Cleaning/Housework – Page 8

They’ll be here any minute!

Published on September 8, 2015September 7, 2015 by Kate1 Comment

Everyone knows the feeling. Company is coming for dinner, the bathroom still needs to be cleaned, floors are barely swept and you are frantically changing the baby’s diaper explosion. Ok, so maybe not everyone knows that specific scenario but insert your own life experience and I’m sure you’ll get the picture.

Anyway, that was us to a a certain degree today. It seems to me that I am the most efficient cleaner in those few minutes before the doorbell is expected to ring. Also, I must have a second set of eyes, because I am able to much more clearly see all the things that need to be cleaned or dusted that apparently I was unable to discern just days prior. It’s rather embarrassing really. We are capable of being much more prepared.

Maybe you’re not like me. And if you aren’t like me, I’m rather jealous of you. If you aren’t like me, then you sweep and vacuum your floors often, and if you happen to have a dog that likes to roll around in the dust and dirt then you sweep and vacuum multiple times a day. You also don’t have a 4 year old boy using your bathrooms. And you have some kind of stain and grease resistant kitchen counter tops that don’t require constant scrubbing.

I’m being sarcastic of course. I know that there are people out there who are much better cleaners than I am, and I’m sure somewhere there is someone who is a worse cleaner (maybe). Regardless, I am always amazed at how much cleaning I get done before someone comes over. Amazed and dismayed. If I can clean this well and quickly before someone comes to my house, why can’t I do it all the time?

As I was musing on this while sweeping the floor this afternoon, wishing I was more prepared, I thought about how I’m not the only one with this kind of problem. In fact, there were people with my same or similar issue all the way back to Jesus’ time. Think about it, especially as an issue of preparedness. Jesus tells a parable about 10 virgins waiting for the bridegroom to arrive. 5 were wise and prepared, bringing extra oil with them just in case the bridegroom was late. 5 were not so wise. When the bridegroom did arrive, late, only 5 women had enough oil to light their lamps.

Cultivating a habit of preparation might be in order for our household. Rather than frantically piecing together the house, we are very capable of systematically keeping order, if we make it a priority.

Jesus told His disciples that He would return again, and the early Christians believed that His second coming was imminent. Time has continued to pass and we are still waiting for Jesus to come. The Church hasn’t changed it’s stance on this, we are in fact still waiting for Jesus to return. Even though so much time has passed, our level of preparation should not be any different than those early Christians.

Just like our physical houses need to be kept clean and orderly, so do our spiritual houses, our inner selves. Do we pray regularly? If we do pray, are we taking time to listen to God as well as speak to Him? Do we spend time in quiet reflection, contemplating how we make decisions and discerning the direction of our lives? Do we belong to a worshiping community that helps us stay accountable to the morals and virtues espoused by our faith? Do we share our faith with others, especially our spouse and children?

Personally, I believe that when I have good spiritual habits and practices, it is easier for me to keep other areas of my life, my home included, in good order. What do you think?

Feel free to leave comments and join in the conversation! =)

Cleaning Timing

Published on May 11, 2015May 11, 2015 by Kate1 Comment

A few weeks ago, Ben was coming home from a trip. It was a short one, thank goodness, but I still felt like the house could use a bit of a pick-me-up. It was a Saturday morning and he wasn’t due home until around dinner time. Perfect. The kids usually get to watch a little television on Saturday mornings so that was the perfect time to clean the bathrooms.

Obviously not my bathroom, much too sparkly. No finger prints from inquisitive children

Cleaning the bathrooms is always my most dreaded part of the day, even though it doesn’t take that long. Surprisingly enough, it is also the task I derive the most satisfaction from accomplishing. Even though this is the case, the likelihood of me actually undertaking the chore past 11am is extremely slim.

Did I get the bathrooms cleaned during the 30 minute window of cartoons? No, of course not (probably wouldn’t be writing a blog post about it if I did). Did I get them cleaned before the self-imposed, completely arbitrary and utterly ridiculous deadline of 11am? Again, no.

There I was at 2:30pm, standing in the kitchen. John and Rosie were both napping (the heavens had aligned as never before, just kidding, but it is becoming a rarer occasion as John gets older). Clare was happily amusing herself with a sock, a baby doll and a plastic hammer. A prudent and industrious person would be found cleaning the bathrooms as was her intent all day long. But alas, as the opening sentence to this paragraph stated, I was in the kitchen. Not only was I not in the kitchen, I was contemplating something rather absurd. I was standing there, wondering what to do, knowing I should be cleaning the bathroom, but instead started crafting this blog post in my head about how easy it is to make obscure and unnecessary rules to help us avoid tasks that need to get done and all the ways we procrastinate. I was procrastinating with a blog post about procrastinating!

At a certain point I felt quite foolish and went to clean a bathroom, inwardly laughing at myself and feeling rather ashamed at my lack of motivation and discipline. I only got one bathroom done, you can only expect a 7 month old to amuse her self for a completely unknowable period of time.

Even though I only got one of two bathrooms cleaned, it still felt good that 1. I actually pulled myself out of my silly rules and undisciplined self and 2. I accomplished the task.

It is a funny thing, we humans do. We create rules, structures, disciplines and un-disciplines with which we try to run our lives. Any way that we can control our situations, experiences and tasks provides us with a sense of stability and routine. It shelters certain areas of our lives from other parts, differentiates one part from the other. My “rule” (which upon reflection and realization of it’s existence, I should probably be rid of) not to clean after 11am is one way to protect my evenings after the kids go to bed but most especially, my precious few minutes alone during nap time. There are healthier ways to do this, like actually cleaning when I mean to instead of procrastinating. Novel!

Some people aren’t procrastinators, God bless them. I don’t understand them but I do wish I could be more like them and I try to be. It’s hard work. I’m so thankful that the apostles were not procrastinators. Imagine if Peter was. Jesus calls Peter to leave his fishing nets and follow him, immediately. Not in an hour, not tomorrow, not after you’ve finished your task. When I read the story (see Matthew 4:18-22 http://usccb.org/bible/books/matthew/4), Matthew tells us that Jesus was walking along the sea and called out to Peter and his brother, Andrew. Matthew never says that Jesus stops walking. Close your eyes and picture it (after you finish reading I suppose): Jesus is walking along and he calls out to follow him, but he doesn’t stop to wait to see if you do or not. He just keeps walking at the same steady pace. What would you do? Would you wait, procrastinate, or even turn away? Or would you put down what you were doing and join in step behind Jesus.

I love this picture because you can really feel the movement of Jesus walking past.

Think about Mary. When the angel Gabriel came to Mary, he did not ask her to be the mother of Jesus in a few years, or when she and Joseph were officially married, or even to think on it for a few days. No, Mary made her decision in that very moment, demonstrating her obedience and her faithfulness to God and His will. Mary was not a procrastinator.

It’s tough, it’s so tough. Every day it’s a choice. Often, it’s a choice we have to make again and again every day. We usually know the right choice to make, we just don’t want to make it or don’t want to make it in that moment. I’ll volunteer later, I’ll commit to a parish when I’m older, I’ll join a bible study next year, continue to fill in the blanks. If you feel Jesus is calling you to something, he probably isn’t calling you to procrastinate about it.

And don’t worry, I’m not writing this while I procrastinate about cleaning the bathrooms….but I haven’t emptied the dishwasher yet….

The Trouble with Cleaning

Published on April 20, 2015April 19, 2015 by KateLeave a comment

There is a problem when you clean something. Before you cleaned the something in question – a window, a sink, a counter, a toilet, a dresser, take your pick – it was dirty. For many things in my house, once it is dirty you can’t tell to what extent it is dirty.

If the dresser is dusty, it’s new status is simply “dusty.” I can’t tell from yesterday to today how many more particles of dust have accumulated. It is just dusty. Same for the windows. With 3 kids and a dog, finger prints and smudges are a given for all of my window under 4 feet tall. With such a large general collection of “window art” shall we call it, I cannot tell from day to day which smudge is new or when exactly the green crayon appeared. Let’s not even talk about the stainless steel faucets in our bathrooms. Actually, let’s just avoid the bathroom entirely.

So you see, there is a problem with cleaning these dirty things that can stay dirty for any number of days without causing stress or tension because it is impossible to tell (or I willingly ignore) the level of dirty/dusty/smudged/smeared/covered in peanut butter and purple crayon.

A recently dirty window that leads to our backyard

But, of course, you have to clean it. The dresser must be dusted, the windows washed, the faucets cleaned and even the bathrooms, scary as they can be with a 3 year old boy who “stands like Daddy” and little girl in training. It is a wonderful feeling when my home is clean. How marvelous to be able to see out of the windows and to not have to cringe as I wash my hands. With environmental allergies, it is so refreshing to take a deep breath and not sneeze. How nice it is to walk around and not crunch cheerios, puffs, dog food or find Little Mermaid stickers stuck to the bottoms of my shoes.

The was clean but now is dirty again (probably) and needs to be cleaned again to get back to this state only to get dirty again etc etc etc

Alas, the picture I just described only lasts for roughly 15 seconds on a rotating timetable. Just as I finish the windows and move onto the floor, Max, our excitable and self-proclaimed guard dog jumps up and smashes his nose on the window intent on saving the family from the jogger 100 yards up the street. As soon as I’m done sweeping the floor (actually, usually while I’m still sweeping in another area, sometimes only 2 feet away) someone drops something that will make a delightfully messy “crunch” in a matter of minutes. I’ll not trouble you with a description of what happens in the bathrooms, I think you can figure that one out for yourself.

It is a never ending cycle and hardly rewarding since I know that as soon as something is clean it will just be dirty all over again, usually in a matter of minutes. It would be much easier to just leave things dirty, which we all know is not healthy.

It’s also not healthy to neglect our spiritual life. Think about it like this. Your house is your life. The windows represent your spirituality. The cleaner your windows, the more light that can come into your house (the light being God, His grace, mercy, love, guidance, etc.) You can see what areas of your house need refurbishing, what areas are looking good, what areas need to be cleaned and where the dark corners are that require attention. But, when your windows are dirty, it is harder to see the areas of your house that are dirty, dusty, smudged or in need of repair. It is also harder to see those areas that are looking good, that you would want to be proud of and share with others.

Another window analogy, this one is from Fr. Robert Barron. Think about your car windshield. When is dark and you are driving away from a light source, your windshield looks pretty good. You don’t see that bug smudge from the other day or the rain splatter from the morning’s shower. But, when you turn and are driving toward the light, you can see in great detail just how many nicks, dings, smears and dirt spots are all over your windshield. When we are pointing away from God, it is easier to ignore our flaws, our insecurities, our dark corners. When we turn toward God, it is easier to address these areas because we can honestly see them. We also can see how they are obscuring our vision and once we clean them up, we can see even better than before.

The trouble with cleaning is now everything is clean! When everything is clean, you know exactly when it has gotten dirty again. But, maybe that’s not such a bad thing.