When Did Cleaning Become Bearable?

I’m into cleaning…and cleaning fast. Give me a carpet with crumbs and I’ll have it vacuumed before you blink. A bed to be made? Where? Not in my house. No laundry pile is too big and no end table is too dusty for this mom. Call it “adulting,” or perhaps a touch of OCD. Either way, when the baby goes down for a weekend nap, my home magically turns back into the scene from Pottery Barn I carefully designed à la Marshalls discount shopping.

I will admit, I wasn’t always this way. My parents can vouch for my messy room growing up. One of my favorite pastimes was lying on my twin bed, reading Seventeen magazine, with the vacuum running untouched below. Sure, it would’ve been easy to pick that clunky 1980s relic up and give the rug a once over. But that wasn’t the point. The point was I didn’t have time to clean! I had articles to read about the right face wash for my skin type and people to call on my portable phone! Thinking about it now, I’m confident that if you returned to 1998 in a time machine and opened my closet door, you would not make it back to the future. Instead, you would be doomed to spend eternity smothered under all the Abercrombie clothes and wedge sandals babysitting money could buy.

Fast forward to 2018, and that non-cleaning rebel has been tamed by motherhood. So much so, that my toddler is now learning the trade:

That would be Jack, vacuuming with his Fisher Price plastic golf club. I’m sure my husband bought it for him with pre “car crash” Tiger Woods in mind. But instead, Mama’s little helper prefers the feel of what he thinks is a cordless Black + Decker.

Still, baby and Daddy make a pretty good team themselves, as evidenced below. They are my designated dishwashers! I guess you could say my new found love of cleaning has become quite the family affair. And while teenage me would probably roll her eyes, this version of myself is pleasantly surprised.

Seasoned TV news reporter trying to navigate her way through motherhood, all while holding down a demanding career. A little bit of humor is a must!