Pet peeves and wet kids

Can I take a quick moment to get some pet peeves off my chest?  (Feel free to share your own in the comments section!)

• Wet paper towels left in the kitchen sink.
• Dirty kitchen sponges left wet in the sink. They belong ABOVE the sink where they can air dry.  It's even worse if they smell mildewy. 
• Actually anything that even REMOTELY smells like mildew.  This pet peeve gives me more trouble than I expected now that we live in the wet northwest.  I've double-washed more than a good share of laundry loads.
• Socks left on the floor two inches from the hamper.
• Shoes left on the kitchen floor.  Or in the hallway.  Or generally where other people might actually want to walk.
• When people don't signal before turning left in an intersection.
• When Someone (I won't name names) wants to wear a specific shirt to work and puts ONLY that shirt in the dryer to speed the dry time.  That part is fine, the part bugs me is not putting everything ELSE into the dryer once the shirt is done.  You're RIGHT THERE!
• Flies.  In my mother-effing house.
• The fact that I'm the only human in my house who knows how to change a roll of toilet paper.
• Washing dishes.  I HATE WASHING DISHES.

Speaking of?  I spent 45 minutes catching up on the kitchen this morning.  I don't mind loading the dishwasher so much, but it's the non-dishwasher stuff that peeves me.  I always wear rubber gloves and that's the only thing preventing my kitchen from becoming unusable, but still, I would rather fold a Mt. Everest of laundry than scrub pots and pans.  This is what it looked like when I was done:

If I ever get to design my own kitchen (someday!  hopefully!), it will include both a double oven and DOUBLE DISHWASHERS.  One for place settings and one for Everything Else that never fits right or prevents the rest of the dishes from actually getting clean.

Anyway, just before this picture was taken, I knocked over a glass bowl that had been resting right on top of that other glass bowl up there.  It shattered into a million pieces.  Like so.

I then spent the next hour vacuuming and then mopping my entire downstairs.  I had to vacuum and once I moved the kitchen table out of the way, I figured what the hell, I might as well mop the kitchen.  The kitchen led to the hallway and the hallway led to living room.  And now all my floors are clean, which is the weirdest thing because I literally NEVER mop my floors unless I'm expecting company and I'm not expecting anyone this week.  I just cleaned my floors FOR MYSELF.  And we all know they'll be filthy again in approximately 14 seconds.  oh wait, RIGHT NOW.

This morning in an effort to Just Do Something, I set up the tempera paints outside and let the kids go to town.  They painted and painted...

and when they ran out of paper, they used each other as canvases.  And then they were so filthy that I couldn't even let them inside the house.  I literally had to lock the sliding glass door.  I would have taken more pictures of how painty they were, but, uh, we're still running a bit of a nudist colony over here. 

So I dumped out their outdoor toy bucket and filled it up with warm water and dish soap and gave them a bath on the grass.

Which, you know, didn't go over well at all. (Ha!)

So I got back my good mom badge for the day and I'm actually feeling better now.  At least my floors are clean!

Comments

[Rhi]

I am glad it was a glass bowl and not a BOTTLE OF WINE, which is precisely what I broke on Bill's entry walk on Monday. I REALLY WANTED THAT WINE.

The good news is, there is now shattered glass (we picked up the big pieces) which I'm sure will deter intruders while he's in Europe!

[Elizabeth]

Is is wrong that I kind of want to get in a warm tub filled with bubbles in MY backyard?
We didn't have a dishwasher for over two years and seriously I thought I would LOSE MY MIND. Now I just throw EVERYTHING in there because I just no longer have it in me to wash anything by hand anymore.

[Ellen]

Hee! We had one of those buckets in my backyard growing up, but I don't think we ever got to take a bath in it.

[Annagrace]

so nice to know someone else only cleans when people are coming. I tidy constantly but things like floors and bathroom sinks...they need redone a day later and it just feels pointless unless there's someone to appreciate.

[1hot&tiredmama]

My current pet peeve -- cheese puffs ground into the living room rug. What the HECK are cheese puffs doing in the living room anyway?!?!?

Your post made me feel better :o)

[Colleen]

The toy bucket photos are fantastic!

[bethany actually]

My pet peeve is when someone brings an empty fast-food soda cup into the kitchen and sets it next to the sink instead of just throwing it in the trash less than two feet away.

[Astarte]

I love the pictures of the kids in the tub!!!! That's great!!!

I have only recently started mopping the floors for myself. I couldn't stand one more bi-colored sock - white on top, brown on bottom. Ugh. I'm trying to do it once a week, right after I vacuum. I've only done the upstairs once, though (we have wood floors throughout); I figure the hi-traffic downstairs is good enough most of the time.

Also, what is it with all of us breaking glass?! I knocked an overhead lamp and had the bulb drop on my head and break the other day. I've always wanted shiny hair, but maybe not that way.

[Rayne of Terror]

Two dishwashers is the height of luxury IMO. We did think briefly about bringing our mobile dishwasher on casters to the new house.

[Amanda]

That first "kids in a bucket" photo is prize worthy (if I had a prize to give you!).

My pet peeve is unloading the clean dishes from the dishwasher. I don't mind loading the dirty ones. I hate when the clean dishes are wet and that water drops on my foot or floor. Weird, I know...

[Licia Morrow]

I will only disagree with you on one item: wet paper towels left on the counter are better than dry ones. With a wet one, at least you can use it to wipe up a really nasty spill before getting out the 409. Who the f@*! leaves used paper products on the counter? I don't understand this phenomenon. Sounds like you live with three big fat F@*!in' pigs like I do.

My advice: eat a big piece of chocolate, drink a glass of wine (sure... 1 p.m. is okay), put on 80s pop really loud and dance away the afternoon!