The stomach flu having come, and mostly gone is giving me a great chance to reflect on things I don't normally notice:
1. Cleaning jobs have a pecking order around here: Hazmat and biohazard, other wet cleanup, dishes, laundry, toys and general cleanup, vacuuming, kitchen cleaning, bathroom cleaning.
On biohazard: I didn't know that I could wake from a deep sleep at 11:30pm to clean an entire bathroom, bathe a vomiting Tiger, prep his bed for reentry, dress and readmit him to bed in less than an hour. Thanks also to Tiger, the downstairs bathroom also got a good cleaning.
On dishes: I don't like doing dishes. I don't. I tend to avoid it until necessary (I tend to unload, load, and run in one shot.) Yet I find myself willingly doing them before most other things which I enjoy doing significantly more. I have found that I dislike "shopping" for a clean dish in the dishwasher more than I dislike "shopping" for clean clothes in a laundry basket (folded or unfolded). I dislike dishes that have sat in the dishwasher more than a day. Laundry, on the other hand, waits patiently in the basket to be hidden away in its designated recesses. Staleness, here, is not a problem (though wrinkles tend to be). Though, the thing that makes me do dishes the most is not being able to use (and being forced to clean, or substitute another for) the one I want because it is waiting to be washed.
On Laundry: I don't mind (and sometimes enjoy) the rhythm brought to a day by the regular loading and unloading of mechanized textile cleaning apparatuses. I like the sound of my top-load washer doing all the hard scrubbing (and I know, 'cause I did it by hand at one point in my life). I don't love folding, nor do I even like it, but I choose it. Rather, I choose something I want to watch while I fold the mountain I made during my weekly laundry dance. I like having folded/sorted clothes to choose from even if they hide in their basket for a few days (or until the next laundry day-but I try to avoid that).
On toys and general cleanup: I try to pick up the toys once a day or less, and let my kids do it (with much provocation) to do it the rest of the time. I keep my house moving, without keeping it super clean. As long as ALL the toys aren't out, I can deal with a fleet of 20 or 30 cars lined up nicely. Likewise all the blocks are fine if it doesn't also include all the trains and all the balls.
On vacuuming: I like to vacuum. Mostly I like to use
my vacuum. But I hate picking up all the toys and clutter just to have the kids go behind me while I am vacuuming and make a mess either before or after I have vacuumed. Sometimes I make a game of it pretending the vacuum is going to suck up all the toys left on the floor, but then I am focused on the game and not on adequately vacuuming. Finding things I missed after I put the vacuum away is almost as annoying as messes being made while I am cleaning up. I vacuum regularly, though not as often as I would like because it is not as rewarding when the kids aren't keeping things orderly for me.
On kitchens and baths: Cleaning my kitchen and my bath aren't on my list of things I ever want to do. I do get to them when the level of uncleanliness bothers me. That is the motivating factor, period. If you would like me to do something for you, just come clean my bathroom for me. The kitchen gets cleaned more frequently because of simple math: guests are more likely to see my kitchen sink than see the inside of my shower.
2. I have always suspected that if I had not been raised to shun addictive substances I would be dead or chronically addicted to everything bad for me. Normally, I have fewer than 4 cokes/caffeinated beverages a year. After this stomach bug I just wasn't recovering enough to be a functional parent for my kids, until I had some coke. It made it all better. All better except for the staying up all night-needing caffeine to compensate for the lack of sleep-needing more to make me feel normal-needing more to make me feel almost as good as the last can cycle. I can see I need to stay away from addictive substances, and why coffee drinkers aren't functioning well until they have had their java. Please be kind while I go through withdrawl.
3. Mac can be happy all day if fed and napped at appropriate times and placed in a room with lots of his toys and his brothers. Not having him constantly crying for attention when I was feeling dead was great.
4. Losing 5 pounds overnight is possible, while remaining somewhat hydrated. Though I wouldn't recommended it. And it's not pleasant at all. It also makes my skinny pants fall off. It will probably make me go down a dress size or two.
and finally:
