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 By  Staff Reports Published 
7:45 pm Monday, December 11, 2006

Where's my Mr. Clean?

By Staff
Melissa Dozier-Cason
This past week has been tough on my family. My husband decided to take a job in South Alabama in an effort to be home more. I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but even with him working 300 miles away, he will be home more with his new job.
That leaves me with no help, except daycare and my mother-in-law, for 14 days at a time.
When he first took this job, I thought it was going to be a piece of cake. After all, my boys are six and three. How bad can it be? Well to answer that question, not bad just chaotic.
Today is the ninth day Jimmy has been gone and my house is a disaster even though I have tried to keep it clean.
At this point I have just about given up trying to keep it perfect because my boys are like two little tornadoes that only stop at bedtime. By that time, I am so tired that I just go to sleep.
I know you are wondering what all this has to do with my husband being gone, but he basically keeps our house-and boys-tame and in order.
When he is home, Jimmy really never rests. He's always doing something. Whether it is helping me clean the house or picking up the yard, he's always working. I find that very attractive in a man because, frankly, I am not what you would call a domestic, but I do try.
Don't get me wrong, I clean but there are just some things that I don't do, or don't do well.
I need help. I couldn't iron anything if my life depended on it, and until this past week, I had not done laundry regularly in almost nine years. When we got married, I taught Jimmy how to do laundry, and it became something that he just did, so I didn't.
Together, Jimmy and I made up cleaning duo that could not be beat. We can actually clean our house-from top to bottom in less than two hours if we work together.
We practice this method often and it works for us. Now, half of our dynamic duo is gone and I am stuck doing everything myself, and I hate it.
But, mark my words, when he returns the house will be perfect, even if I have to stay up all night prior to his arrival because I don't want him thinking that I can't make it without him, even though I really can't.

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