Clean as a Whistle

We had hired cleaners to come once a week during Tillie's first year, but now that the family is settled, I've started cleaning again myself. Cleaning is kind of lame--but not because the actual act of cleaning is lame. My real beef with it is that the house does not stay clean for very long, so there is very little satisfaction at the end of it. Muddy paw prints appear on things, hair balls pile up, crumbs collect--all within minutes of a solid few hours of cleaning. It does feel good to save money though. And, I've finally perfected my regime of products that are easy to use and smell good.

When I clean I think about other people cleaning, mostly movie stars. Who does and who doesn't? Did they do it when they made their first big blockbuster and then not after that? Or did they continue for a while because they are down-to-Earth types? Does Meg Ryan scrub her bath tiles? Did Nicolas Cage ever lift a mop? I also think about wealthy politicians and their wives. I'm pretty sure that Laura Bush hasn't had to clean a house in a while. I can't tell about Michelle Obama. She seems like she has been kind of busy for a while now, but they are the people's choice, so who knows? The Bush's are more traditional, too, which can often mean that the lady of the house has to scrub grout. Funny, our household is not at all traditional in many ways, but I'm embarrassed to say that the "lady" does most of the cleaning. I will have to liberate Tillie of this age-old and sexist tradition somehow.