This is a quote from www.flylady.com – a website that I totally recommend visiting if you are anything like me and a clean house seems like something that I will receive when I get to heaven, but clearly not before. I wanted to share it because I have gotten so many of the same responses from my earlier post – there are two kinds of women apparently. Those who make clean houses look easy, and those who carry their dirty one around like their thorn in the flesh. I will go ahead and say that I am totally the latter – which is why I repeat this quote to myself so often. I am the one who put myself on the hook anyway, so I’m the one that needs to let myself off.
Why does it seem like the thorn carriers always get paired up with the easy cleaners as friends? One of my best friends is so the picture of what I wish I could be – her house is always clean, she has a two-year-old and a newborn – she makes it look so easy. She’s not one of those seemingly perfect people, though, she struggles with her own assortment of things, it’s just that keeping a clean house isn’t one of them. I’ve come to the conclusion that this is a talent, and some people have it and some people don’t so much.
I do have to share with her permission, her story of yesterday.
She is still nursing her 3 month old, and she has a 2 and half year old who is only a little bit interested some days in potty training. Yesterday was one of those days, so she got to wear the big girl panties since they were staying home. Well, baby Eli wakes up and wants his breakfast, and 2 year old Anna Young has been prancing around in her panties for a few minutes now. Except this is the second pair because she already wet the kitchen floor and ruined the first pair. My friend puts baby Eli on her bed to wait for her to continue pumping so he can eat, when she hears Anna Young in the living room saying, “poopee…poopee…”. My friend is on the floor hooked up to the breast pump, so this couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time. Well, She unhooks, runs in the living room, Eli is still in the middle of her bed at a mild wail at this point because he only has about a 3 minute waiting period before he gets really impatient.
The scene in the living room is this – Anna Young is standing on the stairs and yes, she has pooped all over them. She is now trying to clean it up with her hands but she is just spreading it all over the place. Upon trying to pick up Anna Young and get her clothes off and into the bathtub – The doorbell rings. (She lives in Kosciusko, so people just drop in all the time with no warning.) It’s the interior decorator. She wants to come in. So my friend runs to the door, opens it and tells her that she can come in, but she just wants to warn her that she’s in the middle of a small crisis at the moment – the baby is screaming for his food, and Anna Young has pooped all over the stairs and rubbed it everywhere.
You would think most people would come back later. Nope. More Bad Luck. ..It’s okay, I can wait… Okay, well Anna Young gets washed off in the bathtub – (“Lacey, the TURDS were still on the steps! And she went over to look at them! OOOH My Gosh I was so embarrassed!! .) Baby Eli is wailing to high heaven, and she goes back to clean the poop off of the stairs. The decorator watches. Then she points out that she missed a spot. My friend must have received an extra portion of grace yesterday because the decorator is still alive. So she cleans it up, gets a baby bottle in the baby’s mouth, and begins to help the decorator.
And I thought my yesterday was a little bit difficult. INSTANT PERSPECTIVE!
One other thing. It is common knowledge among men rarely shared with women that they would rather come home to a messy house and a smiling happy wife than a pristine house and a tired, stressed-out one. So if you struggle with your house like I do, turn on some Sinatra, cut off the overhead lights, light a clean-smelling candle, turn on the lamps, and pour yourself a glass of wine. “You are never behind… Just jump in where you are.”
And now, the photo of the day:
1 Comment
November 7, 2007 at 8:20 pm
Love the picture. Love the entry! I totally agree about the two kinds of women. I cry often at my inability to have my whole house clean all at once. We were recently over at one of those talented people’s houses for a picnic. Lucy is a chipmunk and had stored enough lunch in her cheeks to have for dinner again latter. When she finally went to swallow some, she gagged all over my pristine friend’s quilt, myself, herself, and the rest of the lunch. Before I could even recoverenough to apologize, my friend had the whole think picked up and in the washer including Lucy’s clothes and was in the midst of making new sandwiches. How do they do it?