Sucking up

There was a time, before kids and pets, when I neither owned nor needed a vacuum. A friend of mine had one, and it was enough to borrow hers once a month.

By the time I got a cat, I had my own vacuum and began using it once a week.

And by the time I had a husband, two cats, two kids and a dog, I adamantly stuck to vacuuming once a week, whether it needed it more frequently or not. My (ever so) wonderful husband never complained--when he thought it needed to be vacuumed, he'd do it himself. But when he vacuumed, I would feel guilty that I wasn't doing my job, and I'd get grumpy at him for doing it. You think I'd be a little appreciative, but the truth is that the poor guy couldn't win.

After Cynthia confessed to vacuuming daily, I began to see that it was a minor thing that my husband would appreciate, and I began making the effort to vacuum before he could. As silly as it sounds, this was a turning point, for me, in my marriage--not that I was vacuuming more to make him happy, but that my attitude was changing. With a little effort on my part, I could make his life more pleasant. Why was I so stuck on ONCE a week? Would it really kill me to vacuum when it was needed? I no longer had to feel guilty or mad that he was helping. I quickly went from vacuuming weekly to vacuuming every other day or so--whenever needed. I even had my timing down to vacuum just before he came home from work so it would be "fresh."

Amazingly, our current inexpensive vacuum has lasted four years. Other than a frequent bag change, we've never had to replace anything in it. (I think I changed the bag once in all that time; Robert changed it the other 411 times. Funny how I never felt guilty or mad about that.)

But the old vacuum was for carpet, and I don't have a lot of that in this house. I really needed something that would go easily between carpet, tile and wood, all of which I have on my main floor. And I really wanted a Dyson but couldn't justify that expense. As I sifted through internet vacuum reports, I found one on amazon that looked great. Lucky for me, Consumer Reports rated vacuums in the latest issue. Sure enough, the same vacuum was rated a "best buy." Isn't it cute??!!


I didn't really want a canister, but that's not so bad. I was thrilled that I put the whole thing together by myself when Robert wasn't home. I don't how to figure out the way things work much, and this was, well, almost fun. It has a great little switch on the handle to turn on the beater when I use it on carpet. The cord is long enough that I can plug it in one spot and vacuum the whole downstairs. The vacuum is so cute--and soooooo quiet--that I like using it. And I like grossing the kids out by showing them all the dirt and pet hair that it gets, lol. I wasn't sure if I'd mind a bagless vacuum, but I haven't minded dumping out the filter one bit.

Robert used the vacuum for the first time today. I'm not mad about it; I vacuumed late yesterday. He just wanted a test drive, and it was a first when he had to ask me how different functions on it worked. I hope this one's around for a long time. (. . . meaning the vacuum. I'm pretty sure my husband's here to stay.)

:)