Sing with me to the tune of the Brady Bunch theme (if you’re old enough to remember it):
Here’s the story of a lovely lady
who was busy writing books, and couldn’t clean
So her house turned upside down, without a vacuum
and the bunnies won.
Okay, so I stink at poetry and song lyrics, but those were never my goal. When I got my first writing contract, this was my bio: Shannon Taylor Vannatter is a stay-at-home mom/pastor’s wife/inspirational romance writer. When not writing, she runs circles in the care and feeding of her husband, their eight-year-old son, and their church congregation. Home is a central Arkansas zoo with two charcoal gray cats, a chocolate lab, and three dachshunds in weenie dog heaven. If given the chance to clean house or write, she’d rather write. Her goal is to hire Alice from the Brady Bunch.
Just for the record–our son is sixteen now, he’s six one, and he hugs my head. We gained a black and white cat, and our beloved chocolate lab joined the weenie dogs in heaven last fall. But I’d still rather write than clean house.
Back when I started writing books, this wonderful keynote speaker at a writers conference told us to stop cleaning our houses and write. Housework could wait. Train our families to pitch in or hire someone, but write books and let the house take care of itself.
I didn’t totally take her advice, but since I’ve always hated housework, I did put it off and write instead. When my
husband mentioned that the house was a mess, I told him about the speaker. Though always supportive of my writing, he didn’t like her advice. He said when I got published, I could hire someone to clean. I knew I’d never hire anyone to clean my house though. I’m much too cheap to pay someone else to do something I can do myself, even if it’s something I hate to do.
Once I got published, deadlines kicked in, and housecleaning got kicked even more to the back-burner. I came up with a system that worked there for a while. Instead of taking a whole day off from writing to clean, I cleaned all week in small increments. On Mondays, I straightened. On Tuesdays, I dusted. On Wednesdays, I vacuumed. On Thursdays, I mopped. On Fridays, I cleaned the bathrooms.
Laundry has always been an every other day chore, but I saved time there by having my husband put a clothes rack above the washer and dryer. When the washer stopped, I’d put them in the dryer. When the dryer stopped, I’d put the hanging clothes on the rack so they wouldn’t wrinkle. Each family member is responsible for getting their clothes to their rooms. I still do this and it works.
But when my deadlines got tighter and closer together, I felt like I didn’t have time to devote an hour a day to cleaning and there for a while, the house just didn’t get cleaned. About this time, my husband who’d been a bi-vocational pastor was able to quit his job as a dental technician and go full time at the church. This helped tremendously as he started helping more. He does the straightening, dusting, and keeps our son’s bathroom clean while I do the vacuuming, mopping, and our bathroom. Our son is responsible for picking up after himself and for keeping his room neat.
Last fall, we took out all the carpet in our house and replaced it with laminate flooring. Our son has dust mite allergies and was going off his shots, and the doctor said it would help. I thought the wood flooring would be easier to keep clean. Wrong. It gave the dust bunnies nowhere to hide. And since our cat was injured by coyotes over a year ago, he’s in the house most of the time, especially after dark. His long gray fur makes lots of dust bunnies. I’ve had to vacuum twice a week to keep them under control and once again the house was taking too much of my time.
Then my husband got me the perfect anniversary gift that changed my world. He even gave it to me a month early. Though today is our 34th anniversary, a few weeks ago, he got me a roomba vacuum cleaner–the little round robot that goes around vacuuming for you. I have two family members who have it and love it, so I’d wanted one for several years. Now, while I’m writing, I can vacuum too.
I took this picture for fun since I’ve seen so many feet at the beach on Facebook. But normally, while roomba vacuums, I write.
A few days after he gave it to me, my mom stopped by to watch it in action. We watched in amazement as it rounded the perimeter of the room, then zig zagged back and forth across, with a little sweeper brush spinning out a few inches past it to sweep dirt into it’s path. Once it covered the middle, it went under the couch for while, came out, and made tight circles around each leg of the coffee table and both wing back chairs.
“You should name her Alice,” Mama said.
And I did. So now while I write books, Alice vacuums for me. My husband said all we need now is a Rosie to dust. I’d forgotten all about the robot from the Jetsons.
Some people would think Alice isn’t romantic, that anniversaries are all candlelight and roses. To me, Alice is a much more romantic gift. It means he wants to make my life easier and give me more time to pursue my passion. Until Alice, the most romantic gift he’d ever gotten me was a laptop, so I could write where ever I was. Both gifts mean he’s behind me one hundred percent. And to me, that’s the height of romance.
What’s your favorite gift you’ve ever received? Or your favorite gadget that saves you time?
Award winning author, Shannon Taylor Vannatter writes contemporary Christian cowboy romance and has over a dozen published titles. A romance reader since her teens, she hopes to entertain Christian women and plant seeds in the non-believer’s heart as she demonstrates that love doesn’t conquer all—Jesus does. She gleans fodder for her fiction in rural Arkansas where she spent her teenage summers working the concession stand with her rodeo announcing dad and married a Texan who morphed into a pastor. In her spare time, she loves hanging out with her husband and son, flea marketing, and doing craft projects.
Hi Shannon, congratulations on 34 years married:) Hmm, favourite gift- my kindle!! My 30th birthday present was a Kindle and I often joke that if the house was burning and my husband and kids were out, then I would run back in for the kindle!!
Blessings:)
Hi Shannon! Even as a retiree with more time on my hand, I still hate cleaning, because I rather READ. Even as a child, I would hide in my room and READ. Can’t say that I really have any time saving gadgets, but I do like my iPad so I can read and answer emails anywhere. My husband like to keep me updated electronically for special occasions. Enjoy your day and Happy Writing.
My favorite gift was the Kindle my daughter and son-in-law gave me about 10 years ago I didn’t think I would like it but I love it I still have and use it. When I have to charge my phone or iPad I always have a book to read. ?
That is one of the best gift stories I have heard of late!!
Our wedding anniversary is next month and I have been wracking my brain for two months about what to get my hubs, thanks for the inspiration!!
Happy 34th Anniversary! Congrats and thanks for a fun blog!
Wow 34 years of marriage congrats.
I want a Roomba! We have hardwood or luxury vinyl everywhere. My husband is convinced the Roomba won’t work around the furniture and rug runners. We have 2 cats and one of them is long-haired. So we have Mitten-bunnies EVERYWHERE! We’ve been married 28 years. Maybe I can talk him into getting me one for our 30th anniversary. After all I just got him a new F250!
A Roomba is a perfectly wonderful gift, Shannon! I love it! The best gift my husband (and kids) gave me is a Little Free Library. It’s a great way to connect with the neighborhood, and it looks adorable in our front yard. :)
Happy Anniversary! One year for Christmas we bought a new toilet. We were renovating our house and only had one working bathroom. We have four kids. Six people and one bathroom is not much fun. We put a big bow on the toilet and put it under the tree. All six of us thought it was the best Christmas present.
I loved this post. I feel the same way about housework and said much the same about hiring someone to clean for me. But alas, I just can’t get myself to do it. Maybe someday I’ll hire someone to do just the bathrooms. Is Alice quiet? That might be a good solution for at least one of my tasks if it is.
You sound like a reader, Wemble :) I have a tablet, but I only have a few books on it. The books by my favorite authors that only come in e-book. I’m a paper book kind of gal. I like my books lined up on a shelf. The e-book is an awesome thing for people to have a whole portable library at their fingertips.
Another reader. Reading and answering e-mails with one gadget is amazing. Technology makes readers lives so much richer.
Seems like the Kindle is the gift of the day. Happy reading.
I so love Alice. I need to put her to work. I try to run her in the family room when the family isn’t home. She bugs them when they’re trying to watch TV. So she’s so much quieter than a regular vacuum.
Thanks Kim. People don’t think we’ve been married that long since we have a 16 year old. But it took 18 years for him to get here. Talk about a change – being a couple for 18 years and then morphing into a family after all that time. But it’s been a good change and he keeps us young.
Tell him it will work, Sherri. My husband got me the one that’s made for wood and rugs. It’s great at going around the furniture and underneath. It goes under the beds and dressers even. We only have one couch, it won’t fit under. And it ends up full of cat hair. Sometimes, the motor will blow the cat hair away, but it goes back and gets it. It’s amazing. There’s a different model for longer shag carpet, so they have different ones for different jobs.
I love that your library is making new friends in your neighborhood, Brenda. And I’ve seen the pictures, it is cute.
That’s so funny, Beth. That would be the perfect gift. I’m an only child and even with only 3 people in the house when I was growing up, one bathroom was sometimes an issue. I can’t imagine 1 for 6.
She is so quiet compared to a regular vacuum cleaner. You can talk over her without shouting. But she bugs my guys if they’re trying to watch TV, so I try to run her when they’re not home, which is when I’m writing, so it works great.
I loved reading this. My favorite gift was a bookshelf headboard for my bed. LOL I had a small room and no room for a nightstand so I needed somewhere to put things.
Happy anniversary! Your house-cleaning story is so much like mine. Our Roomba is named Rosie. We’ve had her for over two years and we love her. So much. We have carpet, wood floors, laminate, and numerous area and throw rugs and Rosie conquers them all. Occasionally, she’ll trip on a bathroom throw rug if we forget to pick those up, but when she does, she just stops, tells us to come and move her, and goes right back to work. Rosie was a joint purchase, not a gift, but I would have been thrilled to get her for any occasion!
I love those kind of headboards, Cathy. Sounds like a great gift.
Hi Deborah, yes Alice occasionally gets stuck under my desk. I just move her and she’s fine. We have two step ups in our house also. She goes to the edge and turns. Our cat is fascinated with her. He loves to watch her, but he doesn’t like her to get too close.
This is a wonderful post glad you got the rumba! Or is it roomba! I won a kindle last year but I have an ipad, too. So when one is low on battery I have the other as backup. They are synced. But I love REAL books, too!
Happy Anniversary!
Cleaning and I have a love/hate relationship, especially when I have to chose it over reading or writing! I’m always feeling guilty over a neglected house. Your words gave me a good laugh and made me feel better! My favorite gift is two rings that my grandparents gave me. Something I’ll always treasure. Happy Anniversary!
You’re set to read no matter what, Paula. I love it. It’s roomba, but we just call her Alice. I set her to work in the family room as we speak.
I’m glad I’m not the only one, Candace. Why do we feel guilty when we don’t clean? Grandparent gifts are priceless. I have a table we recently refinished in my office that was in my grandparent’s house. And in our kitchen, we took my other grandmother’s old metal double wash tub, turned it upside down and made it into a light fixture. I love heritage pieces.
I’d love a roomba! But our house is small with a small step-up into the living room, too many furniture legs too close together, and too many low pieces of furniture. With two long-haired cats and a dog, I could put a roomba to use every day, but it wouldn’t do a good enough job in this space. It’s certainly not that I love cleaning so much!!!
My house has two step-ups, Valerie. She goes to the edge and turns. Sometimes, she’ll get overzealous and get over the edge. She turns off and tells you to move her. We have a lot of furniture close together. Some things I’ll move out a bit, so she can get around them better. We have 6 barstools in the family room. I move those to another room or put them upside down on the bar. And we have two cowhide rugs. The regular vacuum wants to suck them into it. I’d bought a light duty vacuum just for the rugs. Alice does a much better job on them. Sometimes, she’ll flip the edge up and stumble, but she flips it back down on her next round. My son says she takes much longer than I would. True because she retraces her path some. I tell him she’s more thorough than I am. And the important thing is, she’s doing it. Not me.
Love the story. I think one of the best gifts my husband got me was an automatic hot water pot. I didn’t appreciate it at the time, but once I realized how handy it was, I’ve been a fan ever since. This is not the kind that just heats to boiling and then turns off. This one keeps water at boiling temp. all day! It’s really great in the winter, but I use it quite a lot in the summer too.
my favorite gift was a poem that my daughter wrote for my birthday and then framed it with rose petals from my mother’s day arrangement.
That does sound like a nice gadget to have, Margaret. I have to check into getting one of those.
Oh, that sounds so special Shelia. What a sweet daughter you have a gift you’ll treasure forever.
It has been a long time since my husband and I have gotten anything for each other, but one of my favorites was going out to eat and him giving me a nice card.
Dinner out is the way to a woman’s heart, Andrea. And Alice will probably be my birthday and Christmas present too.
Hi Shannon: My name is Cathy and I am an avid reader of Christian fiction. I do admit that I have a cleaning lady that comes one day and a week and that leaves me more time to read. I am retired after 30 years in the financial/brokerage business and love it. I have a 23 year old daughter that just got married in December after graduating college in May in psychology. She starts in August to get her master’s degree in clinical psychology. Wants to work with child victims. My son just turned 32 and a few years out of the blue his wife divorced him (after having several affairs) that devastate him and he has not dated since. He met her at work so the job he works at nice has nice ladies but he says he won’t do that again. She really did a number on him. I told my husband that God has his soulmate out there but is going to have to drop her right in front of him. I will be married 47 years in August. I have a kindle on my computer, a nook color (which they don;t make anymore) and hardback and paperback books. Love reading and have over 1500 books in all. I consider them my babies since mine are out of the house. Looking forward to getting to know everyone.
Hi Cathy, sounds like you came to the right place. We’re all readers here. I’m glad you’re enjoying your retirement. Having someone clean your house so you can read more is a very worthy reason. Wow, you’re daughter sounds very impressive. And that’s really tough about your son. 1500 books? Where do you keep them all? I only keep my very favorites and pass the other’s on.
Congratulations on 34 years. That’s how long we have been married. I don’t have any time saving gadgets. But I’d have to say two the the nicest gifts I received has been my Samsung tablet and cell phone.
It was a very good year, Gina. Those are both great gifts.