January 26, 2008

Someday I WILL figure out this cleaning thing...

Disclaimer: I've been sick all week and my partner is out of town. The apartment is worse than usual. Ok, that's an understatement.
The apartment is an embarassment to domestic goddesses everywhere!

So this afternoon as I was tip-toeing around the obstacle course that is my apartment, wondering where to start this dreaded thing called cleaning... Should I start with the dishes that seem to have taken over my kitchen counters, or the trash that has taken over the floor because I ran out of trash bags and have been reduced to grocery bags which seem to fill up much faster and who has time to take out the trash everyday? What about the laundry pile that has spilled from my bedroom closet not only into the bedroom, but also the hallway? Maybe the vacuuming? But I have to put the laundry somewhere first, and the bed isn't made so that's not an option. I'll start a pot of tea while I think about it. ... a thought came to me. Who are those people who work full time and are able to keep a clean house???

Surely, they don't spend their 40 hour work week ignoring the work that needs to be done at home. They cook, they clean. And they clean. Maybe they keep a schedule? Maybe they clean as they go and never really sit down to enjoy being at home with nothing better to do than sit?

But I have to ask, do they enjoy it? Is there anyone out there who enjoys cleaning? I mean, I understand the satisfaction that comes with a job well done... the pleasure of coming home to a place that looks and smells clean. But who actually enjoys the process of cleaning?

Short of hiring a maid service, there has to be something I can do to make it manageable and possibly even (gasp!) fun?

This is my quest.

2 comments:

Rhondi said...

Hi again. I hear you about the cleaning thing. If you don't like cleaning now with all the modern inventions that make it easy I think you need to reconsider the comment in your banner about wishing to be born in the last century. Rachel Anne at Home Sanctuary http://homesanctuary.typepad.com/rachelanne/ did a really neat thing during the month of January where she suggested a small cleaning or organizing task each day. It might help you with the whole cleaning thing. I don't know many people who like to clean but it's kind of like brushing your teeth. If you don't do it every day there will be consequences, so if you can get into the habit of doing just a little each day you can keep on top of it. There has got to be a balance between being a slave to cleaning your home and having it look like a cyclone just came by.
Do I sound like your mother telling you what to do? Hope not:) You'll be thinking, I hope this women never stops by my blog again. Have a great weekend. Rhondi xo

RMM said...

Donald D. Miller enjoys cleaning.