progress in spurts

[netmouse]

Today I did not get a lot done, but at least some of it was preparatory to packing - sorting Rosie's books by size, sorting some other things. I also got the guest bathroom (Rosie's bathroom) cleaned - the sink, the toilet, the mirrors, and the windows of the little cabinet above the toilet, the floor swept and mopped. It cheers me immensely to have that clean.

Brian does not seem to get the same lift that I do out of cleanliness. He cleans, it just seems to be something different for him, which shows in things like how he'll do the dishes but not necessarily wipe down the sink and counters. To him, he's doing the dishes - an important, but isolated task. To me, when I'm doing the dishes, it's about cleaning the kitchen; even if I don't get all the dishes clean, I'll still often clean the counters and the sink. To get that sparkly clean niceness.

Does that sort of thing cheer you up?

Comments

[plasmonicgrid.livejournal.com]

Amy and I are the same way about dishes and counters.

I say "I'll do dishes", and the dishes are what I do. She'll come along and... "touch up what I missed", for counters and such (perhaps with commentary).

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

Heh.

Now that I think about it, wiping down the counters is about more than just the clean and shiny. It's about preparing the kitchen to be used by me or someone else.

If I go to cook or otherwise prepare food and the counter isn't clean, that's the first thing I do. So doing it as part of doing the dishes saves me a step later.

Do you prefer to start with a clean counter when you cook, or doesn't it matter to you?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yes this. This this this.

It used to drive me a bit bazoo that markgritter does not see/do this. Even now, he has agreed that the non-dishwasher dishes are his job, but to him this implies nothing more.

My mother tries to say it's all part of the same job, but I think that depends on your outlook. I think it can be part of the same job, but I don't see a percentage in insisting that it is part of the same job, inherently, if the other person you live with doesn't see it that way and has no reason to see it that way. For me the solution is to either get markgritter to agree to do what he sees as a second chore also, along with the dishes, or else allocate it as a second chore myself. Because the other option is that he no longer does the dishes, and nobody wants that. Particularly not me.

[plasmonicgrid.livejournal.com]

The above isn't to say that I don't wipe down counters... just that when one specifies dishes, that's what I do.
I generally wipe down any surfaces that I work on, before I start any project, unless I've recently wiped them down.

[brainwane (from livejournal.com)]

I hear ya.

I just cleaned the fridge the other night and it does cheer me up to do. And along the way I did a little cleaning of some other surfaces. So now the kitchen is more pleasant in general. However my interest in this gestalt-y approach sometimes gets in the way because I think I have to do so much! instead of every little bit helps and then I feel too overwhelmed to do anything.

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

It does cheer me up to have a neat and clean house, but there's also a dark side, where the more I try to do on a regular basis, the more I see the things I haven't gotten to, like the dust on the top of the refrigerator and the discolored grout in the bathroom, and so on. Each one has to find his/her "good enough" place, I think.

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

Nod. I hear you. Right now the noticing of little things that only need to be cleaned rarely is helping me, as I'm trying to do things in advance of moving. The other day I cleaned out the insert in the fridge where you put your glass for filtered water or ice, only we don't, ever, so the ice is all frozen together in the dispenser and we've never changed the filter. Anyway, the little tray you set your glass on was all dusty and now it's not. And that'll be one less thing to do to exit the house.

A couple weeks ago I took Old English to the top and outside of a little wooden cabinet in our bathroom. The cabinet was not finished all that well in the first place, so it looked dried out and fraying, and the top was thick with dust. Now the top is clean and the whole thing is gleaming and nice. Not only don't I need to clean it a month from now, I also get to enjoy the gleaming wood between now and then. :)

[parsleigh.livejournal.com]

I spent hours Tuesday cleaning down walls, ceiling and tiles in our upstairs bathroom. It made me really tired, since this required being on a step stool for a while, but it is satisfying to have this done. I don't think Steve notices it at all except that I made him help when I needed more reach.

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

Nice! I cleaned the ceiling, tile, windowframe and walls of our bathroom a few weeks ago. Brian's contribution was to take Rosie to a playground so there was no risk of her pulling me off the step stool. When they got back he was surprised I had only just finished.

I really wonder how much of "not noticing it at all" is a matter of training. When Brian vacuums, he doesn't generally go around the edge and baseboards with the hand tool, and I notice that right away when I look at a room that is otherwise vacuumed. It bothers me, but not him.