The Cleaning Monster

It has been a little over 2 weeks since I got a call on a Thursday saying my new VP shunt would be placed in three days on the following Monday. With my last placement, I had about 4 weeks to plan, but this time...3 days. When his nurse called and said Monday I giggled and asked her "you mean in 3 days?" She earnestly said yes. Two reasons why the plumbing had to be installed quickly (1) damage to my peripheral vision was already happening and (2) I needed to be completely healed in time for the kids to be out of school. He said I needed 8 full weeks to heal, so time was running out.

From that call on I was possessed with the nesting monster that often occurs in late stage pregnancy. And Kyle was completely helpless against this cleaning bitch; he was to do whatever the bitch said and God forbid he try to sit down to rest. Meals were prepared, "sub plans" for the kids were made, and Henry's early birthday and scrapbook were completed.

The mad-person cleaning is what bothered Kyle the most. He thought I should be resting, but I reassured him that I would have plenty of time to rest. I carried a plastic bucket supplied with Oxy Clean, Pledge, Windex, Scrubbing Bubbles, and rags. I scoured showers, floorboards, windows, counters, cabinets, absolutely everything. Kyle did not know how to handle this because I had never cleaned like this before (except in a freak moment three hours before my water broke with Moe). However he sensed that if he made me stopped, I would be flooded with overwhelming thoughts and my anxiety would get the best of me. All he could do was count down the days until I was immobilized and live with the smell of bleach pouring out of the bathrooms.

 

 

In my warped mind I was thinking EVERYTHING had to be perfect for the grandparents to take over the household even though they didn't need the floorboards sparkling. But the crazy cleaning kept me from losing my mind. Oh yeah, all three kids managed to get sick in those three days too, so stress was high. From my last placement I was expecting to be in the hospital for 4 days, missing Henry's real birthday, Franki and Moe's Grandparent's Day, Mystery Reader, and all the other activities that happen in a week. This house was going to be clean, and I wasn't going to let the fact that my nostrils were suffering chemical burn from the cleaning supplies stand in my way!