It’s an exciting day in our household. No, not the first day of Spring, although that is a welcome relief from the dreary When will the Winter end? gloom.
Even better than the vernal equinox – I received my first blogging check. Woohoo! A whopping $30 buckaroos, just enough to cover a deluxe dinner at Mike’s Hot Dogs – onion rings and milk shakes, yeah, baby!
Okay, I have to admit that I’m not exactly setting any blogging income records, but the unexpected windfall was the kick I needed to halt my descent into a domestic funk.
Lately, I’ve adopted the Slacker Wife lifestyle, delegating or ignoring household maintenance. Instead of daily pickup, I’ve allowed dirty laundry, dishes, and clutter to pile up. The weekly home cleaning session has become more of a hit or miss monthly event. As a result, cleaning the whole house resembles nothing less than one of the labors of Hercules.
Still, I was totally on board with the slacker program, arguing that it’s fine to neglect housework for more fulfilling pursuits. Healthy, even. That is, until the 3D’s – Dust, Dirt, & Dog Hair – pushed the Indoor Allergy Index to catastrophic levels.
In the morning, I’d wake with a killer headache and ears that felt like they were on the verge of exploding, all symptoms that my allergies were gearing up for a full-scale asthmatic assault. Not conditions that are conducive to inspired writing.
I went from slow and steady blogging to something less, much less. I didn’t even want to turn on the computer, not wanting to face the growing list of To Do’s: unread Emails, overflowing Google Reader, ignored social media forums, accumulated project task lists…
Slacking off doesn’t mean that the work goes away. (Still wishing for a visit from the cleaning fairies!) It just means that the mountain gets steeper.
When you’ve slacked off as long as I have, it’s exhausting to even think of climbing out of the pit of domestic despair; wallowing seems inescapable.
Getting a paycheck when I’m barely ever posting to the blog, though, that’s embarrassing.
So, yes, I’m renouncing the slacker lifestyle. My entire family tackled the household cleaning this weekend. Even Yoohoo helped out by assenting to a professional grooming session.
Today, I can barely move after the grueling cleaning marathon, but here I am, clothes neatly hung in the closet, headache-free and writing.
Now, I just have to enforce keeping the house clean. Good-bye Slacker Mom, Hello El Commandante!
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Slacker Mom, eh? LOL Been there, done that. Enjoy your new-found clean house, if only for a few days!
I like to think that the falling behind allows me to find greater joy in regaining control.
Snort.
Oh, the fleeting joy of regaining control, just wish it lasted more than a moment! Two days later, and I’m already spinning.
$30.00? Honey, I would KILL for income like that….you MUST share your blogging secrets! And I welcomed the first day of spring with a heavy wool coat as it was snowing here in NYC! So to celebrate, I had a vodka-tonic. Classy,hu?
Keep up the good work!
Nando