Hell work -aka Housework

If you ever pay a visit to my house, chances are you will not fully appreciate the effort we have gone to in the hour of panic before you arrive.

I’ve never been a Monica about cleaning, it doesn’t fill me with glee when I see my reflection in my kitchen tiles, ( hence why I choose black stone tiles ) nor do I own any furniture that requires a lot of polishing , imagine all those extra minutes needed to clear fingerprints off said furniture.

Pre twins we kept on top of things, post twins ,hmm , can I get back to you on that one?

Working full time, twins under 3 and limited hours in the evenings and weekends to have quality family time means something has to slip and the choice is obvious. I know others would be driven demented that my walls in my dining room have seen better days and I will admit I am very close to admitting defeat that they do need to be repainted but spending time going for walks with the kids and making memories wins every time.

Maybe I can choose the Spaghetti Bolognaise colour from the paintshop colour card ,such is the desire of the kids to redecorate for us. Maybe by already having the walls in that lovely shade of mincey orange it will encourage them to just fill their stomachs!

I know from talking with friends though I am not alone, there are in fact homes all over Ireland any beyond I am sure that are groaning under the weight of the laundry, have dishes that pile up by 11am and again around 630pm.

I know there are other mothers and fathers out there wondering when next door managed to sneak their washing into their dirty laundry pile such are the mountains of clothes that appear to be washed and even worse have to be put away.

We have also debated hiring a cleaner just for the stuff you never seem to get around to often enough but then I hear from friends how they clean before the cleaner comes and that makes me stress even more at the thoughts of having more time taken from me to dedicate to cleaning.

Believe it or not this was the result of one average day of washing in our household. Out of shot was an already filled freshly dried washbasket of clothes.  I was so fecked off at the amount of hanging up and folding ahead of me, the next two clean loads were momentarily dumped on the hall floor straight from the dryer door.  My hallway is literally the back room of a laundrette. The worktop in my utility beside my washing machine and dryer which is meant to negate the need for the washing to vomit out into the hall has bundles of shite on it .

While we are on it, I also need to question what the crap is that is in the utility room. I only scrubbed there 3 weeks ago , clearing a path , tidying what had to remain there , making space, yet somehow its full again……. I’m onto those neighbours !

Between working full time, cooking, feeding, bath time, playing with the kids, maybe going to the toilet in between, there is little time left for house work.  There will be plenty of years ahead when I will look back and wish my kids were playing in the same room as I struggle to keep clean. I will look back with watery eyes when I don’t step on a toy animal or car, eyes being watery from sadness with a tinge of the memory of the pain of stepping on those toys!

The house will survive, we will continue to panic every now and again and go off in a mad frenzy cleaning windows and defrosting the freezer but as the kids are now more than happy to play with water and buckets of suds I can see the light through the windows the twins will be more than happy to help mammy and daddy clean. It’s good to pass on these skills anyway isn’t it 😉

So when you come to visit, look beyond the fingerprints on the glass doors ( I somehow always forget those doors!). Turn your head away from the possible piles of never ending laundry , now you know I have already hung up four loads of clean clothes and appreciate that at least there is space for you to sit on the couch which was smeared in breadcrumbs and banana skins half an hour earlier. I will do my best to ensure there isn’t a toy lurking down the cushion to cause damage when you sit down.