This was my To Do list for yesterday:
- Clean poo from babygros
- Iron [my boyfriend's] shirts
- Sweep and mop floors
- Make lemon drizzle cake
- Put washing away
- Take bins out
- Sort out wires and leads basket
- Put [my boyfriend's] beer in fridge
- Fry chicken in flour, egg and breadcrumbs, saute veg and mash sweet potato
It's all very surprising, as I never thought I'd be remotely interested in domesticity. Back in 2003, a friend memorably said to me, "Ariane, I'd like you so much more if you didn't leave all your clothes on the floor and eat pasta out of the pan", but I didn't see what was so wrong with doing those things. I used to adhere to the following homemaking rules:
CLOTHES
- If it smells, spray it with Comfort Refresh (Britain's answer to Febreze)
- If it really smells, put it in the laundry basket and keep it there until you decide you want to wear it again (at which point, grudgingly wash it)
- Never iron anything, just shake and pull it and hope it uncreases
FOOD
- Why use a plate when a pan will do? It saves on washing up
- Don't bother cooking when you can eat stuff out of a packet/microwave a ready meal
- If you do cook, use the most basic ingredients (cook pasta, bung sauce from a jar on it)
HOUSE
- If the floor gets dirty, use one wet wipe to clean all of it
- Don't change your sheets unless (a) they smell and (b) someone is coming round
- When the tiles in your bathroom go mouldy, shrug and leave the mould to spread
Contrast this with today, when I don't even like it if there's dust between the banisters or dirt on the skirting boards. I source out new recipes to cook, enjoy having friends round for dinner, and scrub the house spotless beforehand.
What's changed? I think it's a combination of age and circumstance. When I was in my twenties and single, I could think of nothing more boring than cleaning my tiny flat (and, to be fair, most of my flatmates were equally grubby). I spent most of my time either writing or out, didn't have many friends round, and cleaning and cooking seemed like a colossal waste of time.
But now I'm older, with a man and baby (two different people), I actively enjoy homemaking. I don't find it dull in the least. My younger self would no doubt scoff at my soppiness; and yes, there are days when I wish I could lie in bed all day (though perhaps not in smelly sheets).
Despite this, it's an unglamorous truth that I'm very contented these days. Yes, even when I'm wringing the poo out of babygros.
4 comments:
I too follow some of your old rules. Ironing clothes is just totally unnecessary. If you take them out of the machine straight away and hang them up, there are never any creases! And if a meal takes more than twenty minutes to prepare, cook and serve then forget it.
Also, six weeks between vacuuming is okay isn't it? Good! Just checking.
Aw, I was just jokin' around =)
I think your boyfriend and daughter are very lucky to have you. Maybe if I read enough of your posts, your passion for domesticity will rub off on me.
Welcome to average style life, Ariane! I admire your ability to cope with the facts plus feel fine about it, your honesty and that you realise all those changes with an open mind. Time will come when you need a little more mental jogging again and writing will come easy as well. Your blogs read very easy-going and authentic anyway. At least I couldn´t tell you had a hard time inventing those funny little remarks (like the one on man and baby being 2 persons).
Right now Lily needs and deserves most of your energy and time to create the right environment for her development. Later on she will need more distance to you and that will give more room for development in your own fields of interest. Till then better learn to love the swing (the toy, not the campaigning) - I bet you´ll spend hours and hours around it, like I did just a few years ago.
It sucks being an adult with responsibilities. I hate to clean and tidy, but it has to be done. I actually think I was better at it being a single man living in Montreal, in my early twenties, than I am now. There was less pressure and I only had to take care of mysekf. Maybe it is blogging that got in the way too, but sometimes I think it is couple's life. The washing up just piles up when you are two. I can only imagine what it is to have a baby to mess things up further!
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