If there is one household chore I have a love-hate relationship with, it would be cleaning. In a perfect world, the house would always be spotless with minimal effort. In this world, however, it takes maximum effort just to keep our house habitable. I do not like it when the house is a mess. It makes my skin feel itchy. I don't want to mislead you, though. I don't think anyone would ever call our house immaculate...because it isn't. I think most of the time we hover on the line between "tidied up" and "clean". Every now and then we plunge into "total chaos" mode and I start to panic. And every now and then, in order to keep that scary "total chaos" mode at bay, I declare an Obsessive Cleaning Week.
Obsessive Cleaning Week is ridiculous. I know this. But still, I do it. It involves one or two rooms a day, thoroughly cleaned from ceiling to floor. Every drawer, closet and cupboard is organized, purged and cleaned. Everything is moved, vacuumed and dusted. It is exhausting. I have no idea if other people regularly clean their window screens or wash their baseboards or clean out the cutlery separator. Maybe I'm the only one who doesn't do this every time I clean. Don't get me wrong...every week our house is vacuumed, bathrooms cleaned, furniture dusted, sheets and towels changed and laundry done. Hmm. Now I'm starting to wonder if I'm just terrible at housekeeping. Well, if I am, then now you know my dirty secret. Sometimes I just dust and vacuum and say to hell with the baseboards.
Anyway...this week is an Obsessive Cleaning Week. I've been making good progress through the house. I was thinking I needed to tackle the basement today because it had become very bad down there when Daddy reminded me that his band was coming over tonight. As the band rehearses in the basement, I knew it was time to get crack-a-lackin' down there. We have a finished basement and our main tv is down there, but we spend more of our time on the main level. There are also drums and guitars and recording equipment and amps down there. Our crawlspace is also in the basement. Things destined for the crawlspace make their way down to the basement but sometimes do not make it to their final destination. Unless I make a special effort, sometimes this area of our house only gets a pass-by in cleaning. I'll run the vacuum over most of the carpet and wipe everything down. It was due for a thorough going-over, especially with the band coming over tonight.
Most of my day was spent cleaning the basement. I ran out of time to do the activity I was planning with the LP. We did play "help Mommy tidy up" today. Mostly this involved me asking LP1 to pick something up about fifteen times in a row before she did it. I kept telling myself we would stop and do our activity once the basement was finished, once their laundry was away, once their rooms were tidied up...and then, because it is Thursday and we have swimming lessons, I was making them an early dinner and rushing around to get us all ready to go. It didn't happen.
Am I beating myself up over it? No. Why? Because we still managed to have fun. We sang and danced today. LP1 coloured all over her arms with markers. LP2 did two really amazing things: he climbed up one set of stairs entirely on his own, with no help at all from anyone and he also, in his own way, said LP1's name today! It was the sweetest, most wonderful thing to hear. My little guy certainly isn't staying little. At swimming lessons tonight, both LP were showing their comfort in the water. LP1 is trying to figure out how to swim on her own. As a result, she was showing more independence (and more tendencies to go under the water). LP1 and Daddy were working together on different tricks and techniques. LP2 and I were working on floating and kicking. I know that both Daddy and I really enjoyed this one-on-one time with them (and I probably say that every week). When we came home, I was able to spend time with each one as I put them to bed. There is nothing nicer than having a baby fall asleep in your arms. There is also nothing quite like watching "In the Night Garden" with LP1 before we read together. We don't watch this show very often but when we do, I'm always laughing. If you don't know this show, it was designed as a way to help transition babies and young children to go to sleep. It is totally cracked out. As LP1 and I were watching it, one of our conversations went like this: "Oh no! The Tombliboos' trousers are on the Ninky Nonk with Macca Pacca! What will happen to them?" That made no sense - it was a sentence of gibberish. But so worth it to hear LP1 say "trousers".
It was a good day. Just not a day where we accomplished our New Thing. I'm starting to get that these happen every now and again. I'm not going to sweat it today. I worked up enough of a sweat in the basement. Fortunately, however, we have the gift of tomorrow to start anew. And tomorrow...tomorrow I WILL.
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