So this is what clean feels like!

Prompted by a client visit to our house (Hubby is a sculptor and his clients were coming to view their commission-in-progress), we spend the weekend doing a top-to-bottom deep-deep clean. This is not to imply that we live in filth every other day of the year (clutter is not the same as filth, right?), but this weekend was tackling not only normal tasks, like vacuuming and mopping, but nit-picky cleaning, like washing fingerprint smudges off the walls. Whew. I'm exhausted, but damn, get the photo crew in here to document the occasion! Our living space is ready for a Better Homes and Gardens!

There is nothing like house guests to inspire a clean house. I have no problem with close friends and neighbors just stopping by and seeing the real state of affairs at any given moment in time, but clients or dinner guests deserve to be fooled into thinking Cavan's toys live on their shelves and our counter tops are a minimalist collection of candle sticks and flower vases (rather than piles of papers, hair clips, half-drunk sippy cups, and dishes from...wait, when did we have tacos?)

But this is a dual-income family (income insufficient for a house-keeper, even on a bi-weekly basis), and as such, the last thing that we want to do when we get home from a long day is clean. We want to eat, play with Cavan, and go to bed (after we do our paper grading and lesson planning). Ironically, we are out of the house all day, so you would expect it would be easier than a stay-at-home family to keep the house immaculate. How much damage can you really do when you are only active in your house during four to six waking hours? Come over, and I'll show you.

And this epidemic, as Hubby claims it is, is a point of contention in our household. Apparently slobbery is contagious (apparently, out of the two of us, I was the original carrier of this virus). But in reality, I do enjoy a clean household, but out of the four to six waking hours at home, I have a hard time prioritizing scrubbing the stuck-on off the stove when Cavan wants me to read a book or play tea party. So, I am looking forward to July and thereafter, when my job as 100% Mommy will allow time to stay tidy. Because I know all you stay-at-home moms have immaculate households, so I'm ready and willing to join the ranks. (By the way, how many times do ya'll put away your kids' toys in the course of the day before you just give up? Can someone fill me in on the rules of all things domestic so I can make sure I'm doing it right!)