Cleaning soothed my mother. She didn't turn up the radio or blast the television - she enjoyed the peace cleaning gave her. My mom was a stay-at-home mom and took pride in keeping a clean home. Our home was always spotless, especially her floors. I grew in the kind of home where you could easily eat off the floor anytime, not a speck of dust or dirt to be found.
Needless to say, my mother set the standard pretty high.
As a mom who works outside the home, my time to clean is limited. The only rooms I clean consistently are the kitchen and bathroom. Every other room? I clean when I can. (And I wouldn’t recommend eating from my floor – most days, not even the 5-second rule applies.) With an 8-year-old son and a runner husband, a clean home is a little luxury that doesn’t last long. There is always crushed cereal on floors, fingerprints on walls and toothpaste stuck on the sink.
Cleaning is more my Sisyphean task than a form of relaxation.
In our home, cleaning is a family effort. Everyone has a task to do. Norrin is at an age where he wants to help. I don't know how long that'll last, so I have to take advantage now. I also want him to be responsible for his room and understand that he has to clean up after himself.
I let Norrin pour the Fabuloso into the water. He especially loved squeezing the sponge - a fun little sensory activity for him. I let him dunk the mop. Yeah, water got all over the place but I didn't mind. Cleaning may be a chore for me, but I wanted to make it fun for him. I told him where to clean and helped him when he needed it. And he was impressed by the magic of the multi-purpose cleaner, watching the dirt go away. Together we scrubbed walls, floors and sinks.
And after a few hours of cleaning when I was satisfied, it was time to relax. Because nothing makes me happier than the soothing scent of clean floors and the sight of a spotless home. My mother would be proud.
I think we did a really good job! How do you make cleaning fun?
