Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Glad I Mentioned It

This morning I was getting cleaning supplies out from under the sink in the kitchen while Greg was standing there waiting for an egg to hardly boil. I started explaining to him that now I know how people get mold in their showers. Ours has mold in it. I told him, "If you don't wash it for about three weeks, mold will grow."

His response? "You wash the shower?" "Um yes, I wash the shower." "Oh, I thought mold just didn't grow in Poland like it does in Utah."

Wow.

So I'm really glad it came up. I was actually not going to say anything, sort of hoping that he hadn't noticed the mildew before I got the chance to clean it. Well, I'm not sure if he noticed it or not, but apparently he has noticed that there hasn't been any before now. Magically.

(Which isn't to say there hasn't been more than enough lime scale and dried toothpaste etc. And which also isn't to say that I clean my bathrooms every week. Especially the bathtub and shower. I plan to clean them every week. Which is not quite the same thing.)

21 comments:

Kazzy said...

I like to think planning to clean and cleaning ARE the same, especially since I went back to work three years ago. Sure makes me feel better! :)

Heather said...

And how long have you been married? Just kidding. Men are weird like that. I remember the first time Nikolay saw me brushing my hair when it was wet, he wondered why I did it and tried to talk me out of it. I guess his mom always had short hair. Or like he doesn't think I should "waste my time" vacuuming because we are only living in this town home for one year. Gross! He also thinks I do way too much laundry, like we should wear clothes for a few days before washing them and he is opposed to my folding clothes, but I don't get what we would do with them, like leave them in the laundry basket until we need them or something. At least Greg was just surprised and didn't try to talk you out of cleaning the shower.

Annette Lyon said...

That doesn't even make sense on any logical level. Utah is a desert, while I imagine Poland is much moister and hence is probably more prone to mold growth. Gotta love the guys . . .

Anonymous said...

I use that daily shower cleaner spray stuff and pretend that it means I don't actually have to scrub the the bathtub. It's a lie, but I'm okay with lying to myself.

Heidi said...

I remember reading once about how you should clean when people are home so that they get the idea that, yes indeed, you are doing the work. This is esp. important for the kids so that they don't think it is "magically" happening by itself. However, I push that one reallllllly far and wait to clean the shower until it grows legs and threatens to leave home. When I do finally get around to cleaning it, everyone is super appreciative. It's really very rewarding.

Pancake said...

Wouldnt that be nice if mold didnt grow in Poland?!

There is that great product you spray on after each shower, maybe you can find someting like that in Poland????

Randi said...

Wait, you have to do both the planning and the cleaning?

Ok I think I've spotted the problem here.

Becky said...

I'm a clean freak. To the point of cleaning things up when people are still using them. But I despise cleaning the shower/tub. It gets put off for weeks and weeks.

Adam finally volunteered to do that. It's totally his type of job. I don't know why, but he loves it. And I love that he loves it!

Erin said...

Cleaning - the bane of my existence. Sometimes, after I clean the bathroom, I make my kids "hold it" for a couple of hours, just so I can enjoy a clean bathroom for a little longer.

Anonymous said...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

That's hysterical... "mold doesn't grow in Poland like it does in Utah" ??!!

I had to call my hubby and share this with him at work because he's the Moldinator in our house and I knew he would appreciate it.

He busted a gut laughing so hard, his boss came over and asked what was so funny.

So tell Greg that right now, a couple dozen US Government employees are rolling in their respective cubicles, laughing hysterically at Europe's lack of mold growth. And the reason for it.

Jillybean said...

My kids are convnced that the toilet paper roll just magically replaces itself.
I guess in their little world it does.

kitchenditcher said...

Magic shower cleaning...too funny

But did you know that my husband has magic drawers? Yeah...every once in a while he opens them up and there are freshly laundered clothes. How in the world did they get there? Hmmmm......

Carlynn said...

Men are so funny! I am guessing by this comment that his Mom scrubbed his shower and so he never saw mold...and you scrub the shower so he never saw mold...but all the guys he lived with in Utah before you got married NEVER scrubbed the shower. YUCK!

That reminds me. I need to scrub our two shower stalls something aweful...before the orange guck in the bottom corner starts taking over. Why is it orange is my question?

Amber said...

What a good laugh Lisa! You need to put that in a journal/scrapbook so that when you both are old and gray, you can look back on the good times and laugh yourselves silly! Well, at least YOU'LL laugh. Greg--maybe not so much. Silly guy!! ;)

Stephanie said...

I love that. So funny. Even though this sounds totally lame, my biggest cleaning pet peeve with my husband is this: We pay a girl to come over on Fridays and help me clean my bathrooms, my kitchen, and my floors. He worships the ground she walks on because he comes home on Fridays and life is tidy all around. He doesn't realize how MUCH work I do to get everything picked up and put away, organized and trashed so that those surfaces can all be cleaned. Yes, I know I'm being petty, but I literally spend a couple hours before she arrives and the whole time she's here going from room to room and tidying. He just thinks she's a miracle worker. Drives me nuts.

Alison Wonderland said...

You have mold growing in your shower? Disgusting. I never have that. I guess mold doesn't grow in West Valley like it does in Poland.

Anne said...

At least your kids aren't asking, "what are you doing, mommy?" while you're cleaning the shower because you only do it twice a year!

Debbie said...

Husbands and kids live in that magical world where everything just gets done for them. I wish I could visit that place for about a week.

Little GrumpyAngel said...

Ha-ha-ha-ha! I think that's hysterical that your husband didn't know you clean the shower! But now that he does, he can take a turn cleaning right?

Susan said...

I don't know how to comment on this. Mostly I can't believe how much I whine. And how I tell Tom every TINY detail about my day. How does he stand it? At least he knows when I clean anything (although that's mostly from the extreme change since it has probably been a while!) and he knows things down to "well, I bought this brand of tp because the other brand was like this much more for this many sheets..." I think he probably gets most of his best dissertation thinking time in while zoning out to my details. He's very good at it, I really feel like he's listening, but it seems impossible...

Mama Cher, Ok, fine, it's Sharon said...

I just laughed out loud at this post! This confirms my suspicion that men must be notified of the cleaning you do, otherwise they have no clue! Really, I tell my husband (in clever, round-a-bout ways) all the cleaning I get done. And he's like, "Oh cool." Yeah, you're welcome! ;)

{and I know I am totally late on this post...I got so behind! My reader was all crazy (full) on me, but I cleaned house and am up to date. Yeah!}