Yes, the couch and chair are lined with piles of clothes and
we can’t sit down. Yes, the kid’s
beds are unmade, and their floor is so littered with toys that it is difficult
to walk without stepping on a sharp-pointed car or dull-headed baby doll. Yes, it’s true that for every ten
minutes that I get to clean, it is first preceded by a half-hour of kids
needs. Yes, the bathroom needs
cleaning and don’t even mention the kitchen stove. Yes, almost every carpeted surface has a towel lying on it
because that’s where my daughter insists on having her pull-up/diaper changed
as she also refuses to use the toilet.
Yes, there is a constant battle with ants that have become so smart that
they only show up in groups of ten and they don’t reveal where they come
from. Yes, we do have an aging cat
who is starting to lose track of where her litterbox is. Yes, we even have fleas that seem to
train with the ants and come from nowhere, and travel sparsely, but never go
away. Yes, my house is a mess.
But, on Tuesday, I made it my mission that I would sweep and
mop at least one room. I
mean the kind of sweeping and mopping that requires you to move furniture. So, I pushed my clothes-laden couch and
chair out of the way, and I began.
Ten minutes here, thirty minutes with kids, ten minutes back – always
trying to convince my kids, encourage my kids, nag (but ever so slightly), beg,
and pester my kids, to pick up all of their things off the floor so that I
could in fact sweep. Finally
the floor was clear, and I began to mop.
They were downstairs playing when I started, but came up shortly
thereafter and suddenly, I had my Tom Sawyer moment. “I want to mop!” my 3-year old shouted (while wearing her
Princess dress of course), so I gave her the toy mop, showed her the bucket and
let her go. “I want to mop too!”
shouted my 5-year old so I handed over my mop to him.
Yes, they have no idea how to mop. Yes, there were additional puddles of water on the floor.
Yes, I pretty much had to re-do all the places they mopped first. BUT, they
were so happy! And I was so happy
they were helping! They even got
on their hands and knees with rags to dry the floor after that. And, when I told them I was going to
mop the laundry room next (where the litterbox is) they shouted, “WE WANT TO
MOP THE LAUNDRY ROOM!!”. As they
mopped, I told myself that I needed to remember this moment.
The kids were being helpful, the house was getting cleaned
bit by bit, and at this pace … we might be done by Christmas.
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| Cinderella drying the floor with a rag. (Please note the dress is on backwards for the full effect) |
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| Who knew mopping the laundry room could be so fun? |
