I am the MOM and I was here FIRST!

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I am a 44 year old mother of three children and grandmother of one. I am divorced from my children's father whom I share joint physical custody of our youngest two children with. I have been married to my fabulous husband for over 9 near-perfect years. I LOVE this man! He is a wonderful generous, affectionate, tolerant and all forgiving husband. He is also a terrific step-dad/male role model to my kids and an even better grand father to our two year old grand daughter. My oldest daughter attends college to obtain her nursing degree. She has been on her own for over three years now (no longer part of a shared custody arrangement like her brother & sister) My middle daughter is in high school and plays on the freshmen volleyball & soccer teams. She's really creative and talented. My son is in middle school and plays hockey and lacrosse. He is a sweet sensitive boy who still says "I love you Mom" frequently. I work part time running an online ebay store. I have terrific and supportive relationships with my family, friends and of course my kids. I am extremely close to my sister, my Mom and my sister-in-laws. They are my best friends.

THE JOURNAL OF MY LIFE ...


Friday, July 18, 2008

Company Inspires Cleaning

My sister and her two kids came over on Tuesday to spend the day with us. They were to arrive around 11:00am so that we could take the kids to lunch, go play a game of Lazer Tag, take a spin in the bumper cars, and then come back to my house for an afternoon in the pool.

My 15 year old daughter had done her weekly chores a couple of days earlier, but my son had not yet. So, I called him downstairs to do his part. He had to sweep and mop the kitchen (Whoever invented the Swiffer mop, I thank you from the bottom of my heart), empty all the trash cans (there are 6 of them), shake the rugs on the front porch and sweep it too.

I found myself wiping down the guest bathroom, vacuuming the living room, my office and my bedroom, cleaning the master bathroom (even though it's in our room and nobody will be using it cept hubby and me).

There was a time, back in my 20's (some 20 years ago) that my whole identity seemed to sadly revolve around a clean house. I was ridiculously obsessed with every detail. I had regular cleaning rituals each day and would get so anxious and downright crabby every time I threw a party or had company coming over. Geeze... what a looser!

I'm not that person anymore. Housework is way down on my list of priorities. I'm not a slob. Our home is always neat and I will scrub out a toilette if I've waited long enough for a ring to form, but I no longer have a cleaning day.

With the help of teenagers, the general surface housework gets done weekly around here. The kids dust, vacuum, clean their own bathroom, mop, sweep, unload/load the dishwasher, fold and put away their own clean clothes. They get paid an allowance for this and it really relieves me of a lot of work.

But thank God, we have company once in awhile, cuz it is then, that I really take a closer look at the things that may have been neglected for longer than they should have.

I should invite some friends over this weekend. The house won't be this clean for months.

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