Monday, January 23, 2012

Zen With A Floor Steamer

One of the reasons I love Miami is the weather.  We consider it cold when it hits the 60's and it doesn't go above 100.  I know a lot of people hate the humidity but I love it.  It helps keep my skin moist and it just gives that tropical feel.  This lovely weather means I never have to wear real shoes.  Flip flops are the standard footwear here.  In fact, I would love to go barefoot all day in my house.  But I can't...  Between a dog, a two year old, and a husband, the amount of dirt that lives on my tile floors is too much to have stuck to the bottom of my feet.  So I have my indoor flip flops.  Sounds like the problem is solved, right?  Well, Ayla is 6 months old this week and looking like she is planning to crawl soon.  If I can't stand to have the stuff from the floors stuck to my feet you know I won't be okay with it all over my baby's hands and knees.
Luckily, Mike's stepmom is as much of a neat freak as I am and had some great ideas.  Since I need to be able to clean during nap time we decided stealth was essential.  I ended up with a dust mop and a eureka envirosteamer.  I had a dust mop before and find them very handy to pick up dog hair without spreading it through the air.  I did buy a new one that has washable heads.  Super easy to use each morning while everyone is having breakfast.
The steamer arrived last week.  I had to wait until I was over my cold so today seemed like a good day.  Mike and Mikey left for a bike ride and I put Ayla down for her nap.  The assembly and instructions were super easy so I was pretty excited.  I put the water in and plugged it in.  Once it was hot it emitted the most gentle of hisses.  I put it on the floor and started gliding away.  It slid very easily and picked up the grape juice stain with one pass.  Because it works better if you move a bit slowly I really began to relax and enjoy passing it across the floor.
Ayla woke up about fifteen minutes after I started.  I tucked her in the wrap and we began to slowly glide across the room with the new steamer.  There is no extra effort involved with pushing it so having Ayla's weight added was no problem.  She loved the gentle walking and and floor was shiny and new.  Who thought I could find cleaning the floor so relaxing?  I think I have found my new relaxation activity.  I am forced to move slowly and smoothly and there is only the quietest hiss.  It reminds me of when I used to practice tai chi (yes, I really did).  My mind was empty and it was calm in my house.  Thank you Eureka.

5 comments:

MiamiDP said...

Wish I had known that was all it took? I could by you two more if you like??? One for each room maybe?

Serena G said...

looove the steam mop- so much so that i got a hand held one- its absolutely amazing on grout.

The Child Family said...

I love that you're blogging so much lately, it is so fun to get to know you better- and if i can't get to know you in "real life" blogging is the next best thing :)
Brett got me a shark steam mop last year and I LOVE it. I love that those steamers only require water, and electricity.
I'm glad you're enjoying your Eureka- and it sounds like Ayla likes it too :)

Karen said...

cool...so glad that you like it too! Makes 'bare-footing' a pleasure again...lol. (plus that it is easy, which is a must). You will be needing those Zen moments once she begins to crawl ;-)

Don't forget if you use distilled water, it will eliminate all of the hard water issues that can quickly gum up the works. Even bottled water has too many minerals. At 69 cents a gallon (here, anyhow), it is a bargain for the aggravation it saves.

Happy Zen, Mom....Go Ayla!!!

Geri said...

I need to look into those. Love thar i can go from facebook to your blog on the ipad.