Secret Gratification

Returning to the routine is the prompt for this week's 100-Word Challenge. I was about to glory in my reclaimed domestic rituals in a blog post anyway, so all I had to do was delete half the adjectives to fit!


This week I felt suffused with wellbeing. The cause? I'd matched a stray sock in the laundry to a single sock in the Vicar's drawer. Heady with triumph, I indulged in self-gratification. I arranged the spare loo rolls in a pyramid. I conquered the rings of limescale round the taps. And I bagged half my children's possessions into bin-liners while they wrestled fractions at school. The summer holidays were invigorating, but returning to the routine brings a superior fulfilment. Today, for instance, I am agog for that ritual unburdening. Yep - no spa resort can offer the purifying pleasure that is bin night!


Comments

  1. I'm with you - the relief of being able to get a bit organised around here without interruption is an amazing feeling - I'd almost forgotten or maybe it took a summer holidays for me to appreciate it.

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    1. A bottle of Domestos is the tool that helps me make sense of life!

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  2. Good one; it is a good time of year to "de-tox" in whatever form that suits.There is something very satisfying in throwing out things that have outlived their usefulness :)

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  3. I do love the way you write! Monday night is also bin night in our household too - and there is something very purging about it - for me it signals the new week has begun!

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  5. nothing better than a tidyup :) good work x

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  6. LOL! there is a joy in getting those simple things done without interruption. :)

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  7. I can only imagine what it must be like to have the house to yourself. *sighs* Can I gloat about the fact that our bins get taken everyday? Well we do live in steamy Spain.

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    1. Too much gratification loses its edge. I prefer my thrills to be weekly!

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  8. It's good to get back to the routine isn't it. I'm doing jobs now that I just couldn't do in the hols.

    CJ x

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  9. Love it! I too have been gripped with a strange back to school organisational fervour. Our bins go out tomorrow morning... :-)

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  10. Sounds as though this is an underrated national pleasure!

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  11. Getting back into the school time routine is such a relief, even after the perfect summer holiday we've just had. Now to invent self folding laundry and stay clean dishes and my life would be perfect :-)

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    1. I don't mind doing the dishes. I don't mind Hoovering and swabbing. But folding laundry is a task I shall never be reconciled to!

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  12. This is great. As the beginning of my return, I tried to conquer the chaos that my office had become. There is something wonderful about getting reorganized and letting go of thing syou don't need.

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  13. Although we celebrate New Year's Eve the real "new year' has been the start of the school year for almost my entire life! I'll bet that's the same for most mums?
    Autumn smells make me think of new Mary Janes, pristine exercise books, and pencil cases as yet unscribbled on!
    Last week I too stocked up on cleaning products, and a spanking new iron!

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  14. Everyone has those times in their lives when clutter accumulates (not just as a result of school holidays). I absolutely agree that being able to suddenly de-clutter is a fantastic feeling. Very nicely written, by the way....

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  15. It's the small things in life isn't it! Great take on it.

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  16. No longer burdened with children living at home (they live far away but still receive an allowance)our routine is dictated by "bin night" and that's about it. We clean when one of us feels like it, do the gardening as dictated by our plants, and do laundry when no more underwear is in the drawer (either that or go shopping for more). But I did appreciate your writing. Mine is http://photovignettes.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/the-routine/ though it may not be your style.

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    1. Your life sounds like the one I'm planning when I reach my 50s!

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  17. You seem to have a charmed, serene existence and you're a wonderful writer. Do you ever run around the house screaming like a demented witch, or is that only me?

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    1. I do the latter when the kids are in residence. During school hours, yes, things are calm and serene! Can't think why...

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  18. Sometimes I think I have more spare socks than pairs! Why don't the sock-eating monsters in the machine eat pairs?

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    1. So do I. Many more. It must be a national problem so there must be a nationwide solution: why don't we found Socks Reunited?

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  19. ooh excellent, nothing better than a good tidy up.

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  20. I wish took such pleasure in these things, but your description made me wonder what I'm missing. :)

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    1. It's a sign of very small horizons, my dear. You're missing very little!

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  21. It's the small victories that can be the most satisfying.
    Good work with this one!

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    1. I'm sure large ones are even more so _ I've just never accomplished them!

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