Last week my paternal grandmother passed away. She was the grandparent to whom I always felt most close. Between Fritz and I, she was the last of our grandparents.
My Minnesotan aunt called it a Generational Shift. I do feel there is something significant about being at this point. I am no longer anyone's granddaughter. My parents seem a little less like The Parents and a little more like The Grandparents. I've been a mother for eight years, but now the idea of myself as mother feels heavier and more serious than before. I'm the one who now moves into the position of looking after her own children; but also keeping an eye on my own parents.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Housecleaner Syndrome
Did I tell you I had my house cleaned for the first time ever by housecleaners?
Don't get too excited...I didn't initiate it myself. It was part of the contractor's renovation package. I assumed they would clean just the construction area, but, no, they cleaned the whole house. I'm still not so sure that cleaning the whole house was really part of the original deal. But Fritz spent enough time bellyaching to the contractor about all the dust, that (I do believe) the contractor thought he could pacify Fritz with a Grand End of Construction Whole House Clean.
Since we've become parents, we've spent a fair amount of time fantasizing about how nice it would be to have someone else do the cleaning. Fritz would prefer a live-in maid. Just that statement alone says a lot about how not-serious our conversations are. We could NOT afford a live-in maid. It's so over the top, that it pretty much puts housecleaner conversations in the same category as discussions about winning the lottery.
In the more realistic portion of the housecleaner discussion, we decide:
1) It wouldn't be that much help because we still would have to figure out how to get everything picked up at once. Cleaning for the cleaners, you know.
2) Housecleaners don't do a better job cleaning than we do ourselves. (Let me rephrase that...than I do myself....)
3) A once-a-month cleaning (which we MIGHT be able to afford) isn't really enough anyway, so why waste money on it?
The conversation then takes the aforementioned turn towards live-in maids.
Anyway, it took 2 people 7 hours to clean our (post-construction) house. When they were FINALLY done, and I walked through the house, these were my thoughts:
1) There was a definite tendency towards cleaning for the sake of appearance, as opposed to cleaning to really get it CLEAN. For example, the top of the faucet was shiny, but the bottom was still covered in dried toothpaste/soap suds.
2) It was a complete hassle to be out of the house for 7 hours straight. Trixie was especially miffed.
3) I thought that if only someone (not me) would take the kids out of the house for 7 hours, I could do a better job. What's less expensive? A babysitter who takes the kids away or a housecleaner? Because I think I would prefer to clean the house myself. The 7 hours of kid-free time, even if I spend it cleaning, sounds divine.
My opinion changed a little bit by the following weekend when we hosted 2 birthday parties at our house. Instead of the usual rushing around insanity of getting everything super clean, I just made sure everything was relatively in order. I was almost relaxed! I thought to myself, well, if it's not clean, it's not my fault! It's those housecleaners! Passing of the blame or the lack of personal responsibility WAS nice.
But we still won't be employing a housecleaner anytime soon.
Don't get too excited...I didn't initiate it myself. It was part of the contractor's renovation package. I assumed they would clean just the construction area, but, no, they cleaned the whole house. I'm still not so sure that cleaning the whole house was really part of the original deal. But Fritz spent enough time bellyaching to the contractor about all the dust, that (I do believe) the contractor thought he could pacify Fritz with a Grand End of Construction Whole House Clean.
Since we've become parents, we've spent a fair amount of time fantasizing about how nice it would be to have someone else do the cleaning. Fritz would prefer a live-in maid. Just that statement alone says a lot about how not-serious our conversations are. We could NOT afford a live-in maid. It's so over the top, that it pretty much puts housecleaner conversations in the same category as discussions about winning the lottery.
In the more realistic portion of the housecleaner discussion, we decide:
1) It wouldn't be that much help because we still would have to figure out how to get everything picked up at once. Cleaning for the cleaners, you know.
2) Housecleaners don't do a better job cleaning than we do ourselves. (Let me rephrase that...than I do myself....)
3) A once-a-month cleaning (which we MIGHT be able to afford) isn't really enough anyway, so why waste money on it?
The conversation then takes the aforementioned turn towards live-in maids.
Anyway, it took 2 people 7 hours to clean our (post-construction) house. When they were FINALLY done, and I walked through the house, these were my thoughts:
1) There was a definite tendency towards cleaning for the sake of appearance, as opposed to cleaning to really get it CLEAN. For example, the top of the faucet was shiny, but the bottom was still covered in dried toothpaste/soap suds.
2) It was a complete hassle to be out of the house for 7 hours straight. Trixie was especially miffed.
3) I thought that if only someone (not me) would take the kids out of the house for 7 hours, I could do a better job. What's less expensive? A babysitter who takes the kids away or a housecleaner? Because I think I would prefer to clean the house myself. The 7 hours of kid-free time, even if I spend it cleaning, sounds divine.
My opinion changed a little bit by the following weekend when we hosted 2 birthday parties at our house. Instead of the usual rushing around insanity of getting everything super clean, I just made sure everything was relatively in order. I was almost relaxed! I thought to myself, well, if it's not clean, it's not my fault! It's those housecleaners! Passing of the blame or the lack of personal responsibility WAS nice.
But we still won't be employing a housecleaner anytime soon.
Friday, April 10, 2015
Dandelion Sea
Remember how our new patch of African Dogtooth Grass is suppose to be a sea of (all the hundreds of) crocuses I planted last fall? And then the rabbits got hungry over the winter? Now we have something more like a sea of dandelions. Which isn't so bad if you like dandelion tattoos.
I mean, really. We could call this hell strip experiment a failure. Or we could turn it around and look it another way: Doesn't is make a lovely backdrop when it is NOT in focus? And really, what's wrong with dandelions? We should just be happy that something is growing there, right?
Planting the dogtooth grass plugs
Why we planted the grass (a dialog)
The African dogtooth grass experiment begins in May
The African dogtooth grass at 4 months in August
The additional bulb flower experiment
Where the bulbs get eaten by the rabbits
The Fifteen month dogtooth grass update
Two years in when the Japanese beetle grub arrive
[photo of Trixie with dandelion sea behind her.]
I mean, really. We could call this hell strip experiment a failure. Or we could turn it around and look it another way: Doesn't is make a lovely backdrop when it is NOT in focus? And really, what's wrong with dandelions? We should just be happy that something is growing there, right?
Planting the dogtooth grass plugs
Why we planted the grass (a dialog)
The African dogtooth grass experiment begins in May
The African dogtooth grass at 4 months in August
The additional bulb flower experiment
Where the bulbs get eaten by the rabbits
The Fifteen month dogtooth grass update
Two years in when the Japanese beetle grub arrive
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