Cleaning Day

Every other Thursday is cleaning day. (This week because of Thanksgiving though cleaning day fell on a Tuesday.) I don't dread cleaning day. No, I really like it. Could be because I know that at the end of the day, the whole house will be in order. Could be that I know that I get to spend the whole day at home, no running around. Could be that on cleaning day I have very little guilt about letting the kids watch a lot of tv. Could be that I love the smell of Pine Sol. But mostly, I think it is because of an amazing woman who I hired to come and help me clean! We spend the whole day cleaning: me with the changing of sheets, the numerous loads of laundry, the general cleanup of children, digging clothing and "other" stuff out from under beds, toy organization, closet organization and more, and my angel who comes every other Thursday puts on the rubber gloves and cleans all the surfaces that I uncover, floors, counters, bathrooms and more. I usually try to make it a cleaning day for the kids too. I will pile up all the crap I find under their beds and put it on top of their beds. I will take their clean clothing up to their rooms for them to put away themselves. I will take them to the basement and delegate chores to get the playroom cleaned up. Making it a cleaning day for the kids is actually a lot of work. It would be so much easier to just do it myself. I mean I could put their clothing away, organize the basement playroom etc, but I suppose I need to keep having them help as much as they are able. Otherwise, I will end up with less help than ever. And if I can get them cleaning on cleaning day, perhaps it will carry over to other days, and some day...there won't have to be a specific cleaning day for mom, and mom could find something else to do with her day, like take the kids to the zoo, while her angel comes and does what she does. At least this is what I keep telling my children, especially when they complain that I am always cleaning. I will report if it ever happens.