All You Do Is Clean

CJ stayed home from work sick the other day. He was actually recooperating from a restless night that resulted from what we think may have been some bad KFC, so he was really just resting and trying to work up the courage to eat something...anything.

The kids and I went about our normal day, which I classify like this: Wake, Eat, Play, Eat, Play, Eat, Play, Eat, Play, and Eat some more. Everything else, to me, is just the obligatory stuff that goes without saying. Of course, I try to be a diligent mom and my kids recieve balanced meals and nutritious snacks, but when you put it like that, it does sound as if I am trying to raise hogs for slaughter instead of healthy children! I digress.

Anyway, CJ observed this whole routine for the first time since we have been married. Ordinarily when he is sick, he is holed up in the bedroom and rarely sees the light of day. This day, he was on the couch and very aware of all that was going on. He informed me at dinner last night that he had come to the conclusion that aside from the required feeding rituals, all I do is clean.

Apparently, he noticed that in between all the eating, I seem to never sit down for more than a few minutes because I am constantly cleaning something or picking something up or putting something away. He noticed that I do this and all the while have a tornado following behind me creating more messes to be cleaned or put away.

I must say that I have an incredible feeling of validation right now! I just know that there have been many days that he has come home and must have wondered what in the world I had been doing all day because it certainly wasn't cleaning the house! Now he can understand that those are just the days that I can't keep up with the tornadoes! Most days when he gets home from work, the house is picked up, the dishes are done and dinner is on the table. These are the days that he must have imagined that I actually stopped watching tv long enough to get something done. Or perhaps, in his obliviousness that is "man", he thinks that supervising the children and keeping a house is effortless. Yeah, riiiight. Now he knows.

Now for all of you out there that are married or in a relationship with a man, you know that their memories are about as long as a yardstick cut in half; so I don't expect my validation to continue indefinately. But I am reveling it in right now while it lasts!