mom.
Tuesdays: Bathrooms
Wednesdays: Kitchen
Thursdays: Floors
Fridays: Bedrooms
Saturdays: Dust... everywhere
Sundays: Day of Rest (as God intended, and Mom needed)
Visitors to my house used to comment how neat and tidy everything was... emphasis on was. These days, not so much.
I do NOT
hate to clean.
PERIOD.
The week before I gave birth to G, I did not go on a torrent of nesting, cleaning bits and pieces of my home no one-- including DH or
myself-- had ever noticed were dirty in the first place. But almost as soon as I came home from the hospital, I lost all ability... all desire... to keep even a presentable home.It's a miracle my newborn G wasn't swallowed up by a dust bunny, or at the very least, develop strong allergies because of them.
When my maternity leave ended and I went back to work, things at home did not get even dirtier. Toilets went uncleaned for weeks at a time. The carpet became so disgusting that I almost found myself asking DH to replace it as my one and only Christmas gift. Sure, to unprying, non-judgmental eyes, it might have looked clean on the surface. But anyone who looked closely would have noticed dust upon crud about dirt. Disgusting.
Here is where I must
interject to sincerely thank my
friends and family for keeping quiet
as my house self-destructed.
Then (thanks in large part to my amazing counselor, "T") I had an epiphany: I didn't have to be infallible (leave that to the Pope). I just had to be me. I just had to do my best. I just had to align my priorities. Being a wife and mother came first, far above everything else. Then, it was being a good daughter, a good friend, a good employee. The more I evaluated my life and took stock of what was truly important, I realized that keeping an impeccable house wasn't worth the time or effort.
So I let go...
I did NOT stop doing laundry every Monday.
I did NOT stop cleaning toilets on Tuesday.
I did NOT stop cleaning altogether.
And in doing so, I did NOT find more quality time with DH; I did NOT find more opportunities to cuddle with G. I did NOT find myself loving my dirty, chaotic life.
But, my OCD remains...
And so...
to clean my house from top to bottom.
~cringe~
I do not figure I can knock out two months of cleaning in one day (oh, all right, I've only set aside half a day!). And I definitely do not figure in doing so, I can keep the vacuum (or is it vaccum? see, I spend so little time with that torture tool of housekeeping these days that I can't even remember how to spell it!) in the closet until Valentine's Day... at least.What can I say? Old habits do NOT die hard.
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on Monday, December 14, 2009
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It's not the cleaning for me, but the grocery shopping. I go when there is one cracker left in the pantry...and it's usually stale.
Cute post! All I can say is it will get easier. I've been there. I have to take a vacation day just to get my house thoroughly clean!
DITTO!!! hate cleaning. and yes, started when having kids. i think the whole "cleaning up after other people" really gets to you!!
have a great monday.
I clean...but FIVE MINUTES later, my boys have destroyed my efforts. I scrub my kitchen floor on my hands and knees, Cinderella style, then go to throw out the water from the bucket...and come back to find that my boys were already in there and I don't even want to know what those spots are.
It's a never-ending battle that I am constantly losing.
Oh SOOO with you on this one!
I love the little cartoon - seriously, if people didn't come over to my house, it would probably never see the bottom of my sweeper (see, I skip trying to spell vaccum/vacuum!) or the soft part of a Swiffer Duster! I think what I want for Christmas is a cleaning crew!
Oh my, I so hear this post. I love clean, I LOVE orderly. But, I love my husband and baby more :-)
So there are toys EVERYWHERE, there are bits of food under Z's highchair (reason I wish we had a dog!) so the darn junk mail accumulates on the table (ok, only for a few days before I go insane!). I ignore it and play with my son and he brings me all the joy I need! Your post says it all and helps to remind us ;-)
That being said, isn't it nice to get a good clean purge once in a while?
Hope you have a good day of cleaning ;-)
I hate laundry. HATE IT! My husband does most of it. Seriously, when are they going to come up with disposable clothing?
This is just a reminder that I need to get my house back in shape! It fell apart because we all got sick. I think I need to make a set schedule.
Hey, I'm with you sister! That's why the best gift ever was my cleaning lady!!! ;-)
Tamara
www.theunexperiencedmom.com
Good for you! Take that time to be with your family. Who needs a clean house! It's overrated!
I confuse myself on Not Me! Monday all the time! :)
What is it about having a bambino that makes normal cleaning go out the window? I'm glad I'm not the only one!
I wish i were the exception, but in truth i hate doing any type of cleaning... even self maintenance!
My mom hates cleaning too!
I am so with you on this...can bake every day but please, please do not ask me to clean up the mess!!! Thanks for vising and I'll be thinking of you come Valentine's Day when you have to vacuum! Kim
Aaaah so good to see there are others out there like me!!! I too am a working mom and I think my least favorite thing to do is to clean my house. I too go on cleaning binges and luckily my husband is very helpful in this area as well. Thanks for sharing!!!
I wish I could give up cleaning, even for just a day. I really should though, because it never looks any different even when I clean all day...the kiddos can mess anything up in five minutes flat!
I totally hate cleaning too!! Mike didn't let up on the Canadia thing all day!! LOL Ooops!
I'll keep things running...laundry, dishes. Everything else is gravy, done as often as we serve gravy. Meaning twice a year.
I try to NOT do any cleaning on the weekends, and just spend time with my family, but boy, I get slammed thru the week!
Great blog!
I can soooo relate! I do NOT still have a pumpkin on my porch (the rest of them got tossed, who knows why this one is still there!) and a ghost on my mantle. Forgotten little trinkets of Halloween, I keep staring at them, but haven't bothered to take them out to their rightful place in the shed yet.
Love your blog!
I did NOT hire a cleaning service after my 3rd was born!!!
I'm obsessed with a clean house but typically don't have one . . . there really are too many other things to do. I like the not NOT in the first sentence . . . will have to incorporate that sometime. The next time I don't not do something, that is.
How funny! Just yesterday, after returning home from a weeklong trip, I asked my husband about how expensive toilets were. Knowing exactly what I was thinking, he replied 'I think it's cheaper to clean them.'
First of all..thank you for visiting my blog.
I love your post, this is too funny! I am an OCD housekeeper. I was really bad before kiddo #1. It was soo bad that after she came home from the hospital I was doing laundry and housecleaning on day 2 being home. After kiddo #2 it all changed. My friends say "oh your house is soo clean". Well little do they know I have crumbs and goo in the fridge drawers, a dead carcass of a spider in the shadow box over my fish tank and dust bunnies the size of a rabbit behind my tv. ha! What's the point as long as the kids don't notice.
Hi Elizabeth,
thank you for your sweet comment on my blog. Your little girl is soo cute! Back at you about the cute cheeks!
I like my house to be clean, but did you see the filth I took a picture of in my recent review? Oy! Love your blog.
Dagmar
Clean your house...spend time with your kids...Such an easy decision until your doorbell rings with a surprise guest! :o)
You should ask Santa to bring a monthly housecleaner for Christmas. I have our house cleaned about once every three months, makes it much easier to maintain for me. A deep clean is hard to do with little ones around. I work too, therefore I subcontract cleaning duties as part of my pity party about working! :)
Don't worry I am a working mom and I am blessed to have my mom live with me right now and she has been cleaning for me!! I think I might hire a maid when she leaves! Life it too short to spend it cleaning:)
I feel overwhelmed! You just reminded me I have a load of wash that needs to be put into the dryer, the dryer has a pile of clothes that need to be folded and so does the couch. *sigh* I hope you have a spa treatment scheduled for the second half of your day! ;)
PS. Thanks for the comment. Those tutus were made but not by me. Since those pix though I have discovered how to make them via a youtube video and they are super easy... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7aSPMEn7S0
Great post, I love not me Monday. I need to take part in this....
Welcome to SITS! I'm hosting a giveaway for a Hamilton Beach 3 cup chopper....come on over. Comment that you are from SITS and get an extra entry.
I skipped hardcore cleaning for the first 2 years of Tyler's life because he was so cuddly and cute... I finally have it worked back in =)
I try. I really do. But my kids have it in for me apparently. And they are in cahoots with our friends and family. It's like the give them a baby in sky signal to come over RIGHT after they have absolutely wrecked the place. I tell people "You should have been here yesterday. It was clean then!" :o)
My best, Lynn
finally someone who understands! I mean, seriously! Who cares if there is a bit of dust (ok a lot of dust)
Thanks for "coming clean" and inspiring some laughs!
Hey thanks for stopping by my blog. I enjoyed reading your post and understand completely. The most important thing we can do is spend quality time with our children. So to heck with cleaning! :)
Hahahaha I loved this post!!! it was so honest and I think that is great!!! My husband has OCD so my house can never be dirty, he can't sleep if everything is not perfect. I wish I could let my house go sometimes!
Let it go! I'm with you. It needs to be somewhat picked up yes but you probably actually saved G from allergies by having a bit of dirt around. :)
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I so need a maid & an assistant to help me get everything organized.
So I could have written this, except I was not a neat, tidy person before Grace! You can imagine how down hill it went from the moment she was born! I did have a little spell of nesting, but it mainly involved cleaning out the closets (like 3 times!).
I can't even imagine sticking to that sort of schedule. OMgosh, I'm tired just thinking of all that work.
Obviously, my house isn't *that* clean ;)
WOW! Reading your blog sometimes hit so close to home! I need to find some time between now and Saturday to clean my house....
Haha too funny, I have tried everything to keep my house clean and its funny I can keep it straightened most of the time except in winter and when my oldest is home from college. She's the oldest and makes the most messes. I have even tried fly lady and told her to take a flying leap. What makes a peason think If I don't have the time once a week to clean my house that I have time everyday to clean, If I had the time It wouldn't be messey in the first place.
It is sad that I am about to say this.. But more often than not lately cleaning is my form of stress relief. Don't stress it though. You deserve a break. Have a good rest of the week.