the operative syllable being "er"

[aryanhwy]

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the world's best housekeeper. Sure, the dishes get done on a daily basis and the trash goes out bi-weekly, and thing generally get picked up and put away to a large degree, but I'm just not the type to sweep and scrub on a regular basis. I agree with Calvin -- what's the point in doing it if you just have to do it again tomorrow? (Unfortunately, I can't find the strip I'm thinking of -- so I will instead give you this one. Not quite the same sentiment, but still a good one.) With two cats and two people with long hair, the amount of time between a thorough sweeping/mopping of the entire apartment and the reappearance of a layer of hair, fur, and cat litter is about two hours. So, (mom, don't read this) we generally end up sweeping on a bi-monthly basis...mopping on a quarterly basis...(though this doesn't count the regular scrubbing the bathroom and the bedroom get whenever a cat either misses the catbox or throws up)...and dusting probably every other year. As for the stuff under the bed? The only one who sees any of it is Widget. Much the same for the tub, sink, and toilet. If I've got a towel or washcloth that needs to go into the laundry, I'll often dampen it and run it over one of the flat surfaces in the bathroom before tossing it in the laundry basket, but the last time we scrubbed mildew was before Bernie, Rita, and Georgia came to visit last March.

Which leads me to my topic. Guests are a great impetus to cleaning. I would rather like them to think that my parents weren't horribly neglectful of my domestic upbringing. xrian arrives tomorrow, the start of her Netherlands/Germany trip before she gives a talk on rosaries in Leiden at a one day workshop on prayerbeads at the end of the month. In honor of this, I've just finished a thorough sweeping of the apartment (the kind where you pick up everything off the floor, even the medium size pieces of furniture, and even try to dislodge some of the stuff under the bed); when Joel gets home, he gets to mop before we put everything back. And over the last week I've half-heartedly gotten out the scrubbrush at the end of every bath, and tackled various bits of the tiling in the bathroom. I'm not looking for perfection; it's not worth it. It may not be 100% "clean", but it's cleaner, and "er" is all I'm looking for right now.

EDIT: Found it! Calvin expresses my views on various household chores.

Comments

[tedeisenstein.livejournal.com]

....why eat? You'll only get hungry again.....

:-)

[aryanhwy.livejournal.com]

Ah, but eating is pleasurable and enjoyable! I can't really say that about, e.g., scrubbing mildew out of grout.

[tedeisenstein.livejournal.com]

Some people can, though. Removing mildew results in a nice, clean, sparkling field of tile, producing a sense of satisfaction that, where once there was icky ugliness, there now is a vision of cleanliness and shininess.

....and as an occasional scrubber of mildew myself, there is a certain Zen in doing a mundane and thoroughly quotidien job well. It's possible to attain a certain balance when you're, oh, polishing silver, doing cross-stitch, cleaning grout, replacing old engine oil with new engine oil - anything that requires handwork and a bit of thinking, that leaves the rest of the mind to fly into Otherness.

I'm starting to channel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which, on the whole, does have its faults, but in the one regard of doing minor tasks well, regularly, and in Right Thinking, comes close to goodness.

on another note...

[(Anonymous)]

The first Calvin and Hobbes was hilarious. That is so where I'm living my life right now. Owen's friend (both just 3 years old) from church is newly potty trained, and on Sunday last week when I asked him how it was going, he proudly pulled down his pants so I could see the soccer underpants he was wearing. His dad was pretty much mortified. I, however, told him how exciting it was that he wears big boy underpants. Ahhh. These are the days. ;)

Andrea