Oh, the Lovely Suds!

One common misconception about slobs is that we don’t like to clean.

I can’t speak for all slobs . . . but I actually enjoy cleaning. It’s the supply-gathering, time-designating, counter-unearthing that I don’t like.

But give me a personal assistant who keeps track of the mop and bucket, puts away the clean dishes and folds all of our family’s clothes . . . and I could totally win a cleaning challenge.

This morning, after emptying the dishwasher, I was washing the big dishes from last night. (Don’t worry, I’m fully aware that leaving the big stuff for the next morning is not ideal, but it’s how I’ve done it for the past year and it generally works for me.) I started running some hot water in the sink and took special joy in using my sprayer to create lots of beautiful white suds.

Joy.

In cleaning.

Yep, and I’m a slob.

I also thoroughly enjoyed mopping this morning. Since mopping was an educational job for the boys during the Summer of Clean, it needed some special attention. I worked up a sweat and may have even smiled when a little scrubbing caused what I had been assuming for weeks were “natural imperfections in my tile” . . . to magically disappear.

I like having my hands in warm sudsy water. I like seeing a white plate appear from under a blotch of red spaghetti sauce. I like mopping every single square of the kitchen tile.

When I let the dishes get out of control, I miss out on this joy. Frustration takes the joy away when I’ve had to wade through who-knows-what just to get the sink empty enough to be able to run water in it. One pot at a time is fun to wash. Balancing it on top of 23 others, trying to maneuver it under the faucet to rinse without sending something tumbling . . . not so fun.

When I can’t get all the way under the table to mop because the top is too cluttered to be able to put the chairs on it, the joy is squelched by the nagging knowledge that even after all this work, the floor won’t be completely clean.

I’ve got to focus on the joy part. Maybe that way, I’ll be inspired to be consistent with the stuff that makes the joy possible.