Around here, the end of the work/school week goes like this:
Dump kids, purse, mitts, coat and bags in the porch and let them sort themselves out. Head directly to kitchen sink, filling it with hot, soapy water. Fill sink with dishes from breakfast, toss juice into cups and rummage for apples.
Toss apples, juice and kids into family room. Ignore them to empty dishwasher from one side whilst filling it from the other. Heat oven to 300C and place cup filled with two tablespoons of vanilla extract, two tablespoons of cinnamon extract inside. Set timer for 20 minutes.
Pour Baileys. Sip contentedly.
Shoo kids upstairs. Ignore their shrieks of laughter and thumping as they bounce on beds. Spritz couch with Febreze, fold a quilt tidily over its arm and kick lone sock underneath it.
Sip Baileys.
Turn on side lamps, bask briefly in the warm glow they cast. Scurry over to computer desk, stack haphazardly tossed papers and bills into a tidy(ish) pile. Festoon piles with sticky notes that say "To File" and "Kids' Work" so that it appears as though I will be organizing them shortly, instead of simply adding to the piles next week around this time.
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| Photo nostalgia courtesy of Pinterest.com |
Sip Baileys.
Toss laundry into washing machine. Hide washed and folded but not-yet-put-away baskets of laundry in the boys' closet. Shut their door, just to be safe.
Head to bathroom, kicking two toy guns, a lone plastic arrow and a stuffed alligator into the linen closet along the way. Windex toilet, bathtub, sink and mirror. Pause to inspect eyebrows. Make mental note to have them waxed as soon as possible.
Sip Baileys whilst folding tiny triangle into the top of the toilet paper roll. Grin at how such a small, stupid thing can bring such delight.
Race downstairs. Wash dishes in sink. Sweep kitchen floor, hide schoolbags behind the settee, hide remnants of late-night-Halloween-candy-foraging in bottom of garbage can.
DING!
20 minutes' worth of Christmas wafting from the oven has come to an end. So too, have my chores.
Glance at clock. 5:26....in 5, 4, 3, 2....
Lean against counter, watching the side door.
Sip Baileys.
Open the side door, just in time.
Smile.
"Hello, husband! Welcome home!"
And you?
How do you wrap up a long week?
Any hoodwinking cleaning tips you'd like to share?
I love your hectic life :)
ReplyDeleteMe too, Jenn. Me, too. :)
DeleteToday I went for a beer and wings after work with a colleague and then picked up a pizza on the way home. :)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a lovely way to wind down, Leanne. And a no-fuss, no-mess supper to boot. Perfect. Happy Weekend!
DeleteIt is the time of the year I am most thankful I'm Jewish. I'm glad to be able to give people gifts when the spirit moves me, rather than feel like a slave to all this holiday stuff. Oy! I'm not built for it. And I don't drink! But I think all the shopping might make me start.
ReplyDeleteOur Thanksgiving was so fabulous; I can't imagine having to gear up for more festivities quite yet. :)