Chelsea Kaplan’s Musings About Life... After Birth

I’m not even going to pretend that I enjoy household cleaning chores. I know there are some people who get some serious satisfaction from making the house all spic and span (my mother, Momtourage member Alison), but I am sooooo not one of them. Finding the perfect shoes? Exhilarating. Scrubbing the countertops until they glisten? Akin to a bikini wax in terms of enjoyability.

I do, however, actually like performing one household cleaning task: doing dishes. For whatever reason, I really enjoy getting dishes sparkling clean. For me, it’s a very Zen experience - the warm water, the lemony smell of dish soap, the bubbles and, most of all, the methodical, rhythmic scrubbing. The only thing that sucks about it is that it’s hell on your nails - especially if they’re painted. Wearing gloves is one way to prevent ruining your manicure, but in my opinion, they’re the condoms of washing dishes: necessary for protection, but ultimately a barrier that makes for a slightly less pleasurable, numbed experience. But I digress…..

I thought that the act of dish washing was perfection until I recently came across the O-Cel-O Expressions line, a collection of decorative sponges, scrubbing mitts, dish wands and bamboo cleaning cloths. Perhaps it’s because I grew up with a mom who is an interior decorator, but I just can’t resist cute home goods, and these are downright adorable. For some reason, washing dishes with fun, fancy accessories makes it all the better.