Cleaning Revelations

I now know why my Mother in Law washes the dishes AS SOON as a meal is finished. In NC there was a grace period; you could let a couple of meals go by without having to do all the dishes. Nothing smelled no flies were attracted; people wouldn’t be appalled by the way you kept your home. Not any more! These flies don’t let you rest for a second! Walking in my kitchen you would have thought I hadn’t done the dishes or taken out the trash in a month. No, I do the dishes every day. The trash is taken out every couple of days but by then there are fruit flies everywhere.


I can’t stand it, but I also can’t just stop everything to wash the dishes. More often than not I have 1 hand to work with, so those dishes are just going to have to wait. Yuck.

I have also realized since coming to PR that keeping a clean house in the Caribbean is a full time job. The floor must be constantly swept and moped, the dishes must be done after every meal, then there’s laundry (I’m washing 5 days a week), and the regular cleaning, and the cooking, and the list goes on (I didn’t mention the yard). I know why so many people on the islands have a helper, maid, whatever you want to call it. When am I going to have the time/energy to enjoy paradise? I’m tired and I just got here. I just know I’m neglecting some crucial household chore while writing this…

Busy as a Bee

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. 

I was really productive while the girls were napping the other day.  I actually started cooking dinner at 2:30pm.  Chicken in the oven. Check.  Rice and water in the pot. Check.  Broccoli cut up and in the steamer ready to go. Check.  When the “real” time to cook dinner rolled around all I had to do was turn everything on - you have to watch the rice though, because it was soaking it doesn’t take nearly as long to cook - something that I can do while breastfeeding (ah, the art of multitasking).  I think I just found a new system.  I also managed to wash 3 loads of laundry, sweep upstairs and do the dishes.  This, of course, was only possible because BOTH girls took their nap at the same time.  

***edited to add***

The take away is this - You have to do things when you can, not always when you want to.