Where the hell is that niche
Let me just clarify one thing. I don't think that cleaning toilets is beneath me. I just think that cleaning the feces of others off a toilet is gross. I don't look down on people that do it for a living, quite the opposite. I applaud them for having the strength to do it. Because I don't. I'm weak like that.
It's not just that, either. I seriously doubt anyone will be able to follow this next line of thinking without wondering if I'm just making up excuses. Honestly, though, this is how my mind works.
"If I clean that toilet, Gramma will be rolling in her grave."
All those years, my Gramma spent waitressing at a local diner, cleaning up for others, lecturing me on getting an education so that I would never have to do the things she had to do to make a living... and here I am standing in front of a toilet that needs to be cleaned.
And if I clean this toilet, will I be buying into that 1950's attitude of men are workers while women are homebodies stereotype? Because the women at church invite me to their canning parties all the time. I refuse based on the fact that the whole concept of canning and being a good little missus scares the living bejezzus out of me. I will never ever wear an apron while cooking dinner, no matter how messy it is, for that reason alone. I balk at the thought of being a good little wife, who puts everyone before herself all the time, playing the martyr, smiling blankly while the men pat themselves on the back for a job well done. NO, thank you.
That is just not me.
I stay home for my son... for now. In five or six years, roles will be reversed and my Chris will stay home with Kade while I go to work. And I have every faith that with Chris in charge of this house, it will be immaculate daily. He's a waaaaaay better housewife than I could ever be. I don't mind this. I don't need to compete with that thought in order to feel like a woman.
So yeah... I have an identity crisis when I see the toilet needs to be cleaned.
Don't even get me started on dusting. The only time I'm fulfilling the french maid with a duster stereotype is in the bedroom. 'Nuff said.
It's not just that, either. I seriously doubt anyone will be able to follow this next line of thinking without wondering if I'm just making up excuses. Honestly, though, this is how my mind works.
"If I clean that toilet, Gramma will be rolling in her grave."
All those years, my Gramma spent waitressing at a local diner, cleaning up for others, lecturing me on getting an education so that I would never have to do the things she had to do to make a living... and here I am standing in front of a toilet that needs to be cleaned.
And if I clean this toilet, will I be buying into that 1950's attitude of men are workers while women are homebodies stereotype? Because the women at church invite me to their canning parties all the time. I refuse based on the fact that the whole concept of canning and being a good little missus scares the living bejezzus out of me. I will never ever wear an apron while cooking dinner, no matter how messy it is, for that reason alone. I balk at the thought of being a good little wife, who puts everyone before herself all the time, playing the martyr, smiling blankly while the men pat themselves on the back for a job well done. NO, thank you.
That is just not me.
I stay home for my son... for now. In five or six years, roles will be reversed and my Chris will stay home with Kade while I go to work. And I have every faith that with Chris in charge of this house, it will be immaculate daily. He's a waaaaaay better housewife than I could ever be. I don't mind this. I don't need to compete with that thought in order to feel like a woman.
So yeah... I have an identity crisis when I see the toilet needs to be cleaned.
Don't even get me started on dusting. The only time I'm fulfilling the french maid with a duster stereotype is in the bedroom. 'Nuff said.
posted by Ari at 12:25 PM
10 Comments:
It's a shit job, figuratively and literally, and by job I mean task. No question about it, and hell yeah repsect to anyone who does it for a living, I couldn't. There's comething deeply disheartening when faced with that toilet. Niche = rock on, and on and then some more
I love aprons.. Actually I collect them... ::shrug:: I don't know of anyone who actually wears them any more.... I been called Old Fashioned more times then I can count.... It is what makes me an individual, just like how you never wearing one makes you one. And I LOVE THAT!
I think you are amazing. judi
High heels, my dear... high heels!
Judith
Cleaning bathrooms are the worst for me...although I have no choice but to clean them...one day might I be so lucky as to hire someone to do them...and everything else around here!! I love your way of thinking :)
Ari
Your train of thought is what makes YOU, well YOU! Last I knew there was no definitive book on who and what the norm is....
and Frankly if there was, I highly doubt, you(or I for that matter) would follow it...Just because!
I know the toilet issue all to well..and well as an offshoot? I have 5 men in this house...Think I clean the rim or the floor? Heck no!
They either learn to aim better OR clean it!
They clean it!
Happy New Year Ari, to you and YOURS!!!!
Dont ever change
Jodi
Toilets are bad, but dusting is "Achoo" Now that I think about it cleaning in general is bad. Its a dirty task, but somebody has to do it.
Oddly enough, Ari, I have the opposite problem... I am completely pathetic at housecleaning (having had a family who kept servants) but I go at it wholeheartedly, even when I cannot manage the job properly... It gives me a sense of accomplishment to do these things by myself, even the truely revolting tasks like toilet-cleaning... That I can manage these things without the aid of a housekeeper makes me feel less helpless... I become a strong, savvy, educated lady who can clean her own toilet with no help from anyone, by god...! ;)
Sorry, I was just having a moment imagining you in a French maid outfit. I will clean anything except bathrooms, but I guess that's going to be on my list in a couple of weeks.
We got some of those containers of saniwipes and it is amazing how much cleaner the toilets and bathrooms as a whole stay.
I used to have to clean restrooms at my first job. I also had to clean up a bag of meat trimmings that had fallen out of the dumpster in the heat of July, complete with "baby flies" and all.
Chris
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