Domesticity: no more excuses
So many things I thought would happen when I retired. For example, I really believed that, once I had no work obligations, I would feel the ever elusive desire to clean my house. I mean, I would really enjoy cleaning my house, scrubbing the toilets, dusting, vacuuming, etc. You know: endless chores that, no matter how often you do them, they just need to be done AGAIN and AGAIN. Who doesn't love that?!
Is there some pill I can take to arouse sheer joy at the thought of housekeeping? Like Viagra for vacuuming? For some reason, I still don't enjoy cleaning, despite the amount of free time I have. I would much rather spend hours binge watching Doc Martin, or Midsomer Murders, or anything...I can find a lot of excuses for not cleaning the house. Going down endless rabbit holes on Ancestry.com can use up an entire afternoon. When I finally force my sorry self to clean, scrub, dust, vacuum, etc., I feel really good about it (when it's over). I feel accomplished, and proud, and ready for those unexpected guests that could come at any minute. (That never happens.)
I find myself missing the excuse that I had when I worked: "I don't want to spend my precious weekends doing housework." I have no excuse now. So, moving forward, I am going to try to do what my husband does with the yard work. He allocates one hour per day to work on the yard: weeding, planting, mowing, etc. It's a start. I'll start right after I find my grandfather, Fred Smith, on Ancestry. That really was his name...after he changed it for nefarious reasons that I MUST investigate. These are important concerns, you know.
Is there some pill I can take to arouse sheer joy at the thought of housekeeping? Like Viagra for vacuuming? For some reason, I still don't enjoy cleaning, despite the amount of free time I have. I would much rather spend hours binge watching Doc Martin, or Midsomer Murders, or anything...I can find a lot of excuses for not cleaning the house. Going down endless rabbit holes on Ancestry.com can use up an entire afternoon. When I finally force my sorry self to clean, scrub, dust, vacuum, etc., I feel really good about it (when it's over). I feel accomplished, and proud, and ready for those unexpected guests that could come at any minute. (That never happens.)
I find myself missing the excuse that I had when I worked: "I don't want to spend my precious weekends doing housework." I have no excuse now. So, moving forward, I am going to try to do what my husband does with the yard work. He allocates one hour per day to work on the yard: weeding, planting, mowing, etc. It's a start. I'll start right after I find my grandfather, Fred Smith, on Ancestry. That really was his name...after he changed it for nefarious reasons that I MUST investigate. These are important concerns, you know.
I hope you find good excuses, the energy to dust and the strength to do it again.
ReplyDeleteI'm working on it, Bill! I know I have the energy...I just don't have the interest.
DeleteWe hired a house cleaner, an excellent woman who comes at 7 AM once every two weeks. She leaves the house spotless and in good order. We justify doing this as preparation for when we are unable to do the work. As good Scouts, we want to be prepared. All the things that you thought would happen in retirement are coming up -- later.
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