On Teaching The Boy to Clean...

Over the weekend at Grandma's, I decided on a new tactic. Instead of waiting until the last morning to clean, I would have The Boy and Little One help me a little each day. This would spare me that awful feeling of waking up the last morning with bags to pack and a house to clean. One of the lovely things about going to Grandma's is that it is always in order. I make sure when we leave that the next time we come, walking in will feel like walking into a hotel. In fact, sometimes I go there and just clean in between visits just so it keeps that "perfect" feel.

When I was working full-time outside the house, I use to have a wonderful housekeeper who kept our home spotless. Now that I am home, I feel that should be my responsibility. Therefore, our home is not spotless....more like "lived in". It is always clean, but with 2 active kids and a husband who loves to create his own little oasis on the couch at night (diet coke cans, pretzel boxes, socks, shoes, computer, newspapers....the list goes on and on)....it retains more of a "lived in" look.

Anyway, back to the story. When I told the kids my idea, there were collective sighs. Cleaning is not high on either of their lists. Little One is actually a stellar little worker, inheriting that gene from her Italian Grandma. Nobody could clean like Grandma. If I assign a task to Little One, and tell her it must be perfect...she is fully capable of doing it. Now...The Boy is another story. Let me say up front that he is not a slob. He is always clean himself, and he likes his surroundings to be clean...however, he likes his mom to do this for him. But if called on to make his bed, he can manage to make it look made (comforter pulled up to top..pillow flufffed). However, the bathroom is another story. I was determined to teach him how to do it. We started with the sink. I showed him how to spray the disinfectant around and wipe it out. His first problem was that he does most chores with one hand in his pocket. I explained this would be a "2 handed " chore. Next we moved on to the toilet. I showed him how it was done...and he shook his head violently. "I just can't do that". Fine, I called to Little One, who came running with her supplies and accomplished the task in a few minutes...giving The Boy her best "boy are you a loser" look. Finally, we did the bath tub, which did not seem to gross him out as much. I left him to do the floor himself after a brief explanation. I went to clean my own room, figuring I would have to come back and clean behind him. But when I returned...lo and behold....it was sparkling. There stood The Boy with a big grin on his face, proud of how clean that darn floor was. "Not bad" he said. Well, what do you know? I told him next week we would learn laundry. I tried to explain how these skills will be helpful in college. " I'll just live at home and let you do it" he replied. "Or get my girlfriend to do it" he grinned. Uh oh. College? Girlfriend? We were going down a road I wasn't ready for .....

As we prepared to leave Grandma's, I was happy that everything looked so good..and especially happy that it had been a joint effort...I even saw The Boy throw his clean clothes in a drawer...miracles do happen...

So until tomorrow, when I will need to make an effort to get this house in the same shape....