10 Days and Counting

The days leading up to the super bowl will be very stressful for my family and I. No, we are not Saints or Colts fans. None of us have a gambling problem and are agonizing over the odds. No, our stress all comes from OMG WE HAVE TO GET THE HOUSE READY.


Every year for the past 18 years we have hosted a Super Bowl party for the same group of friends. These are people who probably wouldn't even notice, let alone care about, dust on the baseboards. But every year I drive my family crazy with the annual pre-Super Bowl cleanup. I have to confess- the reason this is so stressful is it really is the only time during the year that I REALLY clean house, I'm talking move the furniture, clean the grout with a toothbrush, wash the curtains kind of cleaning. If I don't do it now, it probably doesn't get done.

It wouldn't be so bad if I could just clean. But before you can clean you have get rid of the clutter. We are "collectors" (OK, we may be on the next Hoarders show.) I also never learned those little parenting strategies like getting your children put away their toys at night by singing cute clean up songs or teaching them not to take something new out until you put away what you are playing with. My strategy was more like waiting until I couldn't walk through the living room anymore and then shouting "If you don't put all these *expletive deleted* toys away right now they are going out with the trash" and then for effect, start throwing things in trash bags. (At this point they would grab the bags and run upstairs with them. I always thought they were trying to get away from me and then I'd feel all "bad mommy". Now I realize they were probably up there high-fiving each other because they got Mom to pick everything up again.) Toys have been replaced with school stuff, makeup, and "Why is there a hair straightener in the living room?" but the mess still exists.

So I will spend this weekend reorganizing kitchen cabinets, cleaning baseboards and wondering if I have time to paint the kitchen. I'll go to Hobby Lobby and Home Goods looking for "decor" items. I'll cry at least once because "I should have finished that quilt/cross-stitch picture/afghan I started 5 years ago cause wouldn't it look great on the sofa or wall". By 3:00 Super Bowl Sunday I'll be a wreck (I also have an annual panic that I won't have enough food and send someone out for another bag of chips or something. We live on the leftovers for a week but no one wants to mess with me so they go get whatever I ask for. Hell, at that point they are all begging to go so they can escape!) However, once the gang's all here, the game starts and the beer starts to flow, all is forgotten (sort of like the pain of childbirth) and I start planning for next year.