Dust Bunnies and Confession

Kate Taliaferro discovers the advantages of regular housecleaning, both for her home and for her soul.

Cleaning has never been a strong suit of mine and it is something I have worked to cultivate as I have grown in my vocation as a wife, mom and homemaker. We had kids quickly and early in our marriage and I always knew it would be important for them to learn how to clean. I also knew I really didn’t want to do it.

Things changed for me when we had to live in an AirBnB for six months while my husband was at a training for work. There was something about this very temporary space which did not belong to us that made me face my complete lack of cleaning discipline. Slowly but surely, I’ve made quite the change over the last six years. I’ve tried a few apps, used a few different systems, and have settled into a routine. I’m a big fan of the FlyLady and her gentle system. It was the first one that really worked for me. I especially appreciated her perspective that the house didn’t get dirty overnight, and it won’t get clean that fast either. It takes time to move in either direction.

Currently, I’m invested in an app called Tody (there’s a free and paid version). It is a list management app that tracks how often to accomplish different tasks. Instead of assigning a specific day to a task (cleaning the stove, for example), you have the option to say every 4 days. It keeps track of the time in between. I appreciate this type of tracking because, let’s face it, all the tasks assigned to Thursday just don’t always get done on Thursday.

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As I was dusting this morning (yes, dusting! Bane of my childhood existence and I’m fearful to recall the levels of dust that accumulated in our first home), I realized I wasn’t picking up all that much dust. Where did the dust bunnies all go? So this is what preventative cleaning care looks like. When you consistently dust, there isn’t that much to clean up.

The devil isn’t done with me yet, however. Before, I frequently gave into the temptation to let things go one more day, then one more day, and when I finally found the resolve, I had a massive job on my hands. Now, my temptation hasn’t changed necessarily, but it has evolved. “Look, there’s barely anything there. You can wait a day or two. What’s the point in dusting where there’s no dust?”

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Don’t wait for the huge overhaul. A new school year is a great time to begin a new spiritual discipline. #catholicmom

I’m happy to say I pushed through the temptation on this occasion and finished the dusting listed for today. It made me think about our souls and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We can wait for Lent to come back around, to feel that Catholic guilt weedle in and get ourselves to Confession the week before Holy Week.

Or we can be more proactive. We can go once a month, and maybe after a few months of consistent Confession, it will feel a little like the lack of dust bunnies. Maybe we will be tempted to let things slide for a month, I mean, we didn’t do anything too heinous, right? But we know there’s always room for improvement; there’s always a way we can grow closer to God. Don’t wait for the huge overhaul. A new school year is a great time to begin a new spiritual discipline.

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