the kitchen

The kitchen is that room in the house that seems constantly to need cleaning. It doesn't matter if I cleaned it 5 seconds ago, I find food on the floor, a dirty sippy cup, or crumbs on the counter. How did they get there? I swear I just cleaned that up! Anyway, as a result of this seemingly never-ending job, by the time the day is over, we're done eating dinner, the kids have been bathed and put in bed, the last thing I want to do is go through a newly cluttered and messy kitchen and clean it up ... again.

However, on Sunday night this week I had this weird burst of energy after the girls were in bed, and I decided to deep clean the kitchen. I even mopped the floors! It did wonders for my overall sense of well-being. An uncluttered kitchen is an uncluttered mind. And the best part? When I woke up on Monday morning to a clean kitchen, with clean dishes for everyone and space to make breakfast ... it was one of the most wonderful feelings in the world! Really, I haven't felt that good in the morning in a long time. And so, tonight, for the third night in a row, I spent 15 minutes cleaning up the kitchen. Would you believe that's all it took? 15 minutes. I was on the couch in time to catch the end of Jeopardy. It's still a hated task, cleaning up at the end of the day when I feel like my work day should be done ... but the rewards are immeasurable!

Now, I can't wait to wake up to a clean kitchen tomorrow! OK, actually, I can wait. I mostly still hate mornings. But my clean kitchen will at least enable me to get to the coffee maker that much faster.