19 December 2009

Cleaning Day

Today is cleaning day.


Otherwise known as get away from me or else I might bite your head off day. At least that's what we called it when I was little (sorry mom, it's true). So it makes sense that this "day" has passed on to me. Saturday was the cleaning day at my house growing up-which it totally unfair since that was our "day-off." We would get up, mom would do the breakfast thing, we would watch the coveted Saturday morning cartoons and then she would proudly announce, "It's time to clean the house!" You see my mom was obsessed with having a clean house (still is) but she was also really good at it so it made sense. (And yes, she is the person who is responsible for gifting me with my OCD. Amazing how this didn't get gifted to my sisters.)

Anywho, my mom would divvy out chores for the three of us to do (usually dusting, vacuuming, picking up our rooms) and she would tackle bathrooms. My dad mowed and we all generally tried to stay out of sight so as not to disturb the cleaning dragon (again, so sorry mom but it was true).

As I got older I realized that if we got a jump start on cleaning on say Friday or even Thursday, not only could we be lazy as all get out on Saturday but my mom was so overjoyed that we WANTED to help clean (yeah right) that she would end up doing most of it by herself. (Neat little trick)

Fast forward several years and I am now my mother.
That's right.
I said it.
I AM MY MOTHER.
Happy?

I loathe cleaning. But do not ever confuse cleaning with organizing. I could spend hours and I mean hours organizing and still want to do more. Cleaning...not so much.

But cleaning it what I must do today.

We are going to San Antonio tomorrow (and I can guarantee you that my mom is also cleaning her house today) and so our house must be spotless before we leave. Yes, thank you mom for that "gift" too. (My mom always had to have a clean house before we went out of town) You know, in case someone breaks into our house they can stop and appreciate the fresh scent and sparkling toilets. And so that when we walk in the door after being trapped in the car for 6 hours listening to cartoons so that we don't have to listen to our screaming and whining boys I can appreciate the five minutes it takes to devastate the order that I am lovingly going to create today.

Yup, the cycle of craziness goes on. But at least the house profits in the end.

Oh and by-the-way:
2 days till my 29th birthday
6 days till Christmas
9 days till our 7th anniversary

2 comments:

Aubrey said...

I totally feel you. Although my mom is not the clean freak that I am (I got it from my grandmother. Apparently it skipped a generation). But I too can be a dragon lady when it comes to cleaning and I LOVE to have a clean house before I go out of town.

AJ said...

My dad was the neat freak in our house. And we also spent Saturday cleaning. I did not get this gene, but somehow I married it! Dustin has to have a clean house. Ugh! I hate cleaning!