Clean Kitchen

In the race to organize, sort, pack, process, say goodbye and all of that…there is also the day-to-day.  The kids still need food – three meals and a snack – and attention and play and sleep.  And we still need to eat (though, between the busy-ness and the heat, we probably would miss more meals if we were kidless) and sleep and shower.  But, sometimes, the day-to-day chores get left behind in doing the rare chores.

Usually, I do the dishes after each meal.  I LOVE my kitchen in this house, so dishes are a fun chore for me and fairly quick.  However, the kitchen has been getting nearly 100F and I’m so busy trying to sort and pack things, plus help Matthew on the house projects, plus spend time with kids…that I haven’t kept up on the cleaning.  I get our dishes washed and that’s about it.

It has bothered me for sure, but we can’t have it all, can we?  So, I decided to not let it bother me anymore.  But I really wanted a time to spend cleaning the kitchen.  I won’t say that I prayed for it, per se, but I really wished I could just scrub everything down.

Then, this morning, I came into the kitchen still half asleep, carrying a sweet, but hungry Axel on my arm, to prepare his oats and applesauce for breakfast.  There, on the counter, was a harmless little black ant.  I’ve seen them outside in bigger numbers lately, but here was a wayward one.  I flicked it off the counter.

Pausing, I am grateful for our first year in Congo – it made me totally cool with finding random bugs in the house.  I used to think even one bug inside was cause for pest control, alarm and general panic.  Now?  I barely even notice.  This even applies to some spiders under some circumstances.

Anyway, I looked to grab a bowl…another ant on the counter.  Then I saw two more.  I looked toward the nearby sugar bowl…two were scurrying around the lid.  “Ohhhhh no.”  Then I turned toward the sink…a whole line marched along the edge.  Finally, I turned to the greasy, dirty stove – the one I’d tried to ignore for the sake of packing and getting everything else done – a whole pile devouring such lovely grease spots.  “OOOOOOOOHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOO.”  This was more of a groan of annoyance than a shout for help, but it’s hard to type that.

Matthew and I managed to kill the ants and disinfect the major areas of the counters.  Thankfully, I had made the potluck food the night before and it was safe in the fridge.  And we still had eggs and sausage for breakfast, once the stove was clean.

And after church, I came home and scrubbed the kitchen.  Just like I’d longed to do.  Further, I dreamed of the day when we live in Congo again and I can look forward to almost always having ants in the kitchen (and being more prepared for their arrival).  But for today, I am thankful for the ants and the clean kitchen.

For further resolution, Matthew’s eight years in the pest control industry has always been super helpful!  We found where they are coming in and will, hopefully, be able to prevent it.