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We are Jenna & Mark, a designer and a pastry chef living in Brooklyn and parents of two little girls. We are also owners of Whimsy & Spice, a Brooklyn confectionery. Sweet Fine Day is a visual journal of 2 self employed entrepreneurs juggling family life in NYC.

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Posted by Jenna on August 14th, 2011 | Category: life, the girls

She’s not bad at folding the laundry. And I got Mia doing the dishes now too. They think it’s “fun”. But nobody’s touching the vacuum. Oh hell no. The most satisfying chore ever and it’s mine.

I’m taking the concept of cleaning the house before a vacation to the next level. I’m usually obsessive about it, but who else cleans out every junk drawer AND touches up baseboard paint AND caulks the kitchen backsplash AND organizes the kitchen cabinets and refrigerator before a trip? Yeah, thought so…

Posted by Jenna | 33 Comments

Comments

Rebecca
August 14th, 2011

I’m the same way … but to a lesser degree It’s always best for me to come back home from a trip to a clean, orderly home. It brings me peace I think. If I come home to a messy home, I feel the immediate need to clean and hence ends up ruining the vacation/trip aftermath.
Linn Maria
August 14th, 2011

I knew there was a reason to have children ; ) Vacuuming is my favourite chore, as well. The satisfaction of seeing all the cat hair tumbleweeds disappearing.. brilliant. And I, too, love leaving the house looking spotless, knowing how happy I’ll be to walk back in a few days/weeks later : )
Sue
August 14th, 2011

Ha, yeah that is extreme cleaning. Although I know what you mean about wanting a clean house before a vacation.
kate hart
August 14th, 2011

haha, these photos are priceless!! love that you’ve got her doing your least fave chore. brilliant.

hope you have a fantastic vacation!!
Rachel
August 14th, 2011

Funny, I would rather fold laundry or wash the dishes rather than vacuum any day. I guess each person has their preference.
Ana
August 14th, 2011

want to visit my house?:)
Danielle
August 14th, 2011

Vacuuming is also my favourite. I ask my three year old to fetch things from upstairs all the time. That’s her best job. And dishes, if there are lots of bubbles.
Maria @ Scandifoodie
August 14th, 2011

Oh hey! What a great job, I love the way she folded everything around the bed PS. I organise the fridge too before going on a trip…
kimia kline
August 14th, 2011

bahahah! why is vacuuming so satisfying? i always feel like such a rockstar afterwards.
Marie
August 14th, 2011

Well, I’m happy to learn I’m not the only one packing odd tasks in the last few days before a trip! For some reason, before leaving, I feel compelled to check some long overdue tasks off my to-do list, and they are most often house maintenance related. I’m not sure what it’s about – maybe the subsconscious desire to leave the house perfect, just in case? That may sound pessimistic but if I’m doing it for my freelance business (because nobody will take over if I’m gone), why not do it for the home?

P.S. Claudine is the cutest!
mina
August 14th, 2011

Holy that is so hilarious! Did she come up with putting the laundry around the perimeter of the bed? She’s precious!
Pamela
August 14th, 2011

Hehehe, what a creative method C has! She’s really not bad at all. I’m gonna have to remember this when I have a kid one day. “Fold the laundry!” “Do the dishes!” They’re fun, promise!
Joana Gomes
August 14th, 2011

She’s the cutest thing ever.
sarah
August 14th, 2011

As children, I can remember sitting in the car with my Dad and brother, the car all loaded, waiting for my mother to finish cleaning the mould off the bathroom window with an old toothbrush, so we could go on holiday. Cleanly this would not wait until our return and she could not relax until it was done. I find myself doing similar things. (Up until 4 am cleaning before a 4 day trip last week. I’m an idiot.)
SY
August 14th, 2011

I’m the same way, before we leave for vacation I have to have a spotless house…not sure if it’s the concept of coming home to clean house or god forbid if something happens to us then people won’t think we’re complete slobs. My kids are 7 and 10 and they also love washing the dishes (and they swiffer before I vacuum).
krista
August 14th, 2011

this made me smile:) my two kids are at the stage where doing dishes is like going out to a movie:)…but i get what you’re saying about the vacuum thing– all those nice poofy lines in the carpet:). that’s mine.

xo

http://www.saturatedcanary.blogspot.com
erica @ expatriababy
August 14th, 2011

My daughter also *loves* helping me fold laundry. She’s 14 months old though. So the fruitfulness of her efforts leave something to be desired. Still. I’m nurturing the hell out o’ that desire.
Katie
August 14th, 2011

Although I was somewhat forced to obsessively clean the house before vacation last week because our house is on the market & it needs to be show ready, it felt so incredibly good coming home today to a pristine house. Ahhhh. (Even if it was only pristine for five minutes.) On a related note, how much does Claudine charge for folding? She could supervise my kids.
Joni
August 14th, 2011

Want to know what’s funny? I genuinely suspected that wasn’t even half the list. You know…replaced insulation, fixed up building’s boiler, purchased magnifying glass for microscopic curry stain on an orange shirt…you get it
Nichole Robertson
August 15th, 2011

LOL! I agree about the vacuuming, too.

Claudine is so over-the-top cute I can’t stand it.
geena
August 15th, 2011

start them young hehehe
Kathy
August 15th, 2011

It’s the best feeling in the world to come home from a trip and the house is perfect!
Maura
August 15th, 2011

ha’ i am leaving for a trip in a few weeks and was thinking last night that i should touch up my baseboards. i like to come home to clean everything.
Seema
August 15th, 2011

lol, I think we’ve got a thing or two to learn from you little ones, finding fun in the chores. Very funny pictures, had me giggling I tend to reorganise my stuff before I leave for holiday – there’s just something very reassuring about coming home to an absolutely spotless, totally organised home after a vacation. So if it’s any comfort, you’re not alone. When are you going away?
Julia's Bookbag
August 15th, 2011

Oh my, I now love this blog even MORE! Vaccuming = best chore ever. I loooooove my vacuum and it needs a repair and I’m like AAAGH how can I be without it for more than a day?? One time I cleaned the tops of the door frames before my 5′ tall grandma came over when she was 85 — she wasn’t going to see the top of my doorframes!! And yet I did it. Revel in your clean awesome house when you get back and you can also be so happy thinking about it while you’re gone….”it’s soooo clean right now…” ~Melissa
ellie
August 15th, 2011

i really don’t have anything to say, but you rock!
Misha
August 15th, 2011

I tend to go nusto-bananas when we leave on vacay…but the whole baseboard and caulking thing lost me. I bleach and wash just about everything in the house and sometimes even scrub down my windows…I’m good with that. hah
emily
August 15th, 2011

your bed frame is fantastic! where did you get it?
Nina Sohn
August 15th, 2011

Hiya: laundry is bollocks, totally agree! We have copious amount in our house, given our three nippers (6,4, and 2). While I can’t prove it, I am fairly certain dirty clothes procreate in secret.
I discovered your blog a few weeks ago and have poured through it intently – archives and all. My husband is Korean, I am not, and I am forever on the prowl for insights and empathy into all the nuances of a multicultural marriage, raising mixed race kids, etc. My husbands story mirrors yours – he, too, was left with his grandparents while his parents came to the states to establish roots.
Anyway – thanks for your candor. It’s delightfully honest and human.
Also – put ads on your blog. It should at least sustain itself: sharing your life with readers should not burden you fiscally – no one will mind, truly.
Nina
kaye i
August 16th, 2011

You’re so hardcore! I love it. I do clean my house before going on vacation too, but I do wish do my cleaning skills and attention to detail is as great as yours.

Glad to know your kids think chores are fun! Hopefully they won’t learn that chores = $$$ from Mom and Dad
kate
August 17th, 2011

I loooove vacuuming! I hate pulling out the vacuum and getting it all ready, but once I’m doing it, yessss.
shisomama
August 18th, 2011

i’m the same way, though I usually try to fit in a trip to Goodwill as well. It makes me feel dirty if I leave the house with something out of place.
Krysta Marie [Purple Pond]
August 19th, 2011

the flower pom strand above your headboard is lovely! do you have a how-to on this?