Summer Cleaning June 13, 2008

I have pretty much given up on keeping the house clean….to my old standards that is.  I now truly understand the old saying, a clean house is the sign of a sick mind!  I feel great and my house is a mess.  I figure the kids have won.  They can make a mess faster than I can keep it clean and I must look halarious running around after them!  I quit.  I am on strike. 

I should be folding laundry, or cleaning the toilet or vaccuming the floors.  Instead, I am reading a book, swinging in the hamock, or going for a walk.  I am lazy.  I have spent the better part of the past three years, running around, making sure my house is clean.  What for?  Not that I don’t value a clean house.  I am just so tired of doing the work.  I really am a hamster on a wheel in a cage…..I keep running and I am not making progress on anything. 

So, the game plan is to clean less every day.  I am going to let a little clutter be.  I am going to only tidy up the girls room and the play room once a day…not over and over and over again.  I am going to wash my windows only once a week, not every time there is a hand print or a kiss left to shine in the sun.  I am going to stop obsessing over my ceramic oven.  I make a mess everytime I cook.  Once a night is good enough for a good cleaning…not three times a day. 

Boy, am I a slow learning or what.  It has taken me all these years to slow down a bit and enjoy my days a little more.  I certainly am not going to let my house go.  I am proud of a clean house.  I am happy to provide a relaxing atmosphere for S to come home to at night.  I do find peace in the orderly and pinesol smell of a clean house.  But, I am lighter now and want to let a few things go.

Clean Up On Isle 3 June 11, 2008

So, I am in Walmart yesterday.  H is sitting in the front of the kart, E has the basket part of the cart to herself…sort of.  I have tossed in bubble bath, maxi pads, sidewalk chalk.  You know, the regular stuff from Wally World!  E pipped up that she had to go to the bathroom.  Of course, this store is being renovated and the bathrooms have moved.  So, after walking one way across the store to no avail, I started to back track my way through sporting goods.  Just as we got to the yoga matts, E squats down and pees.  AGGHHH.  Okay, I am a horrible mom.  I just walked away.  Nothing in my cart had been hit.  E had on a dress so that was fine to.  I whipped off her patines and tossed them in a garbage bin.  I turned the cart around and headed for the gardening section.  I bought my plants.  I paid for everything.  E never mentioned the incident.  I played dumb.  We made it home in one piece. 

Today, I feel sort of bad.  This isn’t the first time I have just walked away from a mess in Walmart.  A bit ago E was walking beside me down the laundry detergent isle.  She thought she would help by lifting off a large bottle of Tide liquid soap.  She is strong, but not that strong.  The jug hit the floor and started to ooz blue liquid.  I snatched E into the cart and took off.  I found myself in electronics, hoping no one would have seen E’s blunder.  We paid.  We left.  I felt bad.  Hmmm.  I need to be a better mom…and maybe send a card and some flowers to the store.

A Little Of What The Day Holds June 6, 2008

We stayed up too late last night for me to be too much fun this morning.  All my fun was had last night!  Yeah…the gazebo’s up (almost).  Just the canvas top to put on and we can chill and relax in the backyard – you know, once the sod has taken and all.

My oldest, I will call her E from now on, has a thing with Princess Jasmine from Aladin.  She insists on walking around with one arm pulled out of her shirt, exposing a shoulder.  Thankfull, we aren’t part of a religious sect that would shun this behaviour.  Personally, I think it is halarious when she comes out of the bedroom introducing herself as Princess Jasmine.  Who, or what, will she attempt to impersonate next.  Hmmm, should I be scared.  I think so.

My youngest, lets call her H is becoming a little bit of scamp.  She has started taking off her pants, shorts, skirt and then her diaper.  She has this uncanny ability to pee as soon as all the items have been discarded.  My house is starting to have a urine smell to it…I am sure the ants who have decided to move in love it!  Once we are outside on the grass, I won’t mind the piddling.  ‘Nature pee’s’ my aunt calls them.  I wonder if our lawn will look like we have a dog though.  Hmmm.

E goes to the dentist today for her first appointment.  She has been a couple of times in the past, just to sit in the chair and get to know the space.  She has done great so far.  And, she loves having her teeth brushed.  I am hoping that these are signs of good things to come this afternoon.  I too am in for a cleaning.  I don’t fear the dentist.  I hate the flouride though….I am a real gager.  Should be an interesting afternoon to say the least.  At least the sun is out again today.  Maybe I will be able to convince my husband, S, to get a Fat Franks and have a picnic in the park once we are done.  Sounds like a better way to end a grumpy morning.

Woe’s Me May 31, 2008

I am a spiteful wife.  I watched in blissful contentment while my husband fried bacon, whipped up french toast and chased children around the kitchen.  The counters are covered in last nights party mess on top of which the breakfast chaos has been piled.  The food has been eaten and now there is work to be done in the back yard, which means my husband is skipping down the back stairs and leaving me alone in the house.  I guess my spitefulness has caught up to me.  I have to clean up the mess my husband made while I sat in blissful contentment.  Hmmm.  Maybe I should have helped when I had the chance. 

Now my children are covered in sticky syrup and are bouncing on a sugar high.  We are heading out to do groceries the three of us.  I see mayhem in my future.  At least I have gotten out of helping lay the sod in the back yard and the concrete patio.  Maybe the back yard would be less adventurous compared to the fruit and veggie section of Safeway with two todders in tow. 

Although my husband is very progressive in his views on marriage and parenting, I still find that I do the majority of the house work.  I don’t know why this is.  I wish it were different.  I wish he did more laundry and would vaccum the floor and scrub the toilet without having to be asked….three or four times.  I don’t know why it is that the interior of our house falls to me to keep in order, while the outside fall on his shoulders.  I consider myself pretty lucky to have a guy who is so hands on with the kids and is capable of cleaning.  I guess I want it.  I want my husband to work a full day and then come home to finish the laundry I started and wash the floors I just vaccumed and then to thank me for the wonderful supper I have cooked and quickly clean up the kitchen so it is spotless while I read a book or have a bath.  Is this too much to ask?  Oh, in my perfect world it would be bliss.