Housecleaning for Working Moms

I remember how it used to be:
When I was in medical school and people would ask, "Do you have a house cleaner? Does your husband do most of the housework?" No and No. My husband, like most husbands, enjoys mowing the lawn and is great at handy-man tasks. Although he has attempted most everything; dishes, laundry, dusting, vacuuming, grocery shopping, and cleaning toilets have never been on his regular chore list.

I remember when Alexandra was about one and I was in my third year of medical school which meant that every six weeks my schedule changed. Life was crazy and we were getting ready for a family event at our house. I was on a rotation where I had to be there at 5am to see all the patients before 7am rounds with the attending, and had to stay til every last order was signed usually 5 or 6pm. I was venting to my mother-in-law about trying to get ready for the party with such little time and she shared with me these words, "Just remember when people come to your house they'll never leave it saying Andy's a bad house keeper. They'll always say geez that Su sure has a messy house". Somehow, not the support I needed. So as usual, the house was clean before the party (probably not every closet, but at least the main house).

I vacuumed in my kids rooms while they slept. I commonly would be doing dishes with the Letterman show on in the background. For parties frosting cakes at 1am is common for working moms. When my kids took baths I cleaned the bathroom (still do). So much of what we do is multi-tasking. These days my hours are better but the number of kids to clean up after has increased. I still multi-task as much as possible. It's easy for me to play a board game and cook dinner or help with craft projects while doing dishes.

On days off when I'm trying to tackle larger projects I try to include the kids on my "fun". Last weekend on one of these endeavors I carried a bucket with soapy water into the living room armed with three rags. One for me, one for the four year old and one for the two year old (whom I thought could handle this). For the mother of four I was seriously unrealistic. What started as controlled cleaning quickly turned into puddles of water on the couch (I had just scrubbed and vacuumed), water on the hardwood floor and a two year old slipping and sliding as though he were on Funniest Home Videos. He thought it was a great game, I feared the hardwood floors would get water marks and Daddy would not take that well. Not yet entirely discouraged, we moved on. I placed the bucket out of reach and ventured forward with the vacuum and dusting cloths. Four year olds dust well with a little cloth pre-sprayed with furniture polish, and two year olds love to use the central vacuum. He was great at first vacuuming areas I pointed out while I washed windows and Morgan dusted. Then the giggling started. Luke figured out if he got the end of the vacuum near Morgan's socks it would pull at them. Ahhh the discovery of suction. In a mother-like split second I dashed for the vacuum in time to watch him suck up the dusting cloth. He laughed so hard I couldn't help but laugh too. It was also easier to laugh at after I had gone to the basement and found the green cloth at the bottom of the central vacuum canister, confirming that it had made its way through and not damaged the system. That was the final end of our attempt to clean the living room. I was defeated into a round of puzzles in the play room.

I'll have to admit although I was annoyed by my mother-in-law's comment six years ago, I know its the truth and still find myself cleaning at 1am after a long day at work, long evening at home, and house to keep clean.

"believe in your dreams for all dreams can come true"
-dr. mom of 4