I like to clean.

That doesn’t come as a surprise for people who know me well.

I’m one of those weird people who find cleaning relaxing.

I recently asked my mom if I could clean the floor of her porch. It’s a three-season room that has become a favorite gathering place for our family. It has well over a dozen windows, and along with country living, that means dust.

A Swiffer keeps the dust picked up most the time, but there’s something about a deep cleaning scrub on my hands and knees. I can see the floor up close. So, I asked mom if I could scrub the floor before winter set in. She said it really didn’t need it (and she was right) but that I could if I wanted. I did.

We work well together, my mom and me. Most of the time.

I didn’t intend to make more work for her. I intended to do something nice for her. But she started helping by moving some things around and using her Swiffer to pick up loose dirt. I had a system:

• clear an area
• scrub the floor
• dry the floor
• move the furniture
• clear another area
• continue

After finishing the first large area, my mom came back to the porch to move some things. And she didn’t take off her shoes.

Do you know what that does to a clean floor?

She took off her shoes while I wiped up her tracks.

I continued and was on my second to last section when mom moved a piece of furniture…from a dirty section of the room to a clean section. She had no idea what my plan was, but I told her she was definitely not following it and that she might just want to go inside and let me finish. We both laughed.

I wonder how many times she shooed me out of the house while she was cleaning?

Just because we have a plan doesn’t mean everyone else is aware of it. Nor does it mean our plan is the best or the only option. Most of the time, the job gets done even if there are some interruptions, inconveniences, and miscommunication along the way.