The Clean Team

There are certain things in my life and daily routines that I am pretty good at. I love cooking, baking and preparing meals for my family. I even somewhat enjoy doing dishes and washing clothes, so long as I don’t have to put any of it away once it’s cleaned (and folded). I’ll spend time with the kids doing homework and bathing, brushing teeth and reading books, special moments in the day that I really value, even during the most routine daily tasks.

Justin and I fill in each other’s gaps in a lot of ways with things that I probably would never have thought to be critically important when going into a marriage. The things that I detest doing around the house, he happens to find cathartic and even therapeutic (like doing dishes and folding clothes does for me)-it sounds crazy, I realize, but it’s true. When you can’t be spending hours coloring or lifting weights or watching trashy television, it’s really nice to turn to an outlet that manages to serve a greater purpose as well as release some tension. For Justin, he happens to really appreciate the benefits of a picked up home with clean floors. I can find him at any given time of day vacuuming or picking up toys and other misplaced things-two tasks that I nearly refuse to do. Our new Bissell Crosswave multi-surface cleaner is his new favorite cleaning tool, and one that he easily uses more than once a day. I must say, it is really nice having really clean floors as often as we do now.

The holidays brought a ton of messes with them. From sprinkles and crumbs from baking and decorating Christmas cookies, to the pine needles falling from the tree in our living room, to smatterings of wrapping paper clippings, Justin has really had his work cut out for him. The kids saw him using the Bissell Crosswave so often, they wanted to try using it despite the influx of new toys that Santa and generous relatives brought for them. Beau especially loves to clean, just like his daddy-so much so that he even received a cleaning set with a broom, a mop and a dust pan for his birthday. He was eager to try the daddy-sized version, and I’m certainly not going to get in the way of that. The Crosswave works in various different ways, making it especially useful in our rooms with stone, wood and area rugs. Such attributes like:

• Two-Tank System – Keeps cleaning solution and dirty water separate to make sure you are always cleaning with fresh water and formula.
• Dual Action Brush Roll – Innovative microfiber and nylon brush scrubs and picks up dry debris at the same time.
• SmartClean Fingertip Controls – Fingertip controls allow you to easily switch between hard floor and area rug cleaning.
• Swivel Steering – Maneuver easily across your floors with swivel steering.

It is easy to change out the different parts or swap different cleaning systems, both of which would be a deal breaker for my own personal use.

Our home currently consists of two adults, four children, one dog, two cats, three fish and two mice. In a couple short weeks we’ll be welcoming our fifth child, and while I am over the moon ecstatic about it, I’m starting to feel a little bit overwhelmed, nesting and cleaning like crazy. I want to be able to bring our new child into a well kept home, and I’m grateful for my very many helpers and all of their different personalities. I feel prepared and ready going into this beautiful new phase of life and grateful for the people and things that make our lifestyle function even a little better on a daily basis.