Three hours is not a normal amount of time it should take to mop the floors but that is just what happened today...
It all started because the older kids were going to be gone for the afternoon thru dinner and it was close to the baby's nap time. The floor was trashed as usual and Madaleine sealed the deal when she dumped her mac n cheese on the floor. I figured since the kids were gone, I could clean it quickly and it would stay clean for longer that 5 minutes because they weren't there to dump things on it. I am hoping for at least 15 hours or so. Although it's raining so that may be a bit of a lofty goal anyhow.
Before they left I asked the kids to pull all the chairs out of the dining room and kitchen and pick up rugs. While they were doing that I started wiping down all the counters and wondered why there was toast crumbs everywhere when we didn't have toast. I loaded the dishwasher- actually unloaded the reloaded to be precise and got it running. Then I sent them downstairs to pick up all the stuff on the floor so I could do those too. Two minutes later I had to call them back down and find out why only 1/2 the pillows were picked up by the child who was told to do so... "I only picked up the ones that I put on the floor. I didn't do take down the rest so why should I pick them up?" Insert 5 minute speech here about doing it because I told her to and that I do plenty of cleaning up of messes I didn't make and would she like to start doing more...
Time for the "helpers" to go... Time for the serious quick mopping so I could do something "fun" while they are gone like bead or scrapbook or play scrabble. In theory that is. Oh wait, where did the little hairy escape artist go? Yes, outside in the rain. I tripped over a couple hundred shoes that were supposed to be on the shoe shelf on the way in. closed all the doors that were left open by the older kids and turned on Clifford. (Note to self, we should really donate to PBS since we don't have cable available out here in the boonies.) It was almost time for bed but I just knew I could finish sweeping before then.
After I searched down the broom, I started to sweep and noticed that the laundry baskets were full and since they were in the way of mopping it was time to start a load of wash. When I went to get the rest from the chute, it was jammed and I had to go upstairs and smash it down with a hanger. While I was up there I noticed the cat box needed to be cleaned and thought I may as well do it so the floor could be swept after. I noticed an empty toothpaste box and made a mental note to find the toothpaste that was likely with the 2 yr old anything minty clepto. She has resorted to hijacking the toothpaste every chance she gets since I wised up and no longer keep gum in my purse. Then I came down, started the laundry and went to wash my hands... you guessed it, the soap was full of water but no soap and there were no towels. Took care of that and went back to sweeping. I went pick up the cat food bowls and noticed they had no food or water and the food bin was empty. Filled everything up and went to throw out the food bag and noticed that the garbage was almost full. So, off to get the rest of the garbage cans. I actually got done sweeping at this point and if you have ever tried to sweep up mac n cheese, you know this was not an easy task. Good thing there was enough debris to stick on the noodles to get them to roll. ( Don't judge it could be you next week.)
With sweeping done, I went to fill up my industrial sized mop bucket. It is kind of nostalgic, like the kind I used at McD's back in the day. Hey, I am no mopping slacker and I have the old name tag with the mop sticker on it to prove it. This is why this job really should be such a breeze, I am a pro. When I went to get the ammonia to do the floors I discovered that there was just a splash left in the bottle. So then I had to decide what else I could mix in there that wouldn't cause a caustic chemical reaction and make me pass out although by this point, I could use a nap. Finally found something that didn't have bleach in it and got ready to mop. Then I heard the washer beep that it was done so I went to switch the loads. Back to the mop but then I noticed that the toilet was not so fresh looking and why have a clean floor if the rest of the bathroom is gross so off to clean the bathrooms... who wanted that many bathrooms in the first place??? When I was done with that I realized that Madaleine should have been in bed and hour ago and she needed a new diaper. Bad. Off to bed for her and was rather jealous. Went to wash my hands in the closest bathroom and yes, no soap... Filled that up and decided to check them all this time. Then I decided to get the upstairs bathroom mopped first even though I was just up there taking Madaleine to bed. Should have brought the mop then too... Finally one room done. Before going down, I turned off all the lights the kids left on and headed down for the next room.
Down to the basement. Oh, I forgot to sweep that area. Back up for the broom and dustpan. Who then do I see coming down the steps? The escape artist. Apparently the door was not shut tight. "whatcha doing momma, moppin?" Back up the 2 flights of stairs and a very good click of the door and back to work.
At this point I considered changing the mop water because it was a bit icky but, remembered I was now out of all cleaners. I forged ahead but was feeling a bit hot and I don't do hot so I had to stop and turn the AC temp lower. Hey, I turned off those lights so it is a wash on the bill. The floors are done... victory. Now I just have to put all the chairs back, shake out the rugs before I put them back, switch the laundry, decide if the laundry is being put away today and decide what is for dinner.
I am going to print this out and hang it on the door so that when Louie comes home from work and asks if I enjoyed my kids free time I don't have to muster up the energy to speak. It will also prevent the dangerous question of what did you do today? I don't want to have to clean the floors again... :-)
