Am I My Mother-in-law?

I rented a steam carpet cleaner and spent the last two days steam cleaning all the rugs and chairs in the house. The amazing thing was, with each change of water, I saw a thick wad of dirt at the bottom of the pail. That's dirt that came off the chairs and couches that I sit on everyday.

But if that's not disturbing enough, my mother-in-law, kind soul that she is, has phoned me a few times since The Man left for Yemen, to inquire after The Boy and I. Each time, she asks,

"Are you cleaning everything in the house?"

And I've answered, "Why, yes I am. In fact, I just rented a steam carpet cleaner..." And I tell her about my plans to clean up other things, like the back yard.

She says, "Mhmm, mhmm, that's good. It's important to keep busy and tidy." She says this as if it's a totally normal thing for a woman to clean house in the middle of the day, everyday. When I should be going to the gym. When I should be looking for a job. When I should be taking classes towards my M.A. So...did The Man end up marrying his mother after all?

I think not quite. Despite all the cleaning, the house doesn't look any cleaner. Until I recover from the exhaustion of all the cleaning and put back the things I moved aside to steam clean, the house is in greater disarray. My mother-in-law would never have allowed that.