Should it take 3 hours to mop?

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... :-)

Marrying a Wisconsin Girl

> Three men were sitting together bragging about how they had
> given their new wives duties.
>
>
>
> The first man had married a woman from Louisiana and
> bragged he had told his wife she was going to do all the
> dishes and house cleaning. He said it took a couple days but
> on the third day he came home to a clean house and the
> dishes were done.
>
>
>
> The second man had married a woman from Florida. He bragged
> he had given his wife orders that she was to do all the
> cleaning, dishes and the cooking. On the first day he
> didn't see any results, but the next day it was better.
> By the third day, his house was clean, the dishes were done
> and he had a huge dinner on the table.
>
>
>
> The third man married a girl from Wisconsin. He told her
> that her duties were to keep the house clean, dishes washed,
> lawn mowed, laundry washed and hot meals on the table for
> every meal. He said the first day he didn't see
> anything, the second day he didn't see anything but by
> the third day most of the swelling had gone down and he
> could see a little out of his left eye; enough to fix
> himself a bite to eat, load the dishwasher and telephone a
> landscaper.
>
>
>
> Gotta love those Wisconsin girls .....
>
>

Looing back, looking ahead

Tis the season for reflection. Looking back on this year, I can't believe how fast days have gone by. The kids have grown in feet, not inches, the school year is flying by and we have a whole new year to look forward to. I am not one to set resolutions. Too much pressure! I like to take each day as it comes and make a to do list. Mini resolutions I guess. That is enough for me! Now if I can actually get those things done, that would be an improvement already!

Really?!? Bacon...

I have to wonder..

what a grown man not to be named (My dad) was thnking when he gave my sick son bacon while at his house. Now, I understand he didn't have me with him when I was sick as a child but, just plain common sense tells you, bacon is not a good choice when you have puked in the last 24 hours. I highly doubt that he would eat bacon in the same situation.

Thus my mantra that the first response to ANY request a child gives should be NO! Giving kids what they want is not always a good idea even if you feel sorry for them. Just ask the wall, the carpet and the dresser that had a side of bacon with chicken noodle soup on them. Notice I didn't say the garbage can next to the bed???

I'm not sure if I am more annoyed and the giving of bacon or that it is going to take me a bit to think bacon is a good thing to eat again. I am now regretting my lunch choice as well. After playing in the bacony cesspool on the floor, I am sure some of those germs have found their way into my system. I don't want to see my mexican chicken again. Please.

Love your state... even Wisconsin, in winter

This was sent to me by my friend Jill who lives in California. Her son wrote it for a creative writing assignment. I'm posting it as we brace for a foot or more of snow tonight. Maybe we all need to look at it from the eyes of a child... he will be jealous of the fun to be had!!! Anyone want to send them the snow??? She did send me a picture of some snow they have gotten on the mountains. I don't know that I feel too sorry for them though!


Wisconsin Poem
It' s Winter in Wisconsin
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At twenty-five below
Oh, how I love Wisconsin
When the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut
Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave Wisconsin
'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!!!

Clean Fun

Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering.

Finally fed up, God said, 'THAT'S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job.' So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.

They moused.

They faxed.

They e-mailed.

They e-mailed with attachments.

They downloaded.

They did spreadsheets!

They wrote reports.

They created labels and cards.

They created charts and graphs.

They did some genealogy reports They did every job known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than Hades.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off.

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld.

Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers. Satan started searching frantically, screaming 'It's gone! It's all GONE! 'I lost everything when the power went out!' Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work.

Satan observed this and became irate.

'Wait!' he screamed. 'That's not fair! He cheated! How come He has all His work and I don't have any?' God just shrugged and said,
'JESUS SAVES'

Brain Power

I have no brain power this week... literally

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