A Week of Secrets: #4

Psssssst....I'll tell you a little secret.  But you have to promise not to tell anyone.

I don't clean my house.

Yes, it's true.  If you come to my house you will see that it is an absolute pigsty.  The bathroom needs to be cleaned.  The floor needs to be washed.  The fridge needs to be wiped out.  The windows and mirrors need to be scrubbed.  Every horizontal surface needs to be dusted.

It's not that I'm lazy.  It's not even that I'm too busy.  Although certainly having 4 kids DOES keep me busy.

I just choose to spend my time doing other things (when I'm not directly involved in an activity with my children).

Like what?  Well, I'm glad you asked.

For one thing, I bake and cook.  A LOT.  In the last week, in addition to toast and fruit salads and assorted vegetable dishes, all of the following items came out of my kitchen:

• 6 loaves of whole wheat bread
• banana muffins, applesauce muffins and carrot muffins
• 3 pizzas made from scratch including the crust
• hamburgers with homemade buns
• meatballs in stewed tomato sauce
• strawberry jam
• a cake with icing
• egg-free cupcakes with icing
• curry chicken
• guacamole
• cilantro salad
• fresh pesto
• bean soup

So I do spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

I also tend to be pretty meticulous about my laundry.  I hang out as much as I can on the clothesline.  I wash diapers twice a week.  I fold every little shirt and skirt and dress and bib with tender loving care and place each item neatly back in its home in the dresser or on the shelf.  It takes time, but laundry is one of my favourite activities.

And finally, I spend a lot of time doing my own thing.  I put on makeup.  I read the newspaper.  I check my email.  I run.  I talk to Partner-Guy.  I hold the baby while he sleeps.  It's a good life, I tell ya!  And I sure don't stress about the cleanliness of my toilet!

That being said, if I know that I am having a visitor, I do clean the house.  It takes about half an hour.

• clean the bathroom (5 minutes)
• make the beds and put the laundry away (5 minutes)
• pick up toys and books and sweep the living room/dining room (10 minutes)
• wipe the counters and fill the dishwasher (5 minutes)
• sweep the kitchen and spot-clean the floor (5 minutes)

Ta Da!
That's it.  That's my definition of a clean house.

You can't eat off my floors, but if you show up at my door, I guarantee I'll be able to give you something good to eat.  On a plate.

So that's my fourth secret.  Are you ready to share some of YOUR secrets yet?
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In case you've missed some of my secrets, here they are:
Secret #1:  Un-Farming
Secret #2:  Un-Sleeping
Secret #3:  Un-Marriage