The well runneth dry. Clearly this is the case, because I have in mind that I would like to write a blog about cleaning; but how boring would that be? I have theories about cleaning (these are highly mutable and vary wildly), but, honestly, do these need to be shared? Yet I find myself mentally blogging on and on about cleaning. Likely because it's something I spend way too much time doing.
Or laundry. Every time I hang the clothes out to dry, I think, I should blog about this. Heh. Blog about what exactly? About how often I've managed to line-dry laundry even though it's been such a rainy summer and I've got a new baby and ... As my son A would say, "Mommy, are you bragging?" Pause. "Uh, yes, maybe I am." "Why are you bragging?" "Uh, hmmm, good question little analyst, and now I'll stop." "Mommy, I think you're doing it again." "Oh dear heavens, you're right, I am!"
The above is a (mostly) accurate exchange that occurred over puzzle-making together.
Anyway, my cleaning theories go something like this: Get used to the mess and you'll be a happier person. It's just going to happen. Let it happen. Make the kids clean up their own rooms.
And then morph into this: Good grief, this place is a freaking disaster zone. I can't stand looking at those breakfast crumbs even one minute longer. At which point I drop everything in order to clean said floor. And the kids "organize" the games cupboard.
So theory number one is clearly hypocritical.
Another good theory: It's possible to clean whilst doing other things. Such as, scrubbing the toilet while the children take a bath. Not the baby, though. That would be going just slightly too far for the sake of cleanliness. Don't use theory if drowning is a risk. I do put this theory into practice quite often, though. Whilst removing dirty towel from bathroom floor, simultaneously use towel to clean the floor and cupboard faces. For example. But my life is a series of boxes opening inside other boxes, so that when one enters a room to do something particular, one is faced by a second and often more pressing problem, the solution for which leads into a third even more urgent disaster, and on and on till the original item of duty is utterly lost. Not to worry; one will stumble over it later.
And that is a brief overview of Carrie's cleaning theories. Are they even theories? They're probably more like administrative memoes for the homemaking pataphysician. "Uh, Mommy ..."
Yah, yah, I hear ya kid. Must. Stop.Labels: chores, kids