entertaining

Don’t Tinkle in That Toilet

clothedwithjoy 5 Comments

On Thursday I am having guests over for dinner. As you can imagine, this week has been, and will be, a flurry of cleaning and cooking.

Growing up, my Mom was not much of an entertainer, but on those rare occasions when my Dad convinced her to have people over, my Mother insisted on cleaning our home from top to bottom in preparation. At 74, she’s still the same way.

As I prepare for my own guests, I am mapping out the priorities of my To-Do list in my head. It only makes sense that cleaning the bathrooms comes last on the list, obviously, and I wouldn’t dream of touching them until an hour or two after my last child walks out the door for school on Thursday.

bathroom 1

In my childhood home there were three bathrooms. Two were in public areas and one was hidden. Through my parents’ bedroom and on the other side of their walk-in closet was one, single bathroom that was available for use. On party days, the hidden bathroom was the only bathroom we were allowed to use. In fact, we never even considered tinkling in the downstairs Powder Room or Upstairs Bathroom before a party. Stinking one up or leaving poop streaks on the newly scrubbed toilet bowl was an offense punishable by means we could only imagine. The truth is, we had no idea what the punishment would be for defiling an already pre-party cleaned bathroom.

No One Had Ever Done It.

At 41, I have four children of my own. It all makes complete sense now. Hanging a “Do Not Use” sign on the downstairs bathroom door on entertaining days seems the most natural thing in the world.

Tell me I’m not the only one…

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The Word is: Crowd

clothedwithjoy 4 Comments

5minutefriday

The people on my street refer to me as “the one with all the kids.”

I have four.

Maybe it’s because they’re all girls.

Maybe it’s because we decrease in height from biggest to littlest like steps on a staircase.

Maybe it’s just because we are LOUD.

Whatever the reason, I think it’s kind of funny. Four children aren’t that many but I guess we could be considered a crowd. I wonder what people think when they are debating inviting us to dinner or to a get-together… I wonder if we get X’ed off the list just to keep numbers down.

I mean, we are a Crowd, right. All five of us.

I think it’s important for people with large numbers of children to make friends with other people with large numbers of children and then you just do your own things together. Invite each other over for get-togethers and dinners. Embrace the crazy. Embrace the noise.

Those families with 2.5 children don’t know what they’re missing.

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This was written for Five Minute Fridays where you write on a specific word for only 5 minutes, click for link.