Sham-Meh

(Another fabulous guest post today! This one is from my friend, Trish, out in California. I'll repay her with Harry Connick Jr. paraphernalia.)

I was lucky enough, for the first 8 years we owned a home, to afford a housekeeping service. As a full-time working mom to 3 busy kids, I loved that 2 times a month, my house got back to a “starting point”. Not to mention I didn’t have to scrub toilets anymore. I let most of my cleaning products and utensils go without replacing them, and felt good about it. In fact, on one of those “25 Things About Me” Facebook posts, I wrote, “I don’t own a mop, and I have no plans to buy a mop. But I would kill for a Sham-Wow.”

 

But then… a state budget crisis, and my teacher-husband and I were suddenly taking furlough days (read: Salary Reduction) and losing our stipends (read: Continue to coach like you’ve been doing, but we’re paying you less than ½ what we did for the past 17 years). Add that to the rising costs of our children, and we had to cut back… the first thing to go was the housekeepers. :::sigh:::

 

But ok! MILLIONS of women work outside the home AND manage to keep said home clean. Lesser women than I have done it, plus I have a wonderful husband who does as much, if not more, housework than I do. How hard could this be?

 

Without a mop.

 

Did I mention I have 800 sq. feet of tile downstairs? And 2 bathrooms upstairs? And 2 teenage/young adult sons at home?

 

I bought a Swiffer Wet system. I bought sponges. I didn’t throw out my broom. I thought this experiment would work. My kids aren’t THAT messy, are they? If we spill something, we can clean it up, right? Do I really NEED a mop? Tell me I don’t have to go buy one, please?

 

Oh. My. God. What messy people we are! What are those spots in front of the couch? Do we really spill THAT much in front of the fridge? And the random hallway splotch… what IS it?

 

I lasted 6 months without a mop. It was hard to spend $20 at the market on one (so many choices!!), but I couldn’t do it any longer. And it’s now been almost 5 years without housekeepers, and it’s all I dream about, sometimes. I cannot wait for the day when my personal budget allows me to call someone to pick up my stuff and clean those damn counters and MOP MY FLOORS. And, um, hello, baseboards? What the heck?

 

So, my experiment was a bust, I’m sorry to say. Can’t have a home without a mop, apparently. Lesson learned. Oh, and that Sham-Wow I wanted so desperately? Has been rechristened, “Sham-Meh”.