But someone has to do it. I’m talking about housework, and for most of us, the job falls to the woman of the house. Uh, that would be me. Unfortunately. But the various jobs must be done and I took on that particular responsibility when I got married. Okay. Fine. How hard can it be to dust and vacuum and keep things tidy? Harder than I ever imagined!
I have to admit that during the first few years of married life I was extremely anal about cleaning the house. It was just me and my husband, so picking up after the two of us wasn’t so bad. There was no clutter, everything had it’s place, and at any given moment someone could stop by unannounced and I’d welcome them into my house without embarrassment. Without cringing or apologizing for the way the house looked.
Fast forward nineteen years and two teenagers, a dog, and two cats later. Somewhere along the way I lost the battle for a clean house. Oh, sure, I do clean my house, but the gleaming kitchen counter tops, the bathroom sinks free of toothpaste stains, and the carpet unmarked by dirt or furballs lasts all of a day, and that’s if I’m lucky. It’s a war I find that I just cannot win, no matter how much I gripe at my kids to CLEAN UP AFTER THEMSELVES!
My kids do help with the housework and they do have their daily chores. However, nothing 
gets done unless they are reminded – numerous times. I have one daughter who is fairly neat, and another daughter that leaves stuff EVERYWHERE. My husband and I joke that we always know where the thirteen year old has been in the house, because there is some kind of mess she left behind. Shoes and socks on the floor next to the couch. A backpack dropped on the entryway tile as soon as she walks in after school. Crumbs and food wrappers on the kitchen counter and floor. A mess at the table where she eats. And her room . . . let’s just say that I rarely see the carpet in her room for any length of time because it’s covered with her stuff. Yes, I make her clean up every one of those messes, but it’s a never ending battle.
Then there’s the time when I’m in deadline hell and I just can’t keep on top of the kids or the 
housework. The only thing that gets done during that stressful time is laundry, because my husband prefers to wear clean underwear and socks to work (though I did buy him enough underwear and socks to last him two weeks, LOL!). And thank God I have such a wonderful husband, because he never, ever, complains about how bad the house might look. I think I feel more guilty about it than anything else!
Suffice it to say, I am no longer anal about how the house looks. It’s a very lived-in house, with pets and kids and everything that goes along with that. I do have a plaque hanging in my entryway that I just love and it pretty much sums up my attitude about the way the house might sometimes look:
MY HOUSE WAS CLEAN LAST WEEK . . . SORRY YOU MISSED IT.
Now, for all of you hard-working moms and women out there that can’t keep up with the housework, I want to share with you the “Cleaning Hunk”. I think we all need one to help ease the burden of all that housework, don’t you?
Janelle Denison finds it hard to believe that it’s been nearly 20 years since she first started writing romance novels. At first, it was a way to pass idle time while her husband worked swing shift, but before long it became an obsession to get published. Luckily, she kept at it (it took her over 5 years to get that first book published!) and is now a Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, and USA Today Bestselling author! Now, after selling over 40 plus novels, she finds that her Plotmonkey pals help to keep her stories fresh and unique, and she can’t imagine writing a story without their input. Janelle lives in Oregon with her husband, Don, along with two teenage daughters that keep life interesting.
3 Seductions and a Wedding
Hot Number
Play With Me
Wild For Him
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I should post a photo of my teenage daughter’s room EVERY MORNING when she leaves for school. Makes me cringe and I shut the door until she gets home! I hear you, Janelle. Mothers/Wives/Livein Girlfriends are severely underpaid, LOL!
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Oh Janelle, I have your life! Trying to keep the house clean now that it’s on the market is doubly challenging.
Cleaning hunk = too funny!
Leslie
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*whew* If that guy was in my house there wouldn’t be any cleaning going on. :p
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I live by myself and you would think everything would be in its place – but somehow I get in my own way. It’s the catalogs – I think they multiply overnight! I can’t make myself get rid of them – light reading and I might, someday, eventually want to order from one of them. Right now, I just can’t remember which one. I’m sure if I had the cleaning hunk I might, someday, eventually remember……….
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Heeeheee…thanks for that smile this morning. I have a 2 year old and a 15 year old step son. You can imagine the toys, clothes, video games. Now on top of that add a set of DRUMS!!
I REALLY need that cleaning hunks help.
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Whew. Enjoyed Cleaning Hunk!
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I want a copy of that dign to hang in my house. I just spent all Monday morning cleaning out my walk-in closet. It looks great now. I got rid of clothes I was either given or I bought (they still had the tags on) They had to have been at leat 10 or 15 years old. I took all the stuff by a charity that helps abused mothers and their children.
I also sent 2 bags of books to the local library. I wish I could keep everything,but I don’t have enough space to do that.
As far as my 2 daughters bedrooms and bathroom. I shut the door. But I did loose it one day and got their father involved. He is the holder of much of the purse strings and he just let them know that if they didn’t help me that their going and spending would stop. No if and buts about it. (Let’s just say that it helped. :)
I get at least one good cleaning a week out of the girls now.
As far as the catalog problem like Barbara JO has I have a place for recycling as I come in the house and I throw the old catalogs in the pile as soon as I get a new catalog. Monthly I go through the magazines and send them on to recycling.
I couldn’t get the link to the Ceaning Hunk to work. I’ll try again later. My internet connection has not been the greatest the past few days.
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Loved Cleaning Hunk! (y)
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that would be so wonderful.
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Loved the cleaning hunk (y)
I live by myself as well, and I have to admit that the house stays neat and clean now, EXCEPT for the computer room here, and that looks like a tornado just went through it………….I guess everything gets put in here until I get around to putting it whereever it should go……..
When my kids were living at home, my son was the neat one, where he picked up everything and my daughter had the room that you shuddered to look at. On laundry day when I asked for all the dirty clothes that might be in her room, she would scoop everything off the floor, and dump it in the laundry room. I would then go through it and refold or rehang all the clean things and put them back in her room………if I didn’t then I would be rewashing lots of clean clothes……Always amazed me how things that were on hangers got onto the floor and back to the laundry room…….
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Ohmygosh, Cryna — your daughter is so my daughter! She does the same thing — tosses dirty AND clean clothes on the floor! She’ll try something on to wear to school, decide she doesn’t like it, then will throw it on the floor instead of hanging it back up in the closet. It drives me NUTS. Maybe that’s why she does it, LOL.
Gigi — good for you cleaning everything out and donating it to the abused women’s shelter. I need to do a spring cleaning, too. Just haven’t had the time.
I’m glad you all are enjoying the cleaning hunk!
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My house was usually pretty clean until I got a computer and started visiting all the wonder author sites!!!! Now I spend all my time either on the computer or reading!
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One of my bad habits is NOT cleaning! I hate housework & can find many excuses for not doing it. I live alone so at least my messy ways are not bugging anyone else! I use to be much better at being neat. Currently I am unemployed so cannot blame lack of time on my dislike of cleaning & I have lots of “stuff” that needs to be sorted & tossed or given away. It is just really hard to make myself get down & do it!!! It will still be there when I do!! Meanwhile, I read a lot of great books by friendly amusing authors that entertain me!! Job hunting is a job!!
Have a great day all. :)
Donna M
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P.S. The cleaning hunk didn’t work but I did get connected to the site.
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There is just my husband and me again and things get just as messy as they did when the kids were home—-guess I spend too much time on the computer and reading. Oooooh well.
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I just love it!!!! Got married in Sept and apt. is very small – so things are a bit cluttered. WE are hoping to move into a co-op within 6 mos or so. The process has started……
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I hate cleaning, it’s so boring and I can find better ways to occupy my time. I find lots of excuses to put it off, lol. Already spied that cleaning hunk and put my order in for him – though I don’t know how much cleaning will get done if I’m around when he gets here! lol