I was fortunate enough to be raised in a home that had a
full-time “happy homemaker,” and so I grew up in a house where there were
regular meals, home baking, clean sheets, vacuumed carpets, washed floors and
walls, sparkling windows, folded laundry, a fridge and cupboards bulging with
groceries that someone else did the weekly shopping for, and so on. I lived a
life of luxury, though didn’t realize it. It was just the way things were in
the home my parents provided, and I took these things for granted. I wanted for
nothing.
Now I live in a house where there is no happy homemaker.
There is just me, who likes a neat and tidy place because that’s the
environment she grew up in, but doesn’t want to put in all the time necessary,
herself, to make and keep it so. I
do the bare minimum required in order to meet my own relatively low standards,
which would probably embarrass my mother.
Today, my first day off after three days at work, I have
just spent an hour (the first of the weekend) doing the housework required for
me to spend the next few days in an environment that is pleasant and
comfortable. I have no choice; it’s that or live in a sty. Someone has to
change the sheets and throw my clothes and towels into the washer. Someone has
to wash, dry and put away the dishes. Someone has to pick things up and set the
roomba going and clean its brushes afterward. Someone has to. My domestic servant is me.
So, one hour down and I’m taking a wee breather before
tackling the next sinkful of dirty dishes. It’s not terrible drudgery when I’m
not rushing through it. When I listen to favourite music or turn on CBC Radio
and don’t hurry, hurry, hurry to get the chores over with, it’s actually not
too terrible. If I don’t think about things I’d rather be doing, I can cope
without impatience. If I try, I can take a lame, relieved pride in a job well
done. Okay: done. Okay: half done. Whatever.
Might as well get back at it. Once the kitchen is clean, I can mess it up again.
 |
| From the back step. |
I only remember coming home from school twice and mom not being there. A whole foreign concept to many of today's children.
ReplyDeleteSharyn
Listening to the CBC can help get the chores done. Well for me anyway. I also grew up in a home with everything taken care of. I helped do the dishes and kept my room clean. On my own, as an adult, it is very often difficult to find the motivation to keep my home sparkling clean. I do what is necessary until, well, I have to do a thorough cleaning. I guess I didn't inherit that gene.
ReplyDeleteI love your picture. Here's hoping soon all the white stuff will be gone and the green stuff will begin to emerge again.
Enjoy your time off from working so hard.
I don't love housework, but I have a plan that works for me. I do the things I don't like doing firtst thing. I didn't do it consciously when there were kids living here---it was the effective way to get through the day, and it stayed my habit. Living in a condo certainly helps. I've lived and woked in and from a 4 storey house so I can be fully aware of the difference. One of the hard differences is that I don't have all the things I used to love...and of course, one of the easy ones is the same thing.
ReplyDeleteBeing old and living in a condo can turn a regular person into a self-righteous Pollyanna. Carry on.
Our views do compensate, don't they.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in homemaker heaven too, I never gave a thought to the labour that went behind all of it when living there.
I'm still allergic to housework and get distracted as I drift around. So someone comes in every few weeks who shovels me out and has a good handle on the place and charges me a pittance though I compensate her in other ways as well.
XO
WWW