This is Why Parents Clean When the Kids are Sleeping

I hate wasting the precious bit of sleeping time that my kids have with chores. If you've been reading for a while, you'll know that sleep is erratic and rare in this house. Why waste that on scrubbing the toilet, gathering garbage, and mopping the floor?

Tonight I was trying to mop our very, very dirty kitchen floors while my husband attended a telephone conference. The kids have had a busy day and should be able to chill out for a bit.

So, first I get our front hall done. Then I start working on the kitchen portion (it is all one long floor). First I had both kids roll on and walk on the portion of the floor that is clean: to find out what I was doing. After removing Liam a few times, I put a gate up on the one side, but there is no way to gate the other side, so I just blocked it with stuff. Next thing I know, Xander is over the other stuff and on the floor...AGAIN! And then he is on the other side of the gate, poking at the broom and mop alternately, depending on which of them was not in use, and complaining about not helping. Don't forget the long thing of infant beads that he stuck over the gate, so he could touch the floor despite me gating it off. That one ended in screaming, because I took those beads and threw them down our gated back stairs, which are adjacent to the kitchen.

Oh, and have I mentioned that Liam has learned how to screech? I am thinking of checking my ears again...for bleeding.

Urghh.

Yeah, this is why people use the time when kids are sleeping to clean. I get it.