Cleaning for friends . . .

Why is it that I clean my house especially well when I know friends are coming over? I am hosting a book club tomorrow at my house. It won't be a particularly hard group to host. They are some of my closest friends. They don't expect a lot of food or fussing. Yet, I always seem to be compelled to clean just a little more thoroughly before they arrive.

I guess it's because I have a couple of friends who are especially neat and tidy. There are only rare moments that I ever see their house less than spotless. And those moments are usually short-lived. I assume that if they keep their houses that way, they probably expect other places to be equally as well-kept. In fact, I would bet that they notice when other houses aren't quite as clean. In fact, I know they do. Oh, they may not say anything, or they may even say that mess or dirt doesn't bother them. I'm not sure I buy it.

You see, several years and many kids ago, I used to be a neat-freak myself. My house was spotless any time of day, and I took great pride in that. I had a friend who was the exact opposite. I loved her to death, but was always amused at how untidy her house was. I would find myself "helping" her out when I went over for coffee. I would just quietly grab a dishcloth and start cleaning her breakfast table or maybe her counter top. Well now, the shoe is on the other foot. I find my friends quietly wiping up my counter or helping in other ways.

Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the help, but I don't want them to think I'm a slob. I'm really a neat-freak stuck inside a very over-busy, mother's body. So I clean just a little harder before people come over. I find it necessary to prove to them that the mess that normally prevails at our house has not gotten control of me. That being the mother of four is not as overwhelming as it looks. That I can handle it all and clean my own house, too. And yet, how does that make them feel, in turn? Doesn't it put the same pressure that I'm feeling right back on them?

I will never forget going into the bathroom of my neat-freak friend's home one time only to find it less than tidy. I'm not talking disgusting. There were just water marks and finger smudges here and there. The toilet paper roll was empty. The sort of stuff that happens in our homes every day. It was at that moment that I felt great relief. My friend's life was not perfectly kept . . . it was normal just like mine, complete with all of the little messes that come with it. I instantly felt a little more comfortable in her home.

This whole predicament leaves me with two choices. 1. Embrace the dust bunnies, finger smudges and piles of school papers as part of my God-given, blessed life or 2. keep on cleaning, putting on the facade of perfection that not only wears me out mentally and physically, but also puts a barrier up between my friends and me. I think I'll just clean the first floor today and call it a compromise!

A Man and His Grill

After fifteen years of loyal service, our ol' Weber grill finally bit the dust. There's something so testosterone-laden about searching for the new perfect grill. It's not about color and style as women would generally look for first. It's purely about power - in other words . . . BTUs baby!! And our new grill has plenty of them . . . 42,000 to be exact. Enough to sear any steak or burger to mouth-watering perfection. Here's a little pic of the Big Daddy cooking up some of those manly elk burgers on his new "heated up to the max" grill. Now we just have to figure out what in the world to cook on that new little side burner that comes with it!

A Day in the Life . . .

There are moments when I feel , as a stay-at-home mother, that I'm just spinning my wheels. Many days, I wonder where the time has gone and what I actually got accomplished. So, I thought I would take a few moments to really look at how I spend my time. Here was what my day looked like yesterday.

6:15am - wake up to get in those 200 ab exercises. Will it really help after four children?
6:30am - pull ham off the bone that I cooked last night for split pea soup. Added to soup and package up in containers for a family in need.
6:45am - check on Maggie to see if she's getting ready for school.
7:00am - make breakfast for Maggie and coffee for myself and JT.
7:15am - take chicken from the other pot of soup I was working on last night to de-bone it at some point for chicken noodle soup for us.
7:30am - get rest of kids up for school
7:45am - get Maggie out the door to the bus.
8:00am - get breakfast for Matthew, Mason and Molly
8:15am - clean up dishes from last night's soup frenzy.
8:30am - make sure all kids have brushed their teeth and combed their hair.
8:45am - out to the bus with kids and second cup of coffee.
9:00am - throw in a load of laundry and start folding laundry from yesterday.
9:30am - organize all car-pool rides and schedules for nightly kids' sporting events.
10:00am - clean up basement in preparation to cut large pieces of material for stage curtains at church
10:30am - Throw another load of laundry in and fold some more.
11:00am - Work on e-mail and paperwork for school.
11:45am - Get Molly off the bus
12:30pm - Friend comes over to cut the material for church . . . all 100 yards of it!
2:00pm - Take a moment to play with Molly and get a little reading in.
2:30pm - Put one more load of laundry in. Forget the folding for now. I'll do it tonight.
3:15pm - Maggie returns from school. Take time to chat with her about her day.
3:30pm - start homemade cookies for the kids and for the family in need.
4:00pm - put salad together for family in need and package up rest of dinner.
4:30pm - deliver soup, salad, biscuits and cookies to family in need.
5:30pm - quick pour cereal for my family before football practices and youth group . . . what happened to that chicken noodle soup?!
5:45pm - leave to drop Maggie off at a friend's house so that she can get to youth group on time.
6:00pm - attend Kindergarten curriculum night.
7:00pm - clean up kitchen from food prep and "dinner".
7:30pm - take a call from a friend. A welcome break in the day, except that I continued to work in kitchen while talking.
8:00pm - work on homework with boys because they "forgot" about it right after school.
8:15pm - go pick up Maggie at youth group.
8:45pm - start getting the children to bed and fill out more paperwork from school.
9:00pm - Put last load of laundry in the washer and fold the rest of the laundry.
10:00pm - Finally flop into bed to watch the RNC and finish the book that I've been reading.

Not all days are that hectic, but it's not usually too far off. I just thought I would take a moment to "toot my own horn" and also congratulate all of you mothers out there who do all this and even more without batting an eye. It is a full-time job, and you do it well. Keep up the good work! You are all amazing women!

Slip Slidin' Away

There are moments when my kids are running around the house at full tilt that I wish I could just harness all of that energy for some useful purpose. Well, it finally happened. A few months ago, my dear friend brought over a catalog with a product that she thought was perfect for me. You see, she knows me well enough to know that I hate to clean my wood floors. I can get the dusting, vacuuming and toilets done, but when it comes to that final step of cleaning the wood floors, I just crumble.

The catalog showed these wonderful slippers that you just put on your feet and glide around in. The bottom is covered with nubby micro-fiber "fingers" that sweep up all the dirt. When you're done, you just remove the bottom of the slipper, throw it in the wash, and you're ready for the next cleaning. Now, I really didn't think it was worth buying them and paying for shipping. But . . . when I saw them in the local housewares store the other day, I couldn't resist. I bought two pair. I figured I couldn't have all four kids wearing them at once, or we would have mass collisions. Notice, I did not say that I was going to wear them. I do have my fashion standards! The moment we got home, my kids fought over who got to wear them first.

Let me tell you, while I still need to mop on occasion, my wood floor is now sparkly instead of dusty. So if you happen to see a bright green or pink blur whizzing past in our house, never fear. It's just my kids doing their chores. I think I'll go sit in my chair and enjoy a cup of coffee!!

Clean up!

There's something very therapeutic for me when I have a load of laundry going before the kids even wake up in the morning. This morning was one of those mornings. Still in my jammies, drinking my first cup of coffee for the day, I took a quiet moment to fold the load in the drier from last night and get a new load going in the washer. I even had time to pre-treat stains with my favorite stain remover, Fels Naptha. It's a delightful bar of soap that seems to take out almost anything you throw at it, even set-in stains. Alright, enough of the product endorsement. Back to the story at hand!

The most exciting part was that the load going in the washer the final load. All of our laundry bins are empty and our drawers are now full again with clean, neatly folded clothes. You have to understand. This doesn't happen often in our household. With a family of six, the laundry is abundant. In fact, it is absolutely never-ending. I do okay with the washing and drying. It's the folding and putting away that I struggle with. There are many days that the kids search for clean clothes only to have me tell them, "Go look for something in the pile of clean stuff on the laundry room floor." That's where it sits until I manage to find the time to fold it and put it away. Worse yet, "Look in your dirty bin. Maybe there's something you can wear one more time before the wash!" Don't worry. I never make them turn their underwear inside-out! :)

But this morning is different. For this short time (maybe as short as one hour), I'm going to enjoy looking at my clean bins, my neatly folded stacks and breath a sigh of relief. Just wait until the kids wake up. That's when the laundry starts again! What's that I hear . . . the sound of last night's jammies hitting the bottom of the laundry basket?! Hmm . . . another day has started!