Cleaning my way through my election anxiety

And an embarassing realization about my own home.

Last Friday morning, I invited my neighborhood friends over to write get-out-the-vote letters after dropping our kids off at school. I printed out the letters, purchased mailing supplies, and made coffee and breakfast. It was easy and low key, but it felt good to be doing the work together. We’re in the last gasp of these efforts (just 12 days to the election!), but if you’ve got time, I highly recommend doing something with friends this weekend (and vote early, if you can).

It was the first time in a long time that I had invited people over, and it was so nice. A colleague once told me that she knew she’d become “real” friends with someone when they asked her over to their house and didn’t bother to tidy up first. While I appreciate this sentiment, I confess I always clean before hosting. Some might call this uptight, but in my mind, it’s basic hospitality to have a tidy house. (Guys, I’m from Connecticut, this is deeply baked in.)

I also knew my apartment was overdue for a proper deep cleaning (the back-to-school busyness kept pushing it by the wayside). So, my husband and I embarked on tidying-up and doing all the cleaning that you never do on the daily. 

First, I spent a little time getting objects back into their homes, recycling old magazines, and the like. I unloaded a few things, which I’d been meaning to re-home via our local Buy Nothing Group, including some long-outgrown toys. It felt good to do all those little tasks that instantly make a home look and feel better. Then we dug into the actual cleaning, the kind where you move furniture, dust the tops of wall art, and vacuum the upholstery. And I am embarrassed to admit this, but…