Frustration = Motivation

When I’m frustrated, it's very hard for me to write. Especially when I’m frustrated because of writing. What my frustration fuels, however, is my ability to clean quickly.

I don’t mind household chores. I don’t jump up and down with excitement at the thought of doing laundry or mopping the floor, but those things have to be done. When I am frustrated, these things go by in a blur. I can do four loads of laundry, a load of dishes, shampoo the carpet in my daughter’s bedroom, and mop all the hard surfaces in the apartment in about two hours when I’m frustrated. Normally, at my leisurely chore-doing pace, all of that would take me several days.

My daughter helps. Not with the chores, but by fueling the frustration. “You made what kind of mess?"

The reason the chores get done so quickly is because I’ve got it in my head that if I don’t clean up a mess immediately that it will get exponentially worse the longer I leave it alone. This is usually true. It’s also the reason that I usually do normal household chores at a leisurely pace. A pile of laundry is going to grow if I don’t do it for a couple of days, but not exponentially, so it’s okay to leave it and do it when there’s a bigger pile. A puddle of milk on the floor, however, is going to spread across the floor as far as it can go, and then start to stink if it’s not cleaned up. And while I’m wiping up the floor, I might as well mop, and while I’m mopping that part of the floor, I might as well mop the rest of it.

It would not be generally surpising to find a home with a two year old in shambles because of the rambunctiousness of the little person: toys, books, and various other messes spread about. But in my house, having a two year old means that the place is cleaner.

Writing when I’m frustrated is like pulling teeth, but cleaning when I’m frustrated is like... brushing teeth. And thanks to my two year old, whom I will love no matter how many messes she makes, I’ll always have a clean house.