Cleaning

I did half the house cleaning today in anticipation of the arrival of the mother-in-law tomorrow - she's coming from Spain to stay for a few days. I could only manage upstairs before I was knackered - will handle downstairs tomorrow while Husbandio and Isabel head off to the airport to collect her. Isabel pretty much ignored most of the cleaning process although she did tidy up the sofa cushions. This was actually was very sweet, since picking them up off the floor (where she'd left them as part of making a pathway from the lounge to the playroom) is not as easy as it sounds for me at the moment! And when I kissed her goodnight a few minutes ago and said "thank you for a lovely day", she replied "thank you for a lovely day - except the cleaning that is". Goodness knows how much protest we'd have had if I'd asked her to contribute any further!

Sometimes I don't mind doing the cleaning, it's the thought of doing it which depresses me. Before we moved to the sticks we had a lovely cleaner, an old friend of the family who'd been with us for several years, and I wish we could have moved her with us. Since I'm now on maternity leave for several months with, theoretically, enough time to do the cleaning, and very limited earnings, getting a new cleaner right now isn't really on, but it'll be pretty high on the list once I go back to work. For now Husbandio is helping out, mainly because I don't want to carry the hoover up and down the stairs, but I fear it'll fall back onto my plate once the pregnancy excuse is over. Must get the Isabel training in this regard back on track! And since babies like white noise, I may well find that hoovering has additional attractions other than just getting the place nice and clean!