I never claimed to be a good housekeeper | Living with Gleigh

I never claimed to be a good housekeeper. There are just some things in life I really hate to do and housekeeping is one of them. So consequently, I put off many household chores until they are screaming for attention and I can’t ignore them any longer.

Fair warning here: for those of you who are good housekeepers, this column is not for the faint of heart. However, for those of you who are mediocre housekeepers, this column could make you feel better about your own housekeeping skills.

I suppose some of my friends may be a bit horrified over my lack of housekeeping skills, but they never say anything. I am not beyond handing cleaning tools to those who complain or comment on my cleaning deficiencies. I would really rather be doing something else like writing columns.

I do want to keep the record straight, we are not living in squalor. I go on cleaning frenzies when I’ve had enough. I also want to state that I do not clean house alone; usually when I get on a cleaning frenzy, my family is very much a part of it; they helped make the mess, they can help clean it up. But occasionally, as it is today, I find I must tackle a task when everyone is at school or work. And today it was my kitchen floor.

I’ve been putting off the mopping of my kitchen floor for many moons now. I won’t give you a time reference because I’m already embarrassed as it is. I did however enjoy my mopping chore today. My youngest has an occasional penchant for mopping the kitchen floor and finally put her foot down about our traditional mop. It grossed her out and she refused to participate in mopping anymore until I finally agreed to replace it with a Shark steam mop.

This purchase is right up there on my “Things that Make Mom Really Happy” list along with my decision to get a yard waste bin. It made me extremely happy not to have to wring out a mop and with the hot steam it is so much quicker to get the kitchen floor clean. However, this does not make me a better housekeeper overall. I still put off mopping until something horrible rises up out of the grime and has to be tamed.

My excuse not to mop the last few weeks or so was because I knew the long Thanksgiving weekend was upon us. I wasn’t expecting company, so why waste twenty minutes mopping when I knew the floor was going to be trashed with Thanksgiving festivities and traditions?

So with Thanksgiving a distant memory, I grudgingly couldn’t put it off any longer. It turned into a pleasant experience with my Shark: Look, squished yams… my youngest daughter’s first Thanksgiving dish made by herself;  a splotch of cream of mushroom soup… my oldest daughter’s first Thanksgiving dish she ever made; a dried  daub of whip cream… we did eat a lot of pie and for some reason those cans of whip cream really spurted out of control; oh hey, gingerbread really sticks to the floor, even the dog couldn’t lick it up… this is the second year my youngest daughter and I baked the pieces to the gingerbread houses the kids make every Thanksgiving weekend; there’s the squished gumdrops and M&Ms, I knew they had to end up somewhere… that was kind of funny when the kids got into a food fight while making gingerbread houses with their friends; those colored specks must be sprinkles that got flung off the table when they overzealously sprinkled their gingerbread houses; by the stove there are some squished carrots and celery… I always make homemade turkey soup with the leftover turkey carcass, it kind of signals the end of the Thanksgiving holiday. AAHH! Good times.

As I ended my reverie of our Thanksgiving memories, I was thinking I had such a good time mopping the floor, I should do it more often. On second thought… Christmas is almost here.

Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Covington. She is committed to writing about the humor amidst the chaos of a family. You can read more of her writing and her daily blog on her website livingwithgleigh.com.