Of course I've spot-cleaned the floor during that period. And I've vacuumed and dusted and cleaned toilets and sinks and most any other housecleaning task you can imagine. But a full-scale floor mop? Nope.
But yesterday, Tuesday, the usual day our houseboy comes, was Eid, the major holiday to mark the end of Ramadan. So our houseboy didn't come. Since the girls and I had already prepped the house for cleaning, though, we decided to - gasp! - do it ourselves. How novel.
So we broke out the broom and the vacuum and the Dettol and the mop and went for it. I was immediately reminded of all the things I dislike about trying to clean floors with the "help" of small children. Miriam kept whacking things with the long broom handle. Magdalena dragged her blankie through a dirt pile. Both of them walked through a freshly mopped section of floor, leaving little footprints. Then they fought over who got to mop which stair. It brought to mind all over again how awesome it is that a dude comes to our house once a week and cleans it while the girls and I walk to the library and then go home and read books together.
Of course I know that sweeping and mopping and vacuuming are valuable skills to teach children, and I promise I'm not neglecting that (as evidenced by yesterday). My kids are definitely aware that it takes work to clean a home - it just so happens that a lot of the work is done by an Indian guy instead of mom. And for now, I'm taking advantage of this season of life.