Cleaning Mom

I love it when my mom comes to visit.

But I feel a little bit guilty too.   She’s just always so darn helpful.

I used to be more sensitive and feel like it was a criticism of my housekeeping skills when my mom came over and did chores.  I try not to feel that way now and accept it for what it is – my mom’s way of mothering me, even when I’m all grown up.  If my house were filthy, I might have a reason to feel sensitive, as it is, it usually just needs a little spiffing up.  She’ll say something about how hard I work and how it’s difficult to keep up when you have a family and work full time.  And then she’ll proceed to dust or sweep or fold.   I’m learning not to stress about it so much.

For instance, a few days before Thanksgiving, she spent a couple days at my house.   During this time, she cleaned two, or maybe three of my bathrooms and dusted my entire house, along with several other chores.

I helped by photographically documenting the dusting process. 

I’m incredibly helpful that way.

It’s a gift.

No need to thank me, Mom.    Really.

I told my mom that I was taking pictures of her cleaning so I could write a post in my blog about her.

I suggested it might be nice to have a picture of her vacuuming too.  But she didn’t fall for my ploy.  She said she doesn’t vacuum. 

As my kids have gotten older and moved out, I understand her need to mother this way.  We mothers need to keep our jobs.

On another note, do you notice the plants in these photos?  The only reason they are alive is because each time my mom comes to visit, she exclaims “Oh Mary,  your plants are so dry” and then she waters them.  My son does the same thing, except he says something like “Gee Mom, don’t you ever water you plants?” and then he waters them.  Sometimes if my mom and son haven’t been over for a while, the plants will start to droop.  I take that as a clue and water them myself.