It’s been a long few days in the Maniacal house.  I have family in town, and we have been getting together for dinner.

As any parent with small children can tell you, leaving the house isn’t easy.  You have to pack up everything you own to keep them entertained and/or safe.   By the time you drag your exhausted and whiny brood home, all you want to do is drop it all and crawl into bed.

By the third day, our kitchen (which hasn’t been used for anything but a drop zone) looked like we had some crackheads squatting in our absence.

Today, despite the humidity and the fact I felt like I had been hit by a truck, I knew I had to clean.  Our laminate flooring, while very attractive, is a witch to keep clean.  It had the texture you normally have to visit a movie theater to find.  I knew I would need all the furniture moved as well.  Anyone with hardwood flooring knows that the dirt runs and hides under recliners and couches.

Feeling a bit punchy, I can just imagine the dust rhinos screeching “sanctuary!  Sanctuary!” as the vacuum grows nearer and nearer.

I mopped AND used the floor shine.  The Pledge kind works wonders on our floor, but the application is a bit tricky.  With laminate, you can see any smear or smudge.  If you don’t get this stuff on evenly, it is very noticeable.  Keeping Hubby, the kids and two cats off of it while it dries makes me hear the theme song to Mission:Impossible.

I cleaned the bathroom while it dried.  Considering the toilet and surrounding area looked like it belonged in a run down gas station in the middle of nowhere, you could say it really needed it.  With all the humidity, the toilet has been sweating as much as I have, and no good comes from that.

I finally had my meager list finished (seriously, 84% humidity, and it is debilitating) and hid in our bedroom after reminding everyone the floor wasn’t dry yet.  Ok, I lied.  It has somehow managed to dry.  I just wanted it to stay clean for a little bit longer.

A clean house simply does not last.  My boys are like modern day “Pigpens” from Charlie Brown.  They just ooze dirt and crumbs and debris.  They can’t aim for squat (which is why I fantasize daily about an outhouse for them).

I just want to stare at my shiny floor for a while.  Sure, I ended up missing a few spots with my “Future Shine”.  There are already crumbs from lunch time.  Linus did attempt to sweep them up, having an atypical moment of self-preservation instinct.  The whiff of Pinesol and Scrubbing Bubbles has already been absorbed by the soupy air.

So let me gaze just a bit longer, please!  I know by bedtime the house will be a wreck again.  I guess that is part of motherhood.  You are the little boy at the dike, with only your thumb to stop disaster!