Philosophical Monday: Cleaning

Don’t drop dead of shock, but I’ve found a new passion: cleaning. Yes, I said, cleaning. Did I just hear the thumps of several of my IRL friends as their bodies hit the floor. Dangit, I told you NOT to drop dead of shock.

Let me explain how this all came about. First, due to a series of events that I won’t go into, we fired our increasing flaky bi-monthly housekeeper. Then after reading APARTMENT THERAPY, I came up with a simple plan to to keep our home clean. Simply vacuum and mop downstairs on Sundays, vacuum and mop upstairs on Mondays, pick up our room on Wednesdays, clean Betty’s room on Thursdays, no housework on Fridays or Saturdays.

The minute you start feeling resentful or annoyed, I told myself, pick up the phone and call in a maid service.

But to my great surprise, I didn’t feel resentful or annoyed. Here was the dealy, I got 30-60 minutes to myself after dinner (my MIL gladly volunteers to sit with Betty while I do this) to exercise in a way that didn’t really feel like exercise. Then when I was done with my cleaning for the day, I got the extra thrill of having accomplished a small, but meaningful task.

So as often happens with me, my passing interest juggernauted into complete fascination. So  I ordered REAL SIMPLE: CLEANING from the library, a book about how to REALLY clean your house with natural or at the very least non-toxic products. I couldn’t wait to try it out.

But then I was informed that I shouldn’t do anything even slightly strenuous until we found out whether I’m pregnant or not. I thought I would miss the picking my daughter up the most — and indeed I do for both emotional and convenience reasons. But I also found myself daydreaming about how I would clean the entire house to battle depression if it turns out I’m not pregnant, and how I’ll clean the entire house as a celebration if it turns out I am pregnant. And when I say, daydreaming, I really mean fantasizing. I look at the kitty litter on our bathroom floor and see myself handvacuuming it up. I mentally growl a promise at the slight ring around my tub that it will be eliminated by Wednesday night. I sneak and clean the sink with Method after brushing my teeth, just because I can do it under my current physical restrictions.

I find myself intensely missing my cleaning schedule. I think it’s good when going through a process as uncertain as IVF and pregnancy to have something that’s completely within your control. Strange but true, cleaning has become not only my new hobby, but also a true solace.

Now, I just have to find out whether I’m pregnant or not. We get the results today, and I’ll let you know either way tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

featured image credit: The Shopping Sherpa