La Niñja

There was a time when I was a serious neat freak. I cleaned the house every day, arranging all of the books & magazines so that they faced the same direction and had flush edges, and angling all of the pillows just so. The Swiffer Duster was my favorite possession. Then we moved into a house that was twice as big with three times as many bathrooms and things got challenging, but I was still able to maintain some semblance of cleanliness.

Then Finn was born and the house devolved into three-story, diaper-scented formula stain. I was forced to trade beer money for a housekeeper just to keep the cat hair tumbleweeds from taking over the house. Best decision ever.

Rosa and her team descend on the house every three weeks, and I'm serious when I say "team". When they had first started, Kitty and I were still on leave with Finn and were at home when they showed up. We ran back upstairs to get ready to go somewhere and let them clean and in the 3 minutes that we were up there, they had completely dismantled the house down to the studs, hand washed every board, nail & piece of fabric and had begun putting it all back together. Their efficiency is staggering.

Unfortunately, their memories... not so much. They're not great at recalling exactly where each piece of furniture / silverware / clothing originated, so they just put stuff back randomly. I found cough syrup in the shower one day. I spend at least half an hour every third Tuesday walking around the house replacing furniture, rearranging the kitchen and questioning where the cats are.

I mention this all because I now think the Ninja is part Latina housekeeper. He's amazing at taking things apart quickly -- always has been. It's part of his Ninja charm. But now he's starting to put them back together and I can tell we're going to have some issues. It's not that he's not trying. I sat on his floor the other day and watched him try to put away a piece of clothing, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't supposed to go in the toilet. And I'm sure his toys aren't supposed to go in the salad spinner.

But at least he's trying. Just like I'm sure Team Rosa is trying.

Although, I'm pretty sure Rosa doesn't roll around in the dirt pile in the kitchen right after sweeping up. That's still a signature Ninja move.

Here's a bedding display baby we found at Bed, Bath & Beyond this weekend. We got him for 20% off with our coupon.