Friend: I went on strike the other day.
Me: Strike?
Friend: Yup. I didn't touch the house for an entire day. I wanted my husband to see everything I did during the day and what happens when it doesn't get done.
Me: (looking around my own rather messy house--glitter that has found it's way out of the kitchen and into every other room of the house from our art project yesterday, my kitchen floor that could use a good mopping-five times a day at least, kids toys littering the floor and two baskets of laundry that are folded but need to be put away--was I on strike too?) Oh? How did that go for you?
Friend: (chuckling) Well, I just learned that if I don't do it it will still be there later, only there will be more to clean up, so I guess I really just hurt myself.
Apparently there are no cleaning fairies that come to her house at night while she's sleeping either. :)
This got me thinking...
I've tried the whole "getting mad at Matt because he hasn't done what I wanted" thing. The problem with that is that he wasn't aware of exactly what I wanted, since I hadn't told him. I've also tried the strike thing, which only served to frustrate me more. Men don't see things the same way we do. If we want something done, we need to explicitly ask them.
Which is exactly what I did the other day with Matt. I explained my frustrations with trying to keep the house immaculate while the kids are behind me tearing it apart again (My house used to stay so clean when I worked full time!!! I had a few toys to pick up at the end of the night and that was it.), how I'm doing 6 loads of laundry (at least) a week and then folding and putting it away while he sits down to relax at the end of the night. I honestly think he doesn't realize what goes in to keeping the house clean all day and how annoying it is to watch all of your hard work go down the drain as soon as the kids are let loose.
Last night I came home to find that he had folded the laundry I did during the day AND loaded the dishwasher as well as fed the kids and cleaned it all up (which he usually does anyway) and gave Sammy a bath and put them both to bed. After he had finished all of that, he picked up the toys in the living room before sitting down to relax. Seriously, how awesome is he???
Moral of the story...I guess I need to follow the same advice that I give to Adri multiple times a day; use your words if you need something. :)
This is my excuse for not vacuuming when the kids are awake...Sam's right on top of me the entire time, inspecting the vacuum while it's going on high power. Zero fear, I tell you!
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| From Winter 2011 |
Yup, everything looks like it's in proper working order...Why the heck isn't it moving then?
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| From Winter 2011 |
Perhaps the problem lies within the bag?
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| From Winter 2011 |
Let's get this show on the road Mom! Make the vacuum move!
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| From Winter 2011 |
After Sam tired of the vacuum he decided to bring his dirty clothes hamper out into the hallway and use it as a walker...
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| From Winter 2011 |
Of course, Adri joined in when she spotted what could be potential trouble...
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| From Winter 2011 |
By the time they were done all of the clothing was thrown on the floor. Lucky Adri, she got to clean it ALL up. I think she's finally learning her lesson about making messes and having to clean them up by herself. :)
Quote of the day:
"Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing."
~Phyllis Diller
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