The Progeny
What? You're cleaning ?
Yes. Unbelievable as it sounds, Ma has caught the cleaning bug.
Yesterday I glanced into the computer room, took stock of the dust and papers under the tables and said, "Ugh!"
Even I have my limits.
After a quick sweep around it looked almost respectable and I was nearly overcome with self-congratulatory vibes--or it could have been the dust clouds, I don't know.
From there it grew to sweeping the hall and, get this....WASHING THE FLOOR!
Shocking, I know.
All this happened after first cleaning at the church, so there may have been a little guilt involved, too.
Now, my oldest four will never believe this next part, but I went through the two clothes baskets containing mismatched socks!
Yes, Ardith, Sharon, Jason and Kendra, I AM NOT KIDDING!!
I steeled myself and was ruthless, cutthroat and brutal.
Oh I found some matching pairs, but I threw away bunches. The potential sock-puppet world will never be the same, I'm tellin' ya.
Then I lined up what I had saved on the kitchen table and made all the remaining kids--which aren't that many--go by and pick up their socks. Oh sure, there were a couple of slackers who tried to set them on the stairway but Ma was having none of it.
"TAKE THEM UP TO YOUR ROOMS, RIGHT NOW. Please."
The rest are sitting in a black trash bag, awaiting the burn pile. And with them, the two ratty broken-down clothes baskets.
From there the cleaning fever spread to sorting through the books I'd purchased over the summer. They'd been stacked beside my chair, beside the wall....and...who knew I had four boxes worth of books surrounding my computer desk?
As well as sweeping up old Dove's wrappers from my former days of addiction, I found "several" Legos. If I work up the courage to move the piano I could discover another hundred or so. And if I save those along with the ones I'm sure to find under the couch cushions I may wrap them up and present them to the kids for Christmas :-D
Now, one could think the cleaning exuberance would have stopped there, but NOOOOOOOOO. I suddenly hit upon a plan to tackle a project long put off...but first, I went back to church and cleaned four bathrooms, followed by returning home and cleaning the little bathroom off the boys' room.
Can you say, "Invasion of the body snatchers?"
That was yesterday. Today I am all set-up for el biggo projecto:
MAKING CURTAINS!!
What, you say? Ma can sew ?
Well yes, though I haven't done a lot since the kids started coming...uh, 24 years ago. And once the ease and availability of used clothing became apparent, there was no need to sew for the children.
But Ma is all psyched up. The freshly washed fabric is tumbling to readiness in the dryer and soon, perhaps even today, my simple yet whimsical tab curtains will be ready.
I hope.
Tweet
Yesterday I glanced into the computer room, took stock of the dust and papers under the tables and said, "Ugh!"
Even I have my limits.
After a quick sweep around it looked almost respectable and I was nearly overcome with self-congratulatory vibes--or it could have been the dust clouds, I don't know.
From there it grew to sweeping the hall and, get this....WASHING THE FLOOR!
Shocking, I know.
All this happened after first cleaning at the church, so there may have been a little guilt involved, too.
Now, my oldest four will never believe this next part, but I went through the two clothes baskets containing mismatched socks!
Yes, Ardith, Sharon, Jason and Kendra, I AM NOT KIDDING!!
I steeled myself and was ruthless, cutthroat and brutal.
Oh I found some matching pairs, but I threw away bunches. The potential sock-puppet world will never be the same, I'm tellin' ya.
Then I lined up what I had saved on the kitchen table and made all the remaining kids--which aren't that many--go by and pick up their socks. Oh sure, there were a couple of slackers who tried to set them on the stairway but Ma was having none of it.
"TAKE THEM UP TO YOUR ROOMS, RIGHT NOW. Please."
The rest are sitting in a black trash bag, awaiting the burn pile. And with them, the two ratty broken-down clothes baskets.
From there the cleaning fever spread to sorting through the books I'd purchased over the summer. They'd been stacked beside my chair, beside the wall....and...who knew I had four boxes worth of books surrounding my computer desk?
As well as sweeping up old Dove's wrappers from my former days of addiction, I found "several" Legos. If I work up the courage to move the piano I could discover another hundred or so. And if I save those along with the ones I'm sure to find under the couch cushions I may wrap them up and present them to the kids for Christmas :-D
Now, one could think the cleaning exuberance would have stopped there, but NOOOOOOOOO. I suddenly hit upon a plan to tackle a project long put off...but first, I went back to church and cleaned four bathrooms, followed by returning home and cleaning the little bathroom off the boys' room.
Can you say, "Invasion of the body snatchers?"
That was yesterday. Today I am all set-up for el biggo projecto:
MAKING CURTAINS!!
What, you say? Ma can sew ?
Well yes, though I haven't done a lot since the kids started coming...uh, 24 years ago. And once the ease and availability of used clothing became apparent, there was no need to sew for the children.
But Ma is all psyched up. The freshly washed fabric is tumbling to readiness in the dryer and soon, perhaps even today, my simple yet whimsical tab curtains will be ready.
I hope.
Tweet
posted by Ma Hoyt | 9:46 AM
5 Comments:
Wow, you went through all those old socks? I imagine it must look kind of empty under the rec room table. :)
I'm so tempted to make a comment about the curtains....
Kendra
My history as a seamstress sounds similar. Back in the days when dinosaurs had blogs, I used to sew all the time, to save money! But then fabric and patterns got so expensive it was way cheaper to get clothes in other ways.
So I turned to sewing things like cloth bags, aprons made from overalls, and yes, curtains. I still at times take clothes from the missionary barrel and remodel them.
p.s. You make me feel guilty for not running the vacuum at this very moment.
I was broom sweeping. If you saw our vacuum, you wouldn't feel guilty. It's notorious for making the house smell worse than before we use it.
Maybe I should go anonymous-your cleaning exploits make me think a cleaning bug/flu-like thing is going around! This could be dangerous to spiders and mites and have all kinds of secondary infections like painting of aged ugly walls, basement orderliness (danger!), and cars with visible carpets. I don't know if my place can stand such an invasion. Call the Doc with anti-venom. Actually, I think I have already been infected -Ohh OOOH, look out grime! On second thought, maybe it is hormone-induced. Sometimes I get this way.... Oh, well, at any rate, it surely will pass, or I will pass out trying to clean.
Ma, I commend you for your valiant efforts. However don't get discouraged if some of the negative side effects of children recur.
On a brighter note, one of my boys (who is now in China!??) cleaned, painted and redecorated his newly passed-down-to-him room this summer so much that it looks like the oval office. Even though he used a Salvation army-acquired wing chair. Of course, it is rather a shock to pass through my upstairs hall, open a door, and suddenly be in the West Wing of the White House. But perhaps this wonder will yet inspire, or infect me to follow suit. In fact, my ugly bathroom's days are numbered!
Hello, Juanita :-)
Yes, it is almost like a sickness. The kids aren't used to seeing this side of me and they are keeping their distance, just in case it's catching.
(by the way, your blog just contacted me by ESP and said it would not mind in the least if you used your humorous writing talents on its site more often...)
The West Wing, huh? When I go upstairs in my house it's more like West Side Story.
I do NOT like painting. Something about washing the walls or sanding first, though I have considered putting up rolls of colored Contact paper.
Good luck with your painting project. You can put a picture up on your blog when you are done :-D
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