Pleasantville

Upon retrieving a bowl from our fake lazy Susan cabinet, my finger stuck to the wood. Then just one step to the right, I opened the utensil drawer and my hand brushed across the grain near the handle and it was sticky--again. Related? Probably. Any less gross? No, not really.

Keeping a clean house is a challenge for me and I am a self-proclaimed neat freak and Type A personality. Everything has a place; everything in it's place. So what's the problem here? Sometimes I just get overwhelmed at the task at hand. I like the whole house to be clean and all at the same time. Therein, my friends, lies the problem. Who has the time or energy to do it and to do it well?

Let's take my kitchen as an example. I am messy around food. Chef Ramsey would complain I use too many pots, pans and mixing bowls and I am as big a mess as my surroundings. Once the meal is made I am fairly efficient at loading the dishwasher or hand-washing the big stuff. I'll even wipe down the counter tops; but that doesn't make the kitchen clean. The single man who remodeled the kitchen shortly before selling was brilliant in choosing a white corian counter top. White, really truly? The stainless steel appliances were a beautiful choice too--unless you have children who think it is their job to keep the fingerprints freshly adhered to them.  Even our back splash is stainless steel. Impossible to keep clean.

Walking across our ceramic tile floors your toes will collect a plethora of food particles, dried bird droppings, dust bunnies, etc. The list of possibilities is endless. How often do you move your refrigerator and stove out to clean behind and beneath them? Good Lord, just the amount of food stuck to the sides of my appliances would feed our hamster Little Dude for days. And the inside of the oven? Self-cleaning. Uhh. not really. As duly noted above, my cabinets could really use some attention. Sticky, stained and dirty cabinet faces breed just as many germs as our frequently wiped down counter tops. When I wipe up spills I seem to catch the counter tops and the floors, not really thinking about the pretty little liquid line adhering to the cabinets on the way down. Anyone think to clean their floor boards lately? Then there's our butler's pantry. Even though it is in the kitchen, it seems to collect less food and more paper and dust dirt --that is when you can actually see the counter top. Normally it is piled high of papers, bills, school work, mail and magazines.  Our cute little white TV in the kitchen isn't so white anymore. Years of neglect has tinged it an ugly little shade of  dust. No matter how much I work for it to regain its beauty and crispness, it's just gone, gone, gone.

Back to the bigger picture. We have an average sized home at roughly 2,000 square feet with 2 1/2 baths, 4 bedrooms. That is still a lot of house to keep clean, much less be diligent enough that all the bathrooms, bedrooms and floors are clean at the same time.  Cleaning service? The thought makes me laugh--not that I am not totally in support of it for my ever-growing group of friends who use them. Most of the women I know who use a cleaning service are full time stay at home moms. No judgment coming from me. I tried to get my husband on board with that one, but alas, he couldn't wrap his head around the idea that someone who doesn't "work" can't make the time to keep house. His suggestion was to cut back on my other commitments. Point made but when the activities often revolve around the kids, I have to wonder what exactly should I not be doing in their lives, something that I can actively give up. I don't think that cleaning should trump being present in the midst of the Fall Party, or taking Elise to a Kid's in the Kitchen class. Granted, I get busy filling roles within the school, church or cub scout pack where there is a need. I have found that "high profile" involvement helps you know what's going on in your child's life--getting to know the other families while serving. Even when I am crunching numbers for the fundraiser, which doesn't directly involve my son, I am gaining a sense of community and of the families I do and do not want my son to know better. Believe me, if my husband would agree to just once a month cleaning service, I'd be like a flea on a doggie.  I won't be holding my breath on that one, though.

I daresay my house is more neat and orderly than clean, which is totally not the way it should be. I suppose I am in the mindset that if the piles are minimum, the toys are put away, and dishes in the dishwasher then I can call my house clean. Just don't do the finger test to see whether I've dusted any time in the last week. Just thought I'd put this out there for anyone who in recent weeks have given me accolades to being a Superwoman (Supermom, Superwife), amazing and high-energy. I appreciate the kudos--really I do--please don't stop believing the best in me because I truly do my best to do it all--and well.  I need to know I am not alone.

But if you'll excuse me, I think I have a cabinet or two to wipe down before my company arrives!