Cleaning. Yes really.
It's plagued me, bothered me, ruined my mornings and frightened my nights.
There is only one thing wrong in all the fabulous care I give my family, the care which by my reckoning should lead to fewer days of sickness than the current neverending malady.
The messy house.
Messy houses are difficult to clean. 'Cos mess isn't in itself problematic healthwise, but dirt and dust is.
I've been trying to clean as well as nurse/feed/launder etc over the last few days but today I abandoned the cooking and steam bathing and cleaned almost non-stop all day. I now have tidied, swept and washed floors in much of the house and tidied and vacuumed floors in some other parts. I have filled three large black rubbish sacks and if tomorrow goes the way I want it to, there will be two more filled before rubbish day.
In the interim before I next don my cleaning fairy outfit (it's not an ephemeral floaty number and I do shout rather than flutter in it), I am going to work. From 9.30 until 12.30 tomorrow, my presence is required out of the house and I will get PAID for doing things far more interesting than cleaning. Fionn is also well enough to leave the house and go to school and Favourite Handyman and Brighid will stay home and continue their convalescence without me.
I can't remember the last time I was so looking forward to going to work.
My biggest challenge beyond this week is to work out how to maintain the new clean. I'm better at tidy than I was, though outsiders could be forgiven for dropping their jaw at this statement, but I need to be a lot better in order to swizz through the house with a broom/vacuum/mop. Once upon a time, a long long time ago, I looked at the Fly Lady website. She advised newbies to begin by shining their sink every night. Huh. We were living in London at the time, in a terraced house with the vilest brown plastic sink I've ever seen, which was stained beyond repair. I could clean it, but I couldn't make it look clean. It had never shone ever. I don't know where it was bought as I've never seen such a thing before or since.
I didn't rock to the Fly Lady then and after I quick peruse in the midst of writing this post, I don't think I'll be doing it now. I've got a much better solution to the sink thing these days: Favourite Handyman does the dishes each night.
One thing I DO know: the project of keeping things clean is going to involve a lot of the children's scarcely used possessions going missing. Permanently. Bye bye Buzz Lightyear, the toy which irritated me from day one and never ever, no matter what, runs out of battery. It's okay though Buzz, I'll send plenty of toys with you.
There is only one thing wrong in all the fabulous care I give my family, the care which by my reckoning should lead to fewer days of sickness than the current neverending malady.
The messy house.
Messy houses are difficult to clean. 'Cos mess isn't in itself problematic healthwise, but dirt and dust is.
I've been trying to clean as well as nurse/feed/launder etc over the last few days but today I abandoned the cooking and steam bathing and cleaned almost non-stop all day. I now have tidied, swept and washed floors in much of the house and tidied and vacuumed floors in some other parts. I have filled three large black rubbish sacks and if tomorrow goes the way I want it to, there will be two more filled before rubbish day.
In the interim before I next don my cleaning fairy outfit (it's not an ephemeral floaty number and I do shout rather than flutter in it), I am going to work. From 9.30 until 12.30 tomorrow, my presence is required out of the house and I will get PAID for doing things far more interesting than cleaning. Fionn is also well enough to leave the house and go to school and Favourite Handyman and Brighid will stay home and continue their convalescence without me.
I can't remember the last time I was so looking forward to going to work.
My biggest challenge beyond this week is to work out how to maintain the new clean. I'm better at tidy than I was, though outsiders could be forgiven for dropping their jaw at this statement, but I need to be a lot better in order to swizz through the house with a broom/vacuum/mop. Once upon a time, a long long time ago, I looked at the Fly Lady website. She advised newbies to begin by shining their sink every night. Huh. We were living in London at the time, in a terraced house with the vilest brown plastic sink I've ever seen, which was stained beyond repair. I could clean it, but I couldn't make it look clean. It had never shone ever. I don't know where it was bought as I've never seen such a thing before or since.
I didn't rock to the Fly Lady then and after I quick peruse in the midst of writing this post, I don't think I'll be doing it now. I've got a much better solution to the sink thing these days: Favourite Handyman does the dishes each night.
One thing I DO know: the project of keeping things clean is going to involve a lot of the children's scarcely used possessions going missing. Permanently. Bye bye Buzz Lightyear, the toy which irritated me from day one and never ever, no matter what, runs out of battery. It's okay though Buzz, I'll send plenty of toys with you.
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