Monday

Let me tell you about Monday. Monday has had a sacred ritual for as long as I can remember. My mom had the same ritual long before I was born. If this ritual wasn't performed, life was not good at our house.

I have adopted this same Monday ritual into my own home. My kids wake up with the same dread that I experienced as a child. I see myself in them as they roll out of bed, knowing what the day holds for them.

Monday is cleaning day.

When I was little I remember waking up to the scent of diluted ammonia. My mom's cleaner of choice. I remember scrubbing walls and bathrooms with ammonia, feeling quite like Cinderella when I did. I remember scrubbing the kitchen floor on my hands and knees because at our house we DID NOT clean with dirty water. I remember mixing the ammonia with warm water and trying not to get too many bubbles in the spray bottle.

Why Monday you ask? Well, Monday was the day after the weekend was over. We had done all of our playing. It was the start of a fresh week, a fresh house. That and the fact that fewer people were home to mess up our sparkling, ammonia scented house.

I have changed a few things in our home. My cleaner of choice is Pine-Sol, not the lemon or orange scented, but original piney Pine-Sol. I don’t sweep my kitchen floors before I mop them. I set my friend DY on bare floors and suck up all of the gunk. I still maintain many of my mom’s principals. All baseboards are wiped off, I still mop on my hands and knees. The house is scrubbed from top to bottom and I refuse to cook anything to pungent as to maintain the smell of clean for as long as possible. All piles are gone through and filed or disposed of as necessary. Sheets are changed, bathrooms glisten, lines are made in the carpet with the vacuum. Stairs are vacuumed and dusted. We only wet dust because as my mom would say “if your rag isn’t wet, it only moves the dust from one place to another.” In addition, I will straighten closets that have gone array and straighten cabinets and drawers.

It's a sickness really.

I am so my mother.



****Edited*****
Prime example of what "Cleaning day" does to my children.