A Light Hearted Confession

Growing up my Mom worked at home.  She had a set weekly routine that varied very little.  Mondays were washing.  Tuesdays were ironing.  Wednesdays were for vacuuming.  Thursdays were for special projects like cleaning windows, polishing silver, dusting etc.  Fridays were for sewing.  Saturdays were for grocery shopping and all other forms of commerce.  Sundays, except preparing dinner after church, were for resting.

This organized, orderly life made me a person that appreciates routine and cleanliness.  Some have called be fastidious but that’s someone else’s judgment.  I know what makes me comfortable.  As I’ve grown older I must admit that my standards for housecleaning have become lax, or more flexible might be more accurate.  My office isn’t tidy but everything has a place and I depend on that to find things when I want them.  About once or twice a year I do a cleaning and toss out what’s not been used in several months.

Unlike my Mom, I don’t have a routine.  I’ve come to practice ‘just in time cleaning’.  There’s minimum amount of house cleaning that my WASP upbringing demands.  However, dust balls have grown in the living room, the duster doesn’t see the light of day often and the vacuum doesn’t leave the closet very often.

 I have developed the demand model for cleaning, which is my confession.  We invite people over for a meal or some other social event and to prepare for their visit the house gets a thorough cleaning.  I’m lucky that my wife and I divide the chores based on what we can each tolerate.  I clean bathrooms for instance and either vacuum or steam clean floors.  My wife dusts, organizes the kitchen and makes sure the living room is comfortable and presentable.

How many of you wait until company is coming over to clean your house?  It’s ok.