Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Domestic prescription



When I was in college I always joked that the only time I ever took out the garbage or vacuumed the floor was when I had a big paper due.  Since I had roughly five papers due every week (one for each assigned book) my room was probably the tidiest one in the whole dorm.  Then I graduated and suddenly there were no more essays, no tests, no homework at all in fact (is it weird that I miss it sometimes?) - and therefore my housekeeping skills are, let's say, less than stellar (ahem).  Then I agreed to chair the fundraising committee at preschool and suddenly there is work to do again!  Meetings to attend, notes to take, emails to write, reams of paperwork to shuffle through, and my brain is awake again - awake and buzzing with that old familiar fear-of-failure adrenaline that kept me from flunking out of algebra in high school.

So yesterday I found myself staring outside at the sunny afternoon with a brain still stuck on information overload at the prospect of all the emails I still needed to write.  I couldn't quite bring myself to sit down again and wandered into the kitchen instead.  A stack of dirty dishes had been waiting patiently for some attention for about a week (told you) so instead of going back to the laptop I threw on an apron and filled up the chili encrusted crock pot with soapy water and got down to business.  As the counter filled up with colorful clean dishes my mind grew quiet, and as my hands turned pruny from hot water and dishsoap and baking soda the kinks in my shoulders gradually smoothed out.  When the dishes were done I kept going, wiping down the microwave, scouring the sink and polishing up the counters.  Today the work is mostly done (for now) - and I have a clean(ish) kitchen.  Dishes as occupational therapy - who knew?  I wonder if it applies to laundry...

8 comments:

Katie Elizabeth said...

Ha! Makes sense to me. Now you know why I clean for a sense of control in a world filled with chaos!

Anki and Sassa said...

Ha! We used to weed the garden. We were renting at the time and our landlords LOVED us.

I know ALL about fundraising committees. I'm in one for our primary school (sucks that government schools have to do so much to get funds to even function...this is a big sore point with me as private schools here now get tax funding! Meaning state schools have to do more with less). Yes, they are a lot of work. Maybe we can share ideas as there is lots and lots of land and water between us and we're unlikely to be found out.

Send me a message on Ravelry, so we can be really clandestine.

Dana said...

Now you sound like Erma Bombeck, bless her heart!!!

Sarah said...

Please find the remedy for laundry and for me. I need help... seriously. Ryan is a patient man.

Lindsay said...

LOL....Obviously I need to find some work to do so my house will be cleaner!:)

Oiyi said...

You have such lovely bowls and cups. I am really bad with procrastination. :-)

Sarah Scriberson said...

Whew, that is a big job to take on! Dish time is a great way to relax your mind and think things through.

BEESTLYproducts said...

this is my most loathed "chore"! i think i need to reframe my thinking! (i love all of your pyrex!)