{"id":390,"date":"2015-04-25T12:10:29","date_gmt":"2015-04-25T18:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/?p=390"},"modified":"2015-04-25T12:11:26","modified_gmt":"2015-04-25T18:11:26","slug":"please-dont-clean-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/2015\/04\/25\/please-dont-clean-this\/","title":{"rendered":"Please don’t clean this"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m not a clean freak. \u00a0Really.<\/p>\n

But I do like things tidy.<\/p>\n

Way back when, a lifetime ago (when things were more stressful), I was the one who did the deep-cleaning (and the light cleaning as well) in the household. \u00a0Vac, mop, walls, etc.<\/p>\n

Some of that was personal preference, some a reaction to the living situation.<\/p>\n

Things are better now so I’m more relaxed. \u00a0Having had a decade of living with\u00a0boxes of items all round, and in various locales tends to bring perspective into what’s important.<\/p>\n

But some things I’m still a stickler about. \u00a0Walls, carpet, and floorboards, for one.<\/p>\n

When the grandboy and his momma needed a safe haven to run to, there was no hesitation. \u00a0But I very quickly remembered how exciting life is\u00a0when you’ve a pint-sized walking ball of energy \u00a0mixed with food and mud and sometimes the occasional\u00a0sniffly, vomit-y mess that comes with the package.<\/p>\n

Momma’s good about making sure things are kept to a standards minimum. \u00a0But I do find I scrub the walls a little more often than I used to.<\/p>\n

Except for one spot.<\/p>\n

This is is my reminder of how blessed we grandparents are and how I in particular am blessed to have good relationships with my kids – all of them, thankfully.<\/p>\n

I was cleaning up one day, about 2\u00bd years ago, when I came upon this patch of mud spread across the doorjamb. \u00a0The grandboy had been playing outside with momma in the dirt and used the doorjamb to steady his step up to the next part of the landing.<\/p>\n

It occurred to me right then how strong a message this little bit of mess held for me.<\/p>\n

The two of them had only been living here for a couple of months. \u00a0My daughter had trusted me to help out in a bad situation. \u00a0Her boy had no clue what was going on – he barely knew how to walk up a single step without help. \u00a0At that moment in time, I hadn’t a clue how long my visitors would be staying with me, but already I knew things would be forever changed no matter how long they stayed.<\/p>\n

This is a smeary mess. \u00a0I know that. \u00a0But it’s also a symbol of trust and respect between myself and family, odd as it sounds. \u00a0I’ve actually protected it with a clear coat of gloss – now that the littleun is helping to clean, he may accidentally wipe off this reminder. \u00a0I love irony but not that much!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This little patch of dirt will be gone at some point in time. \u00a0Maybe after I’m gone and buried. \u00a0But until then, this stays as a precious work of love and art.<\/p>\n

\"WP_20150425_12_08_37_Pro\"<\/a> \"WP_20150425_12_08_45_Pro\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m not a clean freak. \u00a0Really. But I do like things tidy. Way back when, a lifetime ago (when…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/WP_20150425_12_08_37_Pro.jpg?fit=1456%2C2592&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p62ahB-6i","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1065,"url":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/2018\/03\/06\/gwumpa-is-always-shouting\/","url_meta":{"origin":390,"position":0},"title":"Gwumpa is always shouting","author":"Gwumpa Stories","date":"March 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Me: O hey please stop touching the walls. I just had them painted. Grandboy: Ok Gwumpa. Me: Ok stop touching the walls. Your hands are greasy and I'm trying to keep the new paint clean. Grandboy: Ok Gwumpa, sorry. Me: No, really, STOP TOUCHING THE WALLS when you walk past\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":379,"url":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/2015\/04\/18\/rainy-day-cleaning-day-then-cleaning-day-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":390,"position":1},"title":"Rainy day, cleaning day. Then cleaning day again","author":"Gwumpa Stories","date":"April 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The temperature dropped recently here, and it's been pouring buckets of water. \u00a0Fortunately we had a reprieve and it's nice enough to leave the back door open. \u00a0Let's check our math, shall we? \u00a0rain+dirt+stompyboy = Yes! We're cleaning up mud inside. \u00a0How mud got on the toilet seat I'll not\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":563,"url":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/2015\/07\/19\/special-tuesdays\/","url_meta":{"origin":390,"position":2},"title":"Special Tuesdays","author":"Gwumpa Stories","date":"July 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Me: Your room is a mess. Grandboy: I know, gwumpa. I clean it someday. Me: Today is a good day. You should clean your room today. Grandboy: Wellllll,... (excitedly) how 'bout Tuesday? Yes I clean it on Tuesday! Me: ... Grandboy: What today is? Me: If you're cleaning your room\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/18672949389_8e84397d3f_b1.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/18672949389_8e84397d3f_b1.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/18672949389_8e84397d3f_b1.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/18672949389_8e84397d3f_b1.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":869,"url":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/2017\/01\/21\/pretending-to-play\/","url_meta":{"origin":390,"position":3},"title":"Pretending to play","author":"Gwumpa Stories","date":"January 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Me: [cleaning] Grandboy: Gwumpa i'm driving my car to your shop. You can fix it for me? Me: I can't sorry, I'm cleaning things right now. Grandboy: it's PRETEND Me: [looking over at pretend car] Sorry, I can't play pretend. i need to get this stuff cleaned up before the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":128,"url":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/2013\/03\/23\/govt-budgeting-101\/","url_meta":{"origin":390,"position":4},"title":"Gov’t budgeting 101","author":"Gwumpa Stories","date":"March 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"O dear, I believe I've taught my grandson the primary rule of gov't budgeting... Instead of using less, find reasons to get more. :-( We've taught him to wipe off the crayon marks he puts on the fridge. He uses a spray bottle of water. These are special easy clean\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":961,"url":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/2017\/06\/25\/nothing-but-the-tooth-so-help-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":390,"position":5},"title":"Nothing but the tooth, so help me","author":"Gwumpa Stories","date":"June 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Grandboy: Gwumpa I have a loose tooth. LOOK Me: I see. (looks) Grandboy: The tooth fairy, she's gonna come and take the tooth when it comes out and put it in the WALL of the TOOTH CASTLE she lives in. Me: After it comes out and not before? Maybe she\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":394,"href":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390\/revisions\/394"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monkeyinfinitum.com\/gwumpastories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}