Monday, June 28, 2010

Hi!


On Saturday, ben replaced our upstairs bathroom faucet with one made in this century, meaning he also had to replace pipes under the sink. Which? Are you kidding me? I thought the project would end in total disaster (no offense, sweetie). We even booked a plumber for first thing this morning just in case. But? He did it!
You can't totally see it in the picture, but he has caulk all over his face. (zOMG I am dying laughing right now. Caulk.)


While he was busy, I took Harry and Jack to the gym, to Target, to get a hair cut, and to Panera for second breakfast. Instead of the sports place we usually go for haircuts where Jack screams like a lamb and the stylists look like they want to kill me, we went to the kiddie salon where both boys could ride in car chairs and watch Dora while being shorn. Why don't I always come here? I thought to myself as Jack enjoyed his first tear-free cut. Then I paid for their cute little summer clips and remembered that the place doesn't let you tip on a credit/debit card, and I never have cash. I felt like such an asshole-- I guess that's why I never go back. I do that every freaking time. (Also I never quite feel bad enough to drive through road construction to an ATM and come back with a tip).

This hair cut makes Jack look even more like Ben-- if that were even possible

While I cleaned the house yesterday (including a blissful 45 minutes scrubbing the fridge and freezer-- gosh I love to organize food and clean appliances-- I really do), Ben took Harry and Jack outside to splash in a kind of awkwardly large blow up pool. He even put in on a hill to create a deep end and a shallow end. Klassy.



As much as I love cleaning my hose-- and I truly love it-- in the fall, I am going to work on my book for serious, and something has got to give. That something, we've decided, is housework. I have got to find a cleaning company I like and figure out a schedule that works for us. We have had 3 different house cleaners over various times in the last 3 years, and we haven't totally loved any of them. I ended up spending time cleaning after they came, which is stupid, even when we had them TWICE a WEEK. Part of this, I realize, is me being totally apeshit crazy about cleaning my house. But the other part of it is that the cleaners have sucked. So. Before school starts, we are going to figure this cleaning thing out. We need at least once a week but would be willing to have them come more often if it meant we could never clean anything again. But we don't want them in 2 times a week if we are still going to be cleaning. Such a dilemma. It's a silly thing to get stressed about, huh? But I AM stressed about it. Tell me, how do you stay zen about cleaning your house?

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:51 AM

    CLEANING IS NOT MY FAVORITE THING TO DO,BUT WE REALLYDON'T USE ALL THE ROOMS IN THE HOUSE..DOG GETS THE LIVINGROOM, JACK,THE DEN AND ME , THE KITCHEN AND FAMILY ROOM..PLUS WE DO HAVE A LADY EVERY OTHER FRIDAY...PLEASE IGNORE ANYDUST OR CLUTTER....BOMMA

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  2. Not that I recommend it, but my back injury kinda cured my cleaning obsession. And I was *insane*. Remember the tidiest party house in history, over by Campustown your freshman year? Yeah... Like that...

    Seems I have some strong feelings about this, since I just deleted about four more paragraphs. I think I'll put all that on my own blog.

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  3. A cleaning service isn't in our budget, but if it was, OH MY GOD, would i ever hire one! I have a cleaning schedule that keeps me from going too haywire and that gets adjusted depending on my work schedule. We spent the majority of our time in our den (technically a "bonus room"), so it gets picked up and vacuumed a lot. I clean the kitchen after dinner each night and mop the floors in there once a week. Upstairs gets vacuumed on Wednesday and bathrooms get cleaned on Thursday. The beginning and end of each week belongs to laundry. Dusting happens only on days when we're going somewhere, otherwise my allergies go into overdrive and I die.

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  4. I forgot to say that I use my hand-vac so much that it has to be charged nearly every night. I have been known to dust bust my 2 year old.

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  5. Heh heh caulk.

    My house is disgusting. I do the kitchen three times a day, pretty much. Mop every week-ish. Clean the bathrooms when they gross me out. Vaccuum once a week-ish. I do straighten every night because while I can live with dirty baseboards I DON'T DO clutter.

    I just figure, meh, I've got happy kids and Ryan doesn't care.

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  6. Yeah...I hate cleaning. Hate. Hate hate.

    The kitchen gets cleaned daily and usually about a million times. The floors get vacuumed almost daily due to Evan's floor cleaning issues. Otherwise, it's more of a weekly or bi-weekly thing. I keep lysol wipes handy for quick cleaning, but I'd say every other weekend is devoted to chemical cleaning. Clutter needs to be cleaned daily, but otherwise, I don't sweat it.

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  7. I have a lady come every other week..she does a deep clean on each of my three bathrooms, the kitchen, the wood in the house as well as dusting and vacuuming.

    Our kids are old enough that they take care of the pick up and cleaning the rest of the times. We have a chore chart for them. The cleaning lady is really for me...so I don't have to clean and so I don't bitch about how dirty the house is. We call it "bitch insurance."

    That said, I still do clean stuff...and when I get going, I don't stop.

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  8. Since birth I think, I have been a cleaner. I can remember not being able to sleep when I shared a room with my sister, so I would clean up her mess before I climbed into bed. I was 5 at the time.

    My mom is the same way, but she is also the one who has been telling me almost non-stop that I need to let go and prioritize my time now that I have kids and a career.

    So, I only let myself clean a few times a week, maybe two hours max. I clean up clutter each night and I run the dishwasher each day, but I sweep the floors and do laundry twice a week max. So my house is not always as spotless as I want it, but it is not unsanitary (and actually, I've decided that not being so clean is probably good for the kids immune systems -- ha! A little dirt never hurt, or something like that!)

    It does help of course that our home is very small, and two hours a week of chores is sufficient.

    Good luck with the cleaning company and letting go! :)

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  9. I would love a cleaning lady. Our house might be cleaner if we had one... But it isn't in the budget now.

    And the pool- love it!

    And hair cuts - AJU5 loved the kiddie place after the hair washing was over. She hated that part. Maybe we will just skip that in the future... But no tipping on the card - that is a pain! I hate remembering to have cash - especially an appropriate amount of small bills.

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  10. So sad to say it but my house is pretty much a wreck all the time. I get so discouraged by it but then I have become much too lazy to clean instead of sit in front of the TV or read a book. And really, while I do get annoyed by it I also get so ticked when the SECOND I finish cleaning the kitchen floor one of the kids throws something on it. And then it starts all over again!

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  11. I'm so glad you admitted to laughing about "caulk on his face." I was giggling like a 12-year old boy.

    I'm so NOT a cleaner, but I envy you your passion for it; I wish I cared as much as you do about it! BUT, I do like Jen L's suggestion of dust busting the kid. That could be really handy.

    Love your pool! That's good stuff, right there.

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