My House is Never That Clean

I do know people with houses that are clean all the time.  I've decided that's either important enough to them that they stay home more than I do, or they have enough money to hire help.

During my fourth pregnancy, I did hire help.  My hips became so dysfunctional that I was in pain every time I bent over.  Believe me, I still worked hard when the cleaning help came.  I organized and organized.  Then they came, and three hours later, my house was spic and span.  Even the blinds and light fixtures were dusted.  The oven and microwave cleaned.  It looked like a 6-person family model home.

But that didn't last.  The next year, my husband would enter dental school, and help was no longer an option.  My house was no longer as organized, because rather than spending my time organizing, now I spend it scrubbing toilets, showers, and floors.  

But it's o.k.  In fact, probably better for the kids.  Now I really need their help with picking up.  Every Saturday I give them a list of jobs to do.  And many days, we have picking up races.  I'll say, "Let's see who can be the first to put away 20 things upstairs."   The only job I won't give them is scrubbing the toilets--I'm too afraid they'll splash nasty toilet water somewhere.  I keep wondering what age I'll feel comfortable handing that off.

I'm grateful for the kids' help.   But this week, it's been all me.  Grandma and Great-Aunt came to town today, so I had to clean.  It wasn't so bad, except that it really did take me all week.  One entire day for the piled up laundry. One entire day for straightening--putting everything in it's place. One entire day for mopping, scrubbing, and shining.   I don't think I've ever stayed home so many days in a row.

So here I am.  Grandma and Aunt Coco came today.  If you walked into parts of my house, you might think that being clean is either important enough to me to stay home all week.  Or you might even think I have enough money to hire help.

If you walk into other parts of my house, you would know that I didn't hire help.  Not only that, but you might even question why I didn't spend more time cleaning for company.