Sticky floors

"Good moms have sticky floors and messy houses"

I remember vividly seeing this quote on a wood plank at Hobby Lobby. I purchased it and displayed it proudly on my entry way table. I look back now and think, it made me feel better to have some justification to not being able to spend time needed to clean the house after a busy week. As women, no matter what role we play in the house, as a contributor or a home maker, to some degree we feel responsibility for the cleanliness of our home. I worked 40 hours a week as a nurse in busy pediatric practice, taxied my two girls to baton, ballet, tumbling, tap and jazz, did homework, cooked dinner, grocery shopped, paid bills...the list was never ending. Not to mention the house work I could barely SQUEEZE in there. Not to mention the "Perfect Pattys of the PTA" talking about new products for chores I had never DREAMED of.....Like who has the time to clean their washing machine? Who actually does this? Who is actually "dusting their ceiling?!"...insane

Needless to say, Karma sucks. Yes felt the guilt for the daily chores I was unable to do, but the once in a life time chores and the heavy dusting...yeah it just floated to the bottom of my list along with things like watching the paint dry. One day it flipped. My oldest daughter was chronically having "croup." Our pediatrician that I worked for sent us to an allergist, believing most of her croup was related to an allergy she must be inhaling. Now that she was old enough, she should be tested. Of course, if you can imagine receiving results that your kid had a moderate allergy to DUST?! Unbelievable, but totally my luck. Recommendations such as, vacuum frequently and with a vacuum that has a good hepa filter, use an air purifier, clean sheets, sweep a lot, mop a lot, get rid of the carpet... yeah not a cheap visit, considering removing the carpet was close to a grand in itself.

My youngest daughter has cystic fibrosis. At the very start of her diagnosis, our education as her parents started with pretty much, all things clean. Reduce the amount of inhaled irritants to reduce mucus, keep all things dry to avoid bacteria such as pseudomonas, and etc. I went to bed one night okay with sticky floors and woke up the next morning with a life long ambition to end all things dirty! Funny joke. Easier said than done when moms are pulled a thousand different directions in the course of a day. The anxiety started weighing on me like the world on atlas, and then came depression from feeling inadequate. I started picking up on hacks here and there and learned how to professionally clean (pretty much just awesome time management skills). My forty hours a week I was still able to rid myself of those sticky floors and even throw in a grout cleaning or two. All this to say, Moms hang in there. In this series of blogs, I will share with you some hacks I have tried, what works what doesn't, how you can get your house to smell like a candle and never even light a warmer or wick, how to organize your home to limit time spent in other areas.... I had a life changing event that meant i needed to be able to revolve my work around my schedule instead of vice versa. My mother received a diagnosis of cancer and was needing much help. I started a cleaning business with the feeling that there were more women out there like me, who needed the help. I was right. With the help of a few girls, and some awesome hacks, we now have a 5 star service. I now believe that quote on that plaque good moms have sticky floors is floating somewhere on top of long ago issues of vogue in a landfill waiting to be crushed and burned.