Housework: Vacuuming

I thought it might help people understand my condition and what my life is like if I explain how I manage some of those basic household tasks. Vacuuming is probably one of those things that most of you don't think very much about. You just get up and vacuum, vacuum, and put it away and it's not a big deal. I just wish things were that easy.

Our vacuum is a Dyson. DH had already when I moved in. When we heard about the new animal vacs, we checked them out. It turned out that the only real difference was the one mouthpiece it had that we didn't have. We asked and were able to order that mouthpiece for our current vacuum. We're really glad we did, because it is made a huge difference in how well dog hair gets cleaned up. Not that that was relevant to how I vacuum, but I thought it was an interesting fact.

Our vacuum is stored in the furnace room between the furnace and the saddles. Getting it out requires stretching, bending, and pulling all a once. That combination is a real nightmare for me, so DH has to get the vacuum out. Because he leaves for work before I get up in the morning and is gone most of the day, I have to decide to vacuum a day ahead of time and ask him the night before to get the machine out before he leaves for work. He is very agreeable to this, but occasionally forgets. If he forgets, I skip vacuuming that day.

When I do vacuum, I can only do a little bit at a time. Doing the entire house takes four or five blocks of time. I have to rest at least half an hour usually longer between blocks.

The job I do is not the job I want to do. What I want to do is really vacuum thoroughly and completely. What I can do is vacuum the easily accessible high traffic areas. I only vacuum the spots I can reach while standing upright. Nothing in the way gets moved, except things Molly can move for me and things on wheels. So I can get Molly to pick up a dog toy or pair of shoes, but she can't move the recliner or coffee-table. I also can't bend down to vacuum under the coffee table or the sofas. I only vacuum as far as the vacuum reaches when I'm standing up.

I only move the vacuum around by dragging it by the hose. Fortunately, it is able to roll over the bottoms of the baby gates.

Emptying the vacuum requires bending down. So I don't do that either, not usually anyway. Today filled up so quickly, that I did have to empty it before could finish vacuuming. But that means I'm in a bit more pain than usual.

Obviously I can't put the vacuum cleaner away. So it stays out until DH gets home and puts it away for me.

Because I am not able to do the job properly, DH has to regularly go through and do the proper job. However, we have found that if I vacuum regularly. It is much less often that he has to follow after me. It also makes the house cleaner and more comfortable for living in. Yes there are big balls of hair under my furniture. But we don't see those all the time. So in terms of the living in a messy house stress that DH gets, it is significantly reduced.