Things are pretty wonderful at the moment. With the help of some friends, I've gotten control of the house and Hub is at a point where he can help. When things are in their place and clutter eliminated, I can breathe easier. When there is less dirt, I am less anxious. It's a beautiful thing.
It's funny though that the condition of the house now would probably be something I met with disdain before I got pregnant. I would berate myself for the dirty baseboard, the untrimmed hedges, the cluttered coat rack. I would think I was lazy, irresponsible and dirty. Then I would leave it until it could be left no more because I would know that the minute I started, it would have to be perfect. I would be on my hands and knees scrubbing all day and into the night. Now I realize that compared to now, my house was practically spotless then. I am good at cleaning. I am good at mothering. I am a good wife.
It doesn't matter that the house is less clean now than before. What matters is that I'm doing the best I can, and that we're happy. So in the spirit of being nicer to me, I'm going to list all the "extras" I did pre-baby that would be herculean for me to do all at once now and accept that I was awesome then, and that I'm pretty darn good now as well.
Things I did in a regular cleaning before pregnancy:
1. scrubbed the drip pans in the stove
2. cleaned under and behind the frig
3. Cleaned windowsills and the insides of windows
4. Cleaned all mirrors
5. Scrubbed all the floors and baseboards
6. Wiped down the walls
7. Cleaned old stuff OUT of the frig, wiped down the shelves and scrubbed the drawers
8. Vacuumed the sliding glass door tracks and all the vents in the house
9. Vacuumed our mattress and flipped and rotated it.
10. Washed the pillows
11. Organized shoes, clothes, etc
12. Wiped down all cabinet doors, top of frig and around door handles and light switches
13. Windexed glass on picture frames
14. Dusted EVERYTHING (including ceiling fans).
Plus all the "regular" things involved in a normal cleaning
Extras included: Cleaning out drawers/cabinets, shampooing the carpets and cleaning outside windows.
Now I'm lucky to even finish dusting. Baby fingerprints cover all glass surfaces pretty much constantly, and the refrigerator hasn't been cleaned out in a few weeks. I might scrub the floors once every couple of months. Sounds disgusting to the previous me. But ya know what? I'm happy. We're ok, and I'm getting a handle on the worst of it. I rock.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
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3 comments:
Heh, everyone thinks I am all super clean (super neat is probably more like it), but I rarely ever did any of those things, even before I got pregnant with Elizabeth. (New drip pans are cheap. That's what I always did.)
I don't get anywhere near as much done now either. And like you, the current state of my house would have driven me barking mad before I had a child. Parenthood puts the importance of things into perspective. I never want to look back on my life and wish I had spent less time cleaning and more with my child.
You DO rock!!
I like to think I kept a pretty clean house before Skeeter was born. My problem now isn't like of time (well, I guess that would be problem #2) but the fact that whatever I clean is completely dirty again withing 30 minutes of Skeeter seeing it clean. The last time I cleaned the windows in the kitchen, he streaked by and smeared macaroni cheese on it.
I agree with Chelle's thought - when I die and look back on my life, I won't wish I spent more of it on cleaning.
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