I have to remind myself nearly daily that there's no use crying over spilled milk. Or, more accurately, there's no use yelling over spilled milk. My children are unconcerned about spilled milk and unlikely to shed any tears over it, but I am very irritated by spilled milk and must stop myself from berating the kids when they spill it.
The reason it's so irritating is that milk is surprisingly difficult to clean up properly. The large puddle must be mopped up, and then the area has to be wiped with a wet cloth to prevent a disgusting sticky spot. In addition, when milk falls from a table it spatters for an incredible distance. I've found milk spatters up to five feet from the actual spot the cup hit the floor.
Plus, the milk is usually in an inconvenient spot like underneath the table or chairs, necessitating hands and knees scrubbing and the likelihood of whacking my head in the process.
The best--or worst, perhaps I should say--was this morning, though, when Charlie was putting the full cup of milk he had requested and refused to drink into the refrigerator for later.* He somehow caught it on the edge of the refrigerator shelf or something and spilled the entire cup on the floor directly in front of the refrigerator, which meant half of it spread under the refrigerator.
Deep breath (after my involuntary, "Charlie! COME ON."). No use yelling over spilled milk, no use yelling over spilled milk . . .
On the up side, pulling the refrigerator out to clean up allowed me to wipe down that side of the counter next to the stove where things fall in the unreachable crack between the refrigerator and the cabinet.
I also had the opportunity to note once again that our landlady is either an excellent housekeeper in general or did a really bang-up job of cleaning before we moved in. It was by far the least-scary refrigerator moving I've ever had to do. Mostly dusty back there.
And now all clean. Thanks to the milk. Silver linings, keeping on the sunny side, and Pollyanna-ing all over the place here.
* The small cups of milk cluttering the refrigerator when the kids don't finish drinking them are another irritant of milk, but wasting it would be worse.
8 comments:
My sis in law used cups with lids that they could drink out of, there are all kinds out there. Tupperware used to have some...so quite sturdy and spill proof.
Since you don't use sippy cups (and that may be because of the plastic or the irritating name), you might try using a small milk pitcher, wherewith C and Charlie could pour their own milk--with a pour it and drink it rule, of course. Their tea party practice would make the plan less dangerous than it might appear.
Your post did remind me that it was high time I pulled out the fridge and cleaned underneath.
We just got a new fridge last week. The old one came with the house when we moved in 15 years ago. I'm pretty sure we pulled it out when we moved in. Maybe?
It was gross. Like, "Oh dear God we've been eating less than 5 feet away from this!" gross.
One house I moved into several years ago featured a disgusting rotten smell. We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned (washed walls, washed floors, even washed ceilings). Finally pulled out the refrigerator. Then we disposed of the mouse carcass that we found among the coils.
Ewwwwww....
There's a lot to be said for the Pollyanna-ing thing. Love your coping mechanisms, and your ability to pull out the refrigerator all by yourself. Great house!
Once when I pulled out the refrigerator because I suspected the mice were partying back there, I found about three pounds of dog food, which they had been storing in the coils, on the floor, wherever.
Oh, and the mice story is from Mary in MN
i used to clean dormitory rooms at a large university over summer.
the third worst thing i ever smelled there was the rooms in which students had spilled milk under the fridge and left it.
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