New vroom sweeps clean
How a monster of a new toy brought domestic bliss to a busy working mum.
EASTER weekend has come and gone and what do I have to show for it?
Too much chocolate was dutifully ingested, but sadly, no hot cross buns were purchased due to a drought at the supermarkets (I went to many). And spotless rooms courtesy of my new toy.
Prior to parenthood, I uttered far too many “nevers”. Post-life-change, so many of those “nevers” have become a very usual part of life.
You know, the kind that goes something like this: I will never be caught wearing the same outfit two days in a row, eating halfeaten crusts as my breakfast or walking out the house in a pair of shorts without having shaved my legs first.
All those statements and more have been rendered null and void. Many times over.
Thinking there were no more “nevers” to be broken, this past weekend I found another one. This time, it was reneged on with glee.
All because of the discovery that my son had extreme allergies to common household pathogens and evil dust mites.
I may not be the tidiest person in the world, but what parent can be when you are a working circus performer, too busy juggling life with work, children, food, driving, dhobi wallah, nurse, etc. The list of our responsibilities is endless and, to me, leaving the building blocks sprawled out over the carpet overnight so we can read three bedtime stories is not a hard decision to make.
It must be admitted that on days when work pulled priority, I had left the dinner dishes in the sink – rinsed, of course – to deal with in the morning. Which one of us doesn’t pull out our cheat sheet when there are far more important things to deal with RIGHT NOW!
However, with the discovery of the Little Man’s allergies, I had to do something immediately. Having a friend whose child had just had a similar allergy result, we decided, after many worrisome conversations, to have a look at one of those fancy-poshdisco-magic vacuum cleaners that was supposed to work miracles.
Then I realised, I was about to break yet another “never”.
The old Asha was appalled, let me tell you.
First, I was about to consider buying a piece of machinery that cost a small fortune and then secondly, I was obsessed with our demonstration appointment at home.
In fact, my bubbling anticipation was so wild that I invited my family over to come and watch Brandon present my soon-to-be shiny white knight in plastic armour.
Half of me sneered at the other half of me. After all, if I just put a little more elbow grease into my cleaning, surely I could exterminate all things that made my LM sick.
The other half of me welcomed the concept of being able to throw out cleaning lotions and potions, and have an apparatus that would murder the buggers and suck up the vermin.
What can I say, within 10 minutes of meeting the monster machine, I had my cheque book out and my pulse was rapidly racing in absolute delight.
I had just become a Stepford wife. Cue Carmina Burana’s O Fortuna as soundtrack.
Like a lamb to the slaughter, I signed my name on the dotted line and before I could blink there was only the shadow of my former self left alone with a massive box containing my demise.
No matter how I feared for my soul, the machine called to me for days. In my sleep, in my waking state, as I sat at my desk furiously working, I could feel its pull.
On Good Friday, I sought salvation from my torment and tore open the box. From sun up to sun down I worked the rooms with all the gadgets, extensions, steamer, sucker, nozzles and flat heads until my back finally gave up.
Can I tell you about my perverse pleasure in seeing the water in the tank turn from clear to murky grey after just steam-sucking my pillows and bed? In fact, the water change transfixed and hypnotised me. I was like the demon cleaner, driven to see how much unseen filth I could find and banish.
To say steamcleaning my curtains was almost euphoric might sound a little maniacal, but how many times have you taken down your curtains, done several washes only for the skies to darken and you end up with musty-smelling linen that was as bad as the dusty covers?
As much as I hate admitting it, going into the red for a bit of high-tech whizz actually gave my LM his first night in ages without having to wake up sneezing, coughing or full of snot.
For the record, I am not lazy; it is incredible how the oldfashioned sweep-and-mop just doesn’t get all of the culprits. Nor do all the additional chemicals help either. Hot water and good suction, now that’s the way to go.
I love my new toy.
Asha Gill put her globetrotting life on hold to focus on the little man in her life and gain a singular perspective on the world. You can tune in to Asha’s show
on Capital FM 88.9, Mondays to Fridays, 10am-1pm. She’s always looking for stories to tell and ideas to share, so send her an e-mail at star2@thestar.com.my.