My son, lately, has ceased to sleep. This is after 2.5 years of pretty good sleeping- not without it’s trials,but all “normal”,and predictable (i.e. 3 month sleep regression, sleep through the night 5 months old through 9 month, the 9 month regression, etc). Last night my husband went to bed with him in an attempt to get him to sleep (it worked), leaving me to our ritual Sunday evening cleaning.

Sunday is typically a big cooking day for us and yesterday was no exception: buckwheat pear pancakes,bacon, roast chicken(I mastered cripsy skin! best ever! more on that later....), bacon-grease panfried potatoes, salad,chicken stock, popcorn, bread, whole wheat chocolate chip cookies (I am loving this book).

All of which left me with a pretty messy kitchen. And my husband’s lunch to make, chicken salad to start (in the fridge in a bowl with a cup of stock poured over,for about 8 hours.Makes it super moist, and rich-flavored),broth to decant and can. Most nights I am okay with leaving a dish or two in the sink, but Sunday, it’s my ritual:clean the whole kitchen,top to bottom, sparkles,mopped floor. Start the week off right.

And usually my husband helps. Decants the stock, takes out the compost, dries the dishes. Chats.

I stayed up late doing this by myself, because I knew the trade-off was worth it: the freshness and light and optimism of a Monday-clean kitchen. I set my alarm for 6.30, too: I’d be tired getting up, but once again, it would be worth it: a little time to myself before toddler-land began.

And of course I couldn’t get out of bed. Hit snooze twice (did I mentioned we had two birthday parties this weekend, too?). At some point though, my husband dragged me out of bed. And the kitty litter was changed, the coffee made, a candle lit by my computer, set up to a fresh blank page. The cats fed, scone mix on the counter.
A hollywood version of my usual Monday morning, all prepped and ready for me.
I think this might be the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me. When I said thanks,he said,I benefit too: if you do your Monday, we have a great week. If not, you spend a lot of time trying to catchup. I think that was just a deflection, an excuse. Look the other way and don’t see how nice I am.

So again,thanks,honey. Really, a lot.