And Miles to Sweep, Before I Sleep

Housework.

Ugh.

There is something satisfying about cleaning a house but I still have a problem with it.  I like to be in the mood to clean house and somehow the dirt doesn’t go along with my mood schedule.  I have seen some very nice articles on how to organize cleaning so you do just a bit each day and by the end of the week the house is all clean.  Not for me.  I work during the day and serve on boards and have other duties at night so Saturday is my cleaning day.  Sometimes I can sneak in a load or two of laundry on a week night but not too often.

My big plan of attack on cleaning is to figure out ahead of time what my major cleaning project will be for Saturday a.m.  Each week I do one major clean up like emptying the china cabinet and washing all the ‘fancies,’ or switching out the closet from winter to summer clothes. I keep things picked up during the week so the house usually looks pretty tidy.  The routine cleaning just involves dusting, running the vacuum, sweeping, floor washing, cob web removal, and bathroom upkeep.

Somehow though it still seems overwhelming.

What helps me get through the tedium is singing. I make up songs as I go along based on the chore I’m doing. Sometimes they are re-worded popular tunes, sometimes re-worded show tunes, and sometimes just tunes I come up with. I also like to repurpose snippets of poetry I have memorized. Sonnets of Shakespeare, or Blake, and old nursery rhymes. I’ll write some of them down and share with you later. Not that there is a high demand for that type of ‘literature.’

In the mean time I will remind you of one of the best cleaning tunes of all time. From the 1937 Disney film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs:

When there’s too much to do
Don’t let it bother you
Forget you troubles, try to be
Just like a cheerful chick-a-dee
And Whistle While you Work