Scott hates to eat anything involving a casserole dish and a can of Cream of Mushroom soup. But since those two staples are as integral to the Mormon lifestyle as jello salad, they occasionally crop up. Tonight, one of the ingredients in our dinner is smashed-up Ritz crackers. Sadly, you all know what dish I'm talking about, and you all love it as much as I do. Not Scott. I can almost guarantee he'll have cereal for dinner. (He has definite opinions about cereal, too. He never buys plain Cheerios. I always do. He can't have soymilk on cereal. I always do.)
To counteract the chicken dinner, I'm spreading clean-smelling cleansers around the house. I'm letting you in on one of my best secrets here. If I spray Windex or Lysol around the front door right before Scott walks in, he thinks the house is clean. A lot of times, the house is clean, but Scott's eye is trained to hone in on imperfection. One time, the house was spotless and Scott walked in and said, "What's all that stuff on the kitchen table?" "All that stuff" was the table being set for dinner. Plates, silverware, a vase of fresh flowers. Things that can really clutter up the place.
So it's hard to tell exactly what Scott's standards are, besides impossibly high. Hence the olfactory trick. The great thing is, sometimes I inadvertently do real cleaning while I'm spraying the walls, floors, furniture with Lysol Antibacterial Country Fresh Scent. Now that I think about it, maybe I'm tricking myself more than I'm tricking Scott. I tell myself I'm just spraying cleaner around, when I'm really doing housework. Oh my gosh, I'm a housewife, and I've been in denial about it. I'm totally doing all the household chores and laundry and gaining satisfaction from the results! I don't even know if that's good or really sad, but I do like the smell.
10 comments:
I love it! We girls must stick together! Shocking, a housewife who likes it. Although I have to tell you if I were describing you in five words or less housewife would probably not make the list!
Oh, and William feels exactly the same way about casseroles. He says he was tortured as a child!
Me again, you described the host for me perfectly! That is it exactly, love the cookie dough analogy! Thanks!
This is funny! I do the same thing, cause my husband is the SAME way... could it be that law school training in them?
My trick?
I put a cap-full of pinesol in the sink, with a little bit of water (just enough to wipe the kitchen counters down). Then I'll let it sit there for about an hour before he comes home... all the while having the kids do the 10 minute pickup game... He thinks I have been cleaning all day cause the house smells like it!
Us tricksters need to keep sharing our secrets.
Jefe hates casseroles too, and he wasn't even raised Mormon! Go figure!
I love that the smell tricks him. I should try this. I'll be all askew when Ryan walks in the door. He'll see that I'm wiped, but yet the house smells so refreshingly clean. He'll be all impressed with all my HARD CORE labor. Thanks for the tip. ;)
OK Circ.. now I let you in on a little secret.. a pot of boiling water on the stove means dinner is coming.. I may not know what the heck it is.. but once the water is boiling.. you can always throw rice or pasta in there and think something up! :)
Circe- If I have never told you this, I love your blog. Since the first time that we met, I have repeatedly thought....how does she do it? My Circe mantra...that woman does it all and then some. But, your blog has made me realize that Yes, you do a ton and do it well. But, you have tricks. Thanks for sharing.
Way to go Circe! Thanks for the cleaning tip. I love casserole with mushroom soup...must be a Mormon thing
I'm afraid that trick wouldn't work on me. I did try that trick a couple times as a kid with my mom when was suppose to be cleaning the floor while she was gone, just put the floor cleaner in the sink (she used amonia) and hope the smell would fool her. It didn't work on her either.
Rob is about as open to me coming home and commenting on the house, as I would be with him coming to my office asking me what I did all day. I can't believe Scott gets away with that. :)
If I commented on imperfections at home, nothing would get done for a week to prove a point.
Scott has learned his lesson about commenting. It send me into a fit of rage. I've trained him well. :)
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