I’m Weird-Post #1
Lately I’ve been contemplating my “weirdness.” And, as the post title implies, it’s going to take more than one post to explain. (Besides, Kaylee informed me that my posts are “much too long.”) So what’s weird about me? Well, I don’t “like” to do the things that “mormon moms” are supposed to like to do. (See the “about me” part of this blog.) Now I don’t totally “hate” these things either, and I can sew and cook (and I bought a book on canning-I figure I’m smart enough to figure it out if I ever have to), but given a choice, these are not things that I choose to do for fun. Sewing projects seem to me something to “get done” so I can relax and do “something fun.” And when I cook, I can hardly wait to get the cooking done, so that I can clean up the mess. Which brings me to the first weird thing about me. I LOVE to clean. I like cleaning bathrooms. I find great satisfaction in scrubbing the crevices of small appliances with toothbrushes, and when I figured out that a “vinegar soak” would remove the grime from the little indentations in the bottom of the my textured fiberglass tub, you would have thought I won the lottery. (Ok, so maybe I wasn’t THAT excited, but it was a pretty great day.) I have to control my urge to clean, and for the sake of my marriage have had to learn to live with the “stacks of things” which my husband leaves around and then accuses me of moving. (FYI: Technically, I don’t “move” them; I put them “away” in very “logical” locations.) (I confess that sometimes when he goes to work, I move one of his “dining room table stacks” and stash it in a closet, so that I can enjoy a clean dining room table, and then I put it back on the table right before he gets home.) Also having 4 kids in 5 ½ years, helped me to keep things in perspective. (With 4 pre-schoolers, no matter how much one LIKES a clean house, things are not always super tidy.) And also let me state the follow disclaimer: should you happen to stop by, you may just find a pile of shoes inside the front door, dirty socks on the floor, and dishes in the sink. (I can’t always keep up with 3 teenagers either.) But a really good day, is one where I can start cleaning the kitchen and spend 3 hours doing it, if I want to. (I love to start in one corner and work my way around, scrubbing out and straightening cupboards and drawers, cleaning out the fridge, and doing the stove and microwave.) Luckily I usually have obligations (like I have to be somewhere) that keep me from becoming too obsessive/compulsive-, so I have to settle for dishes done and floor mopped before I leave. (Yes, I mop EVERY day. But lest you think I’m really weird-I only remove the kitchen chairs once a week. The other days, I just mop around them.) And a really, REALLY good day is when after 3 hours of cleaning, resulting in a sparkling kitchen, no one enters the minute after the freshly mopped floor dries to make a snack or bake cookies. So now that I’m 40+ I’m finally learning to embrace my “weirdness,” and not try to hide the fact that “sewing and cooking” are not really my “thing,” and guess what? that’s all right; my children are still clothed, and they are fed a good home-cooked meal each...correction, most nights.
Lately I’ve been contemplating my “weirdness.” And, as the post title implies, it’s going to take more than one post to explain. (Besides, Kaylee informed me that my posts are “much too long.”) So what’s weird about me? Well, I don’t “like” to do the things that “mormon moms” are supposed to like to do. (See the “about me” part of this blog.) Now I don’t totally “hate” these things either, and I can sew and cook (and I bought a book on canning-I figure I’m smart enough to figure it out if I ever have to), but given a choice, these are not things that I choose to do for fun. Sewing projects seem to me something to “get done” so I can relax and do “something fun.” And when I cook, I can hardly wait to get the cooking done, so that I can clean up the mess. Which brings me to the first weird thing about me. I LOVE to clean. I like cleaning bathrooms. I find great satisfaction in scrubbing the crevices of small appliances with toothbrushes, and when I figured out that a “vinegar soak” would remove the grime from the little indentations in the bottom of the my textured fiberglass tub, you would have thought I won the lottery. (Ok, so maybe I wasn’t THAT excited, but it was a pretty great day.) I have to control my urge to clean, and for the sake of my marriage have had to learn to live with the “stacks of things” which my husband leaves around and then accuses me of moving. (FYI: Technically, I don’t “move” them; I put them “away” in very “logical” locations.) (I confess that sometimes when he goes to work, I move one of his “dining room table stacks” and stash it in a closet, so that I can enjoy a clean dining room table, and then I put it back on the table right before he gets home.) Also having 4 kids in 5 ½ years, helped me to keep things in perspective. (With 4 pre-schoolers, no matter how much one LIKES a clean house, things are not always super tidy.) And also let me state the follow disclaimer: should you happen to stop by, you may just find a pile of shoes inside the front door, dirty socks on the floor, and dishes in the sink. (I can’t always keep up with 3 teenagers either.) But a really good day, is one where I can start cleaning the kitchen and spend 3 hours doing it, if I want to. (I love to start in one corner and work my way around, scrubbing out and straightening cupboards and drawers, cleaning out the fridge, and doing the stove and microwave.) Luckily I usually have obligations (like I have to be somewhere) that keep me from becoming too obsessive/compulsive-, so I have to settle for dishes done and floor mopped before I leave. (Yes, I mop EVERY day. But lest you think I’m really weird-I only remove the kitchen chairs once a week. The other days, I just mop around them.) And a really, REALLY good day is when after 3 hours of cleaning, resulting in a sparkling kitchen, no one enters the minute after the freshly mopped floor dries to make a snack or bake cookies. So now that I’m 40+ I’m finally learning to embrace my “weirdness,” and not try to hide the fact that “sewing and cooking” are not really my “thing,” and guess what? that’s all right; my children are still clothed, and they are fed a good home-cooked meal each...correction, most nights.
And since there is still some part of me that needs to "prove" that I can sew. Here's a picture of the last matching outfits I sewed for my family. (As you can see, it was some years ago, and yes those pleats on the girls' bodices were "bears.") But don't we look cute?
oh the joys of matching all 5 of my siblings.... and my mom. Maybe its a good thing you stopped sewing matching dresses for us :)
ReplyDeleteOh Kaylee, you know you LOVE it!!!
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