Like all women, I often go to bed at night and dream that a fairy will come into my home and clean. The washing folded, the showers scrubbed, the biohazard in the oven magically poofed away. The 1031 crumbs all swept away and the 1032 bits and pieces of paper, gone, all gone. She loves it, she lives to clean, she can’t do enough for me.
But all this time, I’ve been waiting in vain. She’s not coming and do you know why?
She knows she’s not needed.
Because while I was busy dreaming her up and wishing she would come, I actually turned into her.
That’s right, I am the cleaning fairy.
My kids mess up their room, walk away and poof, it’s gone.
My husband leaves muesli crumbs all over the kitchen counter every morning but he probably doesn’t even realise it because, poof, they’re gone.
The showers clean themselves. So do the toilets, floors, linen, counter-tops, skirting boards and the entire house while it’s at it. Dust magically wipes itself away. Towels change themselves. Washing self-folds. The vacuum self-sucks.
And speaking of self sucking…
We did this to ourselves. We run around like little fairies catching the drips, wiping the smears and sweeping up the gritted teeth that goes with the lot of it. We bitch occasionally, throw our hands up in despair and screech “Do you think a fairy does all the cleaning around here?”
Why, yes dear woman, yes she does.
Karen Wilson says
I do have a bit of a cleaning fairy… there have been times when I’ve woken up in the morning and the kitchen has been cleaned (I love my husband!)
But mostly we’re still waiting for the fairy to turn up here. I’m sure when Little Miss learns to crawl there will have to be more cleaning fairy going on. Do I get to wear my wings???
Oh, but we do have a Roomba, that’s nearly as good.
Mammamusing says
I need to turn into a cleaning fairy.
Things are looking a little dire around here.
I do enough to maintain a hygenic environment but that’s about it.
Mammamusing says
This comment has been removed by the author.
mel @ loved says
Oh Bron this post is so perfectly timed! YES, I am the cleaning fairy!! I just said this to my family yesterday in a hysterical outburst. I’ve tried to leave it to them, oh how I try, and eventually things do get done, but the truth is I just can’t wait that long! X
Tenille @ Help!Mum says
I do it, because otherwise I cop a barrage of snide remarks. Actually, I get the snide remarks whether I do it or not. I have unfortunately married a man who felt it necessary to educate me in the correct manner of folding ones socks.
Cat from Raspberry Rainbow says
I have seen the cleaning fairy, she is here:
http://www.raspberryrainbow.com/2010/07/wordless-wednesday_21.html
But usually, I am the cleaning fairy too. I am getting better at negotiating with my 4 year old – if she wants to start a new task/watch some TV/play outside, all the other messes have to be cleaned up first – this has been going on a for a few months now, and she is very good at it now (it was hard at first)
The 18 month old loves tidying up toys, I would love this to continue! (yeah, right!)
Mrs Woog says
I have a cleaning fairy called Lilly, and if I had to choose between her or Mr Woog, there would be some considering…..
Cate says
You know I was just thinking about this last night as I changed the sheets – that I really need to get the kiddos more involved. But then I’d have to have the time to sit down and write a roster. And then it will only half get done and I’ll either have to finish it or rant to get them to do it. And even then it won’t be done *quite* the way I like it…so yes, great in theory to get the kids to pitch in…but me thinks not so good in practice (but I’m sure with practise it would all work out)
xxxCate
Trish@Show and Tell says
Nah, I prefer to just let the place go to hell….and she still doesn’t turn up. Selfish bitch 🙂
Trish
xx
CourtneyB says
Need to let that cleaning fairy know i moved over a year ago… maybe she doesnt have the new address… hmmm
Caz (The Truth About Mummy) says
Oh yes I am she!!!!! How true Maxabella. After my 3rd pink was born my SIL came to stay for 2 weeks. We called her our housework fairy. She was fabulous. Every time I turned around she’d cleaned something up. It was so great. But yes, now I’m doing it all – because I’m the only one who really wants it clean. The Dear One and the kids don’t care!!!
Mama Mogantosh says
I like Cats system with her 4 year old… I’m struggling with mine.
Yes, I’m the fairy, dammit. I do a seriously crap job but I’m the only one doing it. I try and stick to the ‘theater’ technique – if nobody is there to see you clean, it didn’t happen.
But theres no solution really.
Lucy says
I often say I do not need a cleaning lady or a cleaning fairy. I just need a wife….
Felicity says
No way! Haven’t you heard?
The sole purpose of my broom is for riding through the night sky upon- I am the ‘wicked’ stepmother after all. And to clarify, by wicked I mean the colloquial term for cool vs mean and nasty.
In our home we all contribute and I’m forever thinking up schemes to help us contribute more effectively. Like getting up before the troops in the morning, filling the kitchen sink with warm water and suds & everyone washing their own milky muck after they’ve eaten breakfast vs me being left with a pile of congealing goob – genius I know!
When the kids hit highschool, we start teaching them simple meals which they can take with them when they eventually leave home.
One night a week they cook it for the family – it’s surprising how much they now appreciate a meal cooked for them and how they love not having to do the washing up if they’ve cooked!
Of course there are many, many things that I still have to pick up, scrub, put away – but as the children get older [something for you to look forward to Ms Bella] they are gradually contributing more and the house is a happier place for it -seriously!
xx Felicity
littlebetty says
My husband insists that he does ALL of the work in the house, largely because, like you, I am a cleaning fairy.
Yes – we’ve done it to ourselves.
Salamander says
Like you, my dear Miss Maxabella, I am the cleaning fairy in this house. However, I fear my wings are broken and my wand is bent. But since I live with a pack of trolls, no one seems to mind!! (and even though I feel as though my efforts are fruitless, whenever I am absent for the day, and the housework doesn’t get *ahem* “done”, everyone seems to notice the mess!!)
Anna Bartlett says
You know how overwhelmed I get by the whole cleaning thing – but today, I had my eldest son (12) help me put clothes on the line, the second son (9) pull sheets off his bed, and daughter (3) pick up jigsaw pieces. No one’s offered to do the loo, but where there’s life there’s hope. I’m planning a life where we can once again afford a more focussed cleaning fairy than myself. Then I’ll happily wipe crumbs and tidy up, because I won’t have to do all the other stuff too.
Kelly says
I wish I had a cleaning fairy to come during the night and tidy up!
Bungalowgirl says
I’m still persisting trying to train Roboboy to be a cleaning elf- he does a reasonable vac and mop but tidying his toys is completely beyond him. Liongirl on the other hard is a miracle- at 21 months she went to the fridge and poured herself a cup of milk then realizing the carton was empty trotted straight over and popped it in the recycle bin! Even Legoman doesn’t do that- he just puts the empties back in the fridge!
Toni says
I’m a great believer in the difference between
WIFE/MUM-work (which only Wife or Mum can do)
and HOUSE-work.
Housework is like when everyone can put their own freakin’ dirty clothes in the freakin’ dirty clothes basket instead of dropping them on the freakin’ floor only 6 inches from the basket.
Sadly, the reality is that I pick up the dirty clothes and put them in the basket, then whinge about it for two days.
melissa says
I took the boys out on the weekend to give my husband a sleep (between night shifts). When I got home the cleaning fairy had been! Yes, my wonderful husband hadn’t been able to sleep so he lay in bed waiting for me to leave before he jumped out of bed to clean.
How lucky am I!
Catherine says
I am a cleaning fairy but when my hubby is home on holidays he doesn’t mind pitching in with the cleaning:) I get the girls to take plates out, tidy up after themselves, they are pretty good mostly. I don’t mind being the cleaning fairy sometimes;)
Tas says
Reminds me of a conversation with my 3 year old last week:
Me: “Clean up your mess please”
3 yo daughter: “No, you do it, you are the cleaner” Okaaaaay!
PlanningQueen says
It is a work in progress for me and I am getting better at leaving it for the kids. I now close the door to my 12 year olds messy room and he has to clean it twice a week. He came to me this morning looking for his school jumper. I knew it hadn’t made its way out of his school bag – like the fruit left over from his lunch! As such his jumper was too stinky to wear, but that was his issue not mine.
Mama of 2 boys says
Oh dear lord, I LOVE this post! The muesli crumbs! It’s like you took the words right out of my mouth… except my hubby leaves them in the sink and clogging up the strainer! Rinses his bowl… good! Leaves a coagulated, sloppy mess in the sink… NOT good!
Yes, yes and yes, I too am a cleaning fairy. Always have been. I do have an appreciative hubby, which helps. But I dream of a cleaning fairy who will one day swoop in and whisk away all the mess too.
alexkeller says
I’m a fairy. You know the rest.
Rachael says
Sometimes if it’s not my mess, I don’t want to clean it. Then I realize that nobody else will clean it, so I do it. I clean my own stuff too though.
It doesn’t seem fair though. I mean, is it that hard to put it in the trash, or rinse off a dish? I don’t think so.
Brenda says
I’ve tried to leave things which they have dumped around the house for as long as humanly possible, just to see if someone other than the cleaning fairy would pick it up/clean it. I have watched things being stepped over and just pushed to the side, toilet rolls never replaced and mess never cleaned.
I know we have done this to ourselves, I wonder what will happen to the kids when they’re adults……will they see what I see, will they become cleaning fairies too, or will they continue to expect her to come and visit?
Cristina Aneiros says
Yes I am a cleaning fairy and I hate it. And unfortunately it’s very much a case of if I don’t do it, no one else does. I know because I’ve done experiments of the ‘just leave it alone someone else will do it’ variety. The latest of which resulted in a pile up of dishes for 4 days, food going off in the fridge since no one was cooking, I won’t even mention the bathroom, and a massive blow-up after 4 days.
Unfortunately for him, hubster doesn’t seem to realise how much a big deal this is for me….
MomAgain@40 says
No, luckily I am not the only fairy. Hubby does his bit! 😀
It is sometimes disheartening to come here and read how accomplished you are, Maxabella! 😉
*Bowing!* again
Marion Williams-Bennett says
My wings could use a bit of a polish, but yes, I am the cleaning fairy.
What I love the most is when the cleaning fairy is on strike, I mean busy bringing joy somewhere else. The sense of disbelief that that brings -“How can there be no clean socks?!”
jane@flightplatformliving says
i try to be a cleaning fairy but am more peed off wine fuelled wizard yelling about the mess!when my kids finally sleep i am too knackered to care and spend my only available cleaning time writing comments on blogs about how i am a bitch wizard with a filthy house! i do however love a clean house and pray nightly for that little fiary to visit, i think she’s selective, blumin cow! i bet if she wrote a blog she would have more than 8 followers as well…bitch! xx
End of Tenancy Cleaning London says
I don;t consider myself a fairy and I think that if I don’t do it nobody will. It is my obligation. But actually it is not hard when you know how to make it fun. Regards.
_vTg_ says
Ooh, thank you for saying what the little voice deep down in me sometimes thinks- the one muttering “taken for granted”. To be fair, my DH might feel the same in some departments.
I did feel a bit better about being the live-in fairy after reading this Valentine’s Day post from one of my favourite family bloggers:
http://camphomeschool.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-just-loved-my-family.html
Being Me says
Sometimes I think we must just be perpetuating it – as mothers – because the amount of times I think (or shriek) “It’s just not WORTH asking, I’ll do it myself like every other blahdy thing around here”…. and then the OH gets out of doing it again. Which, I suspect, is how it went down in his house.
If I ever have a boy, I swear… that kid is going to learn how to clean a house. And my daughter won’t get away with not finding out before she leaves into the big wide world either!
Ooh Baby - All things Cuteable says
I am the cleaning fairy – I’m getting sick of being the ONLY cleaning fairy in our house. It is a huge bone of contention at the moment…..considering telling the hubby to go and live with his mum again if he wants someone to pick up after him all the time! Rant over! ;o) Thanks for that post, us women, we are all in the same boat lol. Hope you’re good?
Miss Pink says
Hmm yes and no. I actually like to clean most things. I don’t iron unless it’s for crafting. I despise my oven and often beg Mr Black to do it for me. My kids DO have to pick up their own toys, i don’t do that, and they do have to put their dirty dishes in the sink, and clean up after themselves, which they mostly happily do. Mr Black? Well his mother spent 21 years wiping his bum for him so it’s an ongoing and slow process of teaching him dirty clothes go IN the hamper or they don’t get washed on wash day. You cannot take a new glass from the cupboard until you’ve brought your old one in and put it in the sink (bonus points for washing it up, minus 100 points for putting the wet glass in the rack with DRY dishes).
But things like dusting, vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom, they’re a “pink zone” and fairly so when i am not working.
Tanya says
Total light bulb moment. Thank you
Britt @ absolute alaia says
I am the anal cleaning fairy. No one can even leave a glass on the bench in preparation for another drink because in one swift move I have put it in the dishwasher.
LionessLady says
Yep, I am the cleaning fairy too! I did have a real one once – when I was soooooo pregnant with the middle child I could barely look after myself! Alas it did not last and how I miss her toilet s-bend cleaning ways!!!
ForeverRhonda says
You’re completely right! All this time I’ve been searching for this magic cleaning fairy…and all this time the hubs and son have had one.
Mandy says
Yes, I am the main cleaning fairy in our house – every 2 weeks I am blessed with an assistant fairy (who unlike me, is paid to wave her magic wand around my house for a couple of hours) … but I AM a full time working mum so, her assistance is a necessity 🙂 I have a plaque which hangs in my kitchen and it reads “M is for mother NOT maid!” – every now and again I have to remind my family of this fact! M
Naturally Carol says
At the moment I couldn’t be further from the cleaning fairy and whoosh!…the clean orderly household is disintegrating..haha! The dishes sit on the draining board where son and daughter in law half did the job, an empty plate sits on a shelf in the fridge..where someone finished it and couldn’t be bothered taking it out…I am sure you get the picture. I went out this morning…didn’t need lunch…will be out for dinner…so they can stew in their own mess for a change..lol!
Jenny at Red House says
yes it’s not worth the hassle to ask anyone else! I like a peaceful life!! jennyx
Paula / Satch says
yup, it appears i have also morphed into a fairy although I am still holding out for the oven cleaning fairy !!!!!!!!
Cheryl Gerbera says
not a cleaning fairy, just equally shared house holds.
xo
http://sourcherryandcurlchocolate.blogspot.com/
suburp says
ah yeah..somewhat.
i would say I am the moody cleaning pixie to two moderately cooperative boy trolls. one is only little, but is making some effort lately (“now that we have changed my room, i want to try to keep it more tidy”), the other has been spoiled by living first with mum, then with the ex but is deliciously undemanding. so if I don’t feel like doing it, I don’t clean up after them. most times i will at some point. Also, because i had my share of efficient and VERY abusive house&life partner in the past, where everything else was bad, but oh yeah, he always took the garbage out and cleaned up after him when he shaved.. no thanks.
we live the life we make ourselves, that’s true. if you don’t want to be a overworked cleaning fairy, you need to speak to your trolls 🙂
Zoey @ Good Goog says
I have a sneaking suspicion that the husband is the cleaning fairy, or at least he pretends to be. Confused? He makes a big fuss of ‘soaking’ the dishes ready to be washed, but he never actually washes them. Leaving me to empty the gross, cold, dirty water the following morning and actually wash them.
Kymmie says
I’m loving this cleaning fairy! And I’m taking the poof out of it. My four year old isn’t too young to learn to make his bed and lay out his clothes. He isn’t too young to put his dishes in the sink when he’s finished and tonight, he even washed the dishes. Yep, the cleaning fairy is becoming redundant at our place! (Or perhaps he’s just happy to be home?) xx
Christie - Childhood 101 says
No cleaning fairy here, wish there was! As the ‘adult who spends the most time at home’ the responsibility falls to me but it doesn’t happen anywhere near as magically as you describe, rather it is very begrudging, is a have-to not a want-to and, as I have a husband who walks around wearing blinkers, if I didn’t do it nobody would and then we would be on one of those hoarders shows, with the disgusting houses full of stuff. Seriously. I’ll stop now. And keep praying for the fairy to come!
Jodie at Mummy Mayhem says
Oh, yes..I’m the little fairy. But I try to get my boys to bring up their plates from the table, put their clothes in the wash basket, put their shoes in the shoe basket. Ok, it’s not an exact science and it doesn’t happen *all* the time, but I determined there are some things I just. won’t. do!