Spring Hasn't Sprung (But My Mind Might Have)

I always feel like my house isn't clean enough. I have this fear of people coming over and thinking my house is dirty or feeling scared to sit on my couch in case leftover snacks come out from under the cushions to attack them. Everywhere I look I see dust, dirt, food smears and toy debris. The floors (especially in the dining room area) have a fine layer of flung food and dog spit lick marks on them. It doesn't seem to matter how much I mop, the floor never looks clean.

Lately the sun has been shining full force in the windows, especially the west facing windows in late afternoon. While it is nice to see the sun again, it's not so nice to see what those pesky and industrious spiders have been up to all winter. Those rascally critters have completely covered the corners and ceiling with dusty, stringy webs. Also? That glorious sunlight has highlighted all the dirty spots in the house.

Last week I started some spring cleaning, but today I went crazy with it. I washed walls, all the trim, the floors, doors, and everything in between. I vacuumed and dusted and scrubbed. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. I have no idea how that much food got on the walls. Oh wait. Never mind.

I had lots of help. Whenever a small part of my lap presented itself (eg. sitting on the floor scrubbing baseboards) Cailin and Bailey would climb aboard. Believe me when I say it's difficult to clean around my two favorite sidekicks. Cailin kept stealing my rag, prompting me to get her her very own. Bailey enjoyed licking my face at random intervals while I was on hands and knees scrubbing banana bread paste out from under the table. Cailin decided the best way to help was to open the dishwasher, climb in and unload the dirty dishes for me.

I was glad for naptime. I looked around and saw... a clean house (yippee!). I put my feet up and read a book. When Cailin got up, we got right back to it. Or rather, I went back to work while Cailin and Bailey feasted on banana bread. When they were done, you couldn't tell I had even washed the floor. So I washed the floor again.

For dinner I made fettucini alfredo with chicken. Cailin sat in the dishwasher the whole time and I got to make dinner in peace. However, once it was time to clean up the dishes and start the dishwasher, I had no idea how territorial she had become over her new 'toy'. As fast as I loaded the dishwasher, she unloaded it - and yelled at Bailey if she tried to lick the dirty dishes on the floor.

I shooed her out for the 486th time, poured the soap, slammed the door shut and made a big show of running the tub for bathtime. I thought she was right behind me, but I heard the dishwasher quit. I ran out to the kitchen just in time to see her dip a finger in the soap and taste it. She scrunched up her face and cried. Apparently that soap was delicious. Of course I freaked out since it's poisonous and all, so I read the back of the bottle and washed her mouth out with a baby wipe. Which prompted her to bite my finger - hard. Annnnd off to the tub with wee biter baby. Things calmed down after that. Until it was time to wash the dishes in the sink that is; but nothing a few marshmallows and cheese couldn't fix.

I realized a few things while cleaning today:

1) That strange orangey splattered substance that was everywhere? Was ketchup. The smell of wet ketchup makes me wanna barf. Just sayin'.

2) My poor house will never be as clean as it was before having kids and a husband. Sad but true, and the sooner I come to terms with this the sooner I will have some peace. And freshly washed walls look amazing. Who knew they could get that dirty that high up?

3) Gerber baby bottle caps fit into my eye sockets and send Cailin into fits of giggles. Proof I may have lost my mind. I blame cabin fever.
4) Cleaning makes Bailey extremely tired. She fell asleep while blogging.
5) Cailin will go to extreme measures to protect her dirty dishes against evil Bailey tongues and camps out with a Nerf gun in front of the dishwasher.
We've had enough cleaning for a while I think. It makes us crazy.