7 Quick Takes: Volume 15: Moving Day and the Kitchen Sink

Thanks to Jen for hosting! I've been noticeably absent from the blogging world (as you can see, my most recent post was last week's Quick Takes), but as you will see below, with good reason. Next week should be a bit less chaotic, so I hope to be able to get back to posting regularly.

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So today is the day! Well, depending on your time zone, it might be tomorrow, but ... that's not the point.
We'll be moving out of our apartment and into a house! Needless to say, this past week has been full of packing and cleaning, as well as the normal day-to-day stuff. There have been some loooooong days (and short nights!), but the end is in sight. My awesome husband and our family and friends will be doing most of the moving while I take care of Emily and Erin, which will make moving day much easier.

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Of course, we'll have lots to do when we move in, unpacking and making ourselves at home. I'm excited to blog about the little projects here and there! I will have to remember to snap some pictures before we start ... it's always more fun when you can see the changes. Is it bad that I'm as excited about blogging the projects as I am about doing them?

--- 3 ---

In the midst of chaos this week (almost all of our stuff is in boxes, some of our things already got moved, you can hardly walk from one end of our apartment to the other without tripping over a box) I've developed a new routine. It was born partly out of the fact that I've been drinking absurd amounts of caffeine to cope with the added stress and exhaustion that came with packing. After the girls go to bed, Dan and I would usually head to bed within about forty-five minutes. This week, I've been staying up and cleaning and packing. Brilliant discovery of the week: if I clean after everyone goes to bed, things actually stay clean for a few hours! This, I've decided, is my kitchen sink. If you haven't run across the FlyLady theory at some point, go read. I'll wait. (I read it several years ago, but I never really understood it until now ...)

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Somehow, when I worked full time, I could always justify leaving the cleaning for later. I like cleaning, in theory. It's quick gratification. Put in a little effort, and you are rewarded. Plus, there are some awesome-smelling cleaners out there. I LOVE Method cleaners! Highly recommended.
But I digress. When two working people live in a relatively small apartment and are rarely home to really use the space, cleaning is sort of optional. If you skip a day or three, no one really notices. This all changes once you have children. If you skip an hour, everyone notices. If you skip a day or three ... well, I hope you have an escape route planned, because the mess will be displacing you soon. Obviously, caring for the kiddos is priority one, but I must admit I was floored by how messy we became once we became parents. It's not like newborns are making messes by themselves, after all!

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There's a solution. The old adage about never going to bed with dishes in the sink applies here. It must be noted that I never felt it applied before this summer. Some of the first weeks we were home from the hospital, I remember doing dishes at three in the morning out of necessity. I would go back to bed and wake up two or three hours later, and when I walked into the kitchen I felt just a little bit more in control. Let me tell you, a feeling of control was about as common in those early weeks as snow in the Sahara Desert, so I decided it was worth foregoing some sleep! Once we got into a better routine (and got some extra pump parts) I didn't have to wash dishes in the middle of the night anymore. But one night this week, I decided to make use of my overcaffeinated state of hyperactivity and wash the dishes before I went to bed. An empty sink led to an unusually thorough sink scouring. The sink scouring led to cleaning the stove ...

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... and before I knew it, I was mopping the floor. It was late. I was tired. But I was blasting Matt Maher and really enjoying myself. I gave the faucet one last shine, programmed the coffee maker (how did I forget it could make coffee all by itself?!) and grabbed the overflowing laundry basket. With the help of a Diet Pepsi, I folded four loads of laundry. Then I tidied up the living room. It was almost twelve-thirty by the time I finished, but the apartment looked better than it had in weeks. I woke up exhausted the next morning, but it was so much easier to function when everything was (mostly) clean that it was worth it. The best part? It didn't take nearly as long the next evening.

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I'm definitely not convinced that cleaning is superior to sleep - I like my sleep - but I am convinced that going to bed with a clean kitchen (and a programmed coffee maker) makes even the most groggy morning infinitely better. Try it!

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