Posted on 7 Comments

I wish I loved to clean

View from the front door

For some people, the process of keeping house is a joy – it makes them feel especially good to maintain a clean and comfortable nest for their families.  Oh, how I wish I were like that!  Don’t get me wrong, I do feel good when I manage to be all domestic, make a nice supper, have the laundry folded and put away… it’s the process of getting there that I detest.

I hate to clean.  I hate to pick things up off the floor and put them away.  I hate to vacuum.  I hate to dust.  I hate to wash the dishes.  Shall I continue?

I can power through the more mundane of these tasks if I listen to an entertaining podcast, or if I stream something interesting on Netflix.  But it doesn’t really make me like the process.  All it really does is make me forget for a while that I’m working.

Anyway, I’ve been forcing myself to face the music this week. Yesterday I pretty much transformed the kitchen (yes, we do have a table!).  This morning, I straightened up and vacuumed the living room (thankfully it wasn’t too bad to begin with), took a mammogram break (I’m 40 now, these things need to be done), and then tackled this:

Stuff for donation

This is the pile of junk that was the result of my involvement in Project:Simplify.  Stuff from my closet (which still looks amazing, six months later), stuff from the top of my desk (which, sadly, is back to looking almost as bad as it did before I cleaned it), and stuff from the boys’ room (which is starting to get just a little bit scary again).  This stuff has been piled up in the hallway for half a year, waiting for me to get around to donating it somewhere.

Well, last week a rep from some charity called and asked if I had anything to donate and I said, “Yes, yes, YES! Please come take this STUFF off of my hands!” So tomorrow they will come.

Which means today, I had to lug all of those bags down the stairs and out to the garage.  All lined up like this, it looked like even more junk than I thought:

Stuff for donation

I hope they are bringing a big truck.

I am soooooo out of shape.  I mean, I already knew that, but if I needed any reminding at all, lugging a dozen (give or take) heavy bags and boxes outside, down the steps, down the front path, and into the garage was a good way to do it.  Holy cow.  I worked up enough of a sweat that I had to take a cold shower just to feel human again.

Tomorrow I hope to spend a little time in the dining room:

Dining room, you're next!

It’s probably not as hard as it looks, except for one box in the corner, which is full of all of the papers (bills, school stuff, junk mail) that I’ve been avoiding the last few days… that’s going to be a real bear to sort through, but it’s got to be done.  There are a few things I need in that pile, and I mean need, as in yesterday.

In other, less icky-housework-type news, Aidan wants me to knit him a sweater.  So, that’s cool.  Just need to find a pattern that I can do and that he’ll actually wear.  Any suggestions?

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Posted on 7 Comments

7 thoughts on “I wish I loved to clean

  1. Wait. I have to fold and put away the laundry? I knew it was too easy.

    There’s a knitting for tweens/teens group on Ravelry – there are a lot of good sweaters there. Also, Rowan patterns are great for teen boys. I can always find something I like. And I do stand by my Cobblestone recommendation. Some math, and it would be perfect.

  2. I love all the homey things like baking and needlework, but I’m with you on the cleaning! If company is on its way, I have to run around here like a dervish just getting it presentable. I try to stay on top of the junk, but it magically appears.

  3. this is the only bad thing about having animals in the house, you definitely have to vaccuum once a day, otherwise you are stepping into loads of sand on the floor. And i hate vaccuuming!!!

  4. Your post describes me to a T!!
    I’m relieved to know that I’m not the only one who lives this way. That constant want of a clean house, but the desire to not do it oneself. . .sigh. Very much so!
    Thank you for helping me feel not so alone.

    1. I’m sure there is a club somewhere we can join – we can’t be the only ones 😉

  5. I almost started crying–thanks for saying what i hate outloud! if there is a flat surface in my home it has a pile on it. not sure what my issue is. every day it is a struggle to get things done. in the home. sewing. no problem.
    we had the big truck come get 10 boxes {we moved 3 months ago} that felt lovely!!
    hey- what if you put a little table in the dining room for your sewing machine. then you wouldn’t have to clean it. see how my brain works? lol

    1. Aw, we never use the dining room for dining, anyway – I only move the sewing machine when I need the table for clay 😉
      I think a lot of us creative women have the same problem – loving the nest-feathering and decorating, but disliking the mundane and thankless act of actually keeping things neat and clean.

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