Cleaning is a thankless job

Why is it that I only really clean the house when someone is coming to visit or we're having a party? I mean, I clean every day, but not really clean. On a regular basis, I sweep the dining room. Otherwise we'd have ants covering the floor, especially around the high chair. But Donkey isn't the only messy one. Pirate and Trouble both have tons of food on the floor around their chairs too. Some days I think I could make a whole meal out of the amount of crumbs and pieces of food on the floor. I also load, unload, and reload the dishwasher, wash the bottles, and put away things that are laying around, and take out the trash and recycling. But vacuuming, dusting, scrubbing... that kind of stuff doesn't get done as much as it should. I have such a love/hate relationship with cleaning. I hate cleaning. But I love how nice the house looks when I'm done.

Cleaning is such a thankless job though. Seriously, how long does it last? I was having company twice this week, so I really needed to try to get this place looking somewhat decent. Yesterday I mopped Swiffered the middle floor of the house, after sweeping the entire thing. I wiped down everything in the kitchen, put away all the dishes, took out the trash.  I also cleaned the bathrooms by wiping down the sinks and counters, cleaning the toilets, and Windexing my kids spit off the mirrors. I have watched them spit after brushing their teeth, and they hit the mirror every time. I don't get it. Cleaning the toilet involves wiping up the puddles of pee that my 4 year old gets on the floor. It's disgusting. I also made all the beds. I always feel like made beds make the house look fancier, but I rarely bother making them.

By last night, you never would have known that I even attempted cleaning. The dining room floor was again covered in crumbs. The counter in the kitchen was sticky from spilled juice. Dishes were filling the sink as usual. Toys were all over the place. In the bathroom there was toothpaste all over the counter, spit on the mirror, and pee on the floor next to the toilet. The cleaning didn't even last a full day. And I think to myself, why bother? But I have to bother. Otherwise, there would be inches of pee on the floor, layers of toothpaste on the sink, and rodents eating the pieces of food on the floor. Not to mention the random turd I might find here or theree. So, I do the cleaning that needs to be done, just to do it again soon after.

Other thankless jobs include cutting the grass (Grows back too fast. Damn dandelions!), doing the laundry (hampers fill up way too fast around here),doing the dishes (the sink and dishwasher always seem to be full), and taking out the trash (cans fill up super fast).  Grown up life can be no fun!