Tag Archives: clean

Fast Forward List: Squeaky Clean and Kept

23 Jun

This may sound like I’m wishing my kids’ lives away but that’s not the way I intend it. It’s more of a what I hope for them list but not in an inspirational, mannerly and beautiful kind of way – in a functional, tidy, your-momma-raised-you-right kind of way.

  • You pick up the clothes that fall off the hangers in your closet (or that other people run over with their shopping carts at a store) and re-hang them. As it is now, shirts have gone missing for weeks because they were buried under stuffed animals in the closet. Maybe that penguin wanted that leopard print top? Don’t think so.
  • You will eventually rinse the bright blue gobs of toothpaste from the sink and the counter. Currently, you leave the gobs, creating a mine-field of stickiness on the sink that I just un-gobbed only hours before.
  • You recognize that product packaging (from things like toys, CDs or pencils), crumbled up paper and/or candy wrappers are, in fact, GARBAGE and should be treated as such. Not left on the floor scattered about, kicked under a dresser or piled on a piece of furniture camouflaged among other trash-destined items and non-trash items like jewelry, pictures and books.
  • That you learn to tie your shoes better than I tie your shoes. Poor Nate and his untied sneaks he struggles with each day.
  • You will not want to waste half-full cups of milk, juice or any other beverage of choice. Instead of leaving it behind at the table and forgetting about it, you will drink it and then drop your empty cup at the sink or dishwasher.
  • You will not have to be convinced to blow your nose, clean your ears or cut your nails. You will understand the importance of these actions and come to appreciate them, like you have with washing your hands. (One success!)
  • Leaving the toilet bowl occupied for the next occupant is not acceptable and putting the seat down should be second nature like zipping up your fly.

Again, this is really my sanitary, tidy and hygienic list. There are others for manners, kind words and functioning in society. You know, just a few of my “hopes and dreams” for them.

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Unclean House Confessions

28 Feb

I try. I do. I really would not say our house is messy/dirty. There are places where mess accumulates but with that I just have to shut a few doors and – tada – the house is ready for a surprise visitor. There are quite a few things I slack on though.

  • I should definitely scour our shower more than I do. In fact, I really don’t do it. Andrew does it because I whine about it so much. I’ll clean all the bathtubs – no problem. There’s just something about our shower that defeats me every time.
  • I have never cleaned inside the oven. I will only dive in there when it’s an absolute must. Like when that runaway fry escapes from the pan and starts burning and junk. Then, I’ll just use some tongs and remove the blackened tato.
  • I can’t tell you when I last dusted the light fixture hanging above the dining room table that we never use. Come to think of it, that light really never gets used either.
  • Are you supposed to wash curtains? Just kidding. Ha, ha, ha. Well, I have washed the sheers on the windows – at least once. (By the way, is there an easier way to clean wood slat blinds? I’ve tried dusting them – that takes forever. I’ve tried using the vacuum attachment – that didn’t really work at all. I can’t figure that one out.)

I just feel like I can never get ahead of it all. I have to do all the basics in spells – here and there. If I see dust, I dust. Since I have the dust spray in my hand, I might as well do the upstairs. (I tell myself I’ll do the downstairs later.)  If I have the glass cleaner out to clean one mirror that’s bothering me, they’re all going to get cleaned right then and there. It just all feels so scattered. The only time it all gets cleaned at the same time is when guests come to stay. Thankfully, we have guests visiting quite a bit.

(*This post was inspired by that runaway fry.)

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