You've Done it Right if the Rice is White!

Okay, I know that this might sound a little random, but I know the perfect way to figure out whether your kitchen floor is clean or not---sweep up cooked white rice (thrown on the floor by a baby, or yourself, it doesn't matter), and then tell me if it comes up into the dust pan white...or is it a little gray and dirty looking!

Earlier today I was in cleaning mode...I'm almost always in cleaning mode, but today was different. With Johnathan's newly acquired two-legged mobility, I figured that it was time to broaden his horizons with a new baby-safe zone. Up until now I've really only let him roam on his own (with supervision of course) in the living room. All other areas (aside from his bedroom) have been off limits when it comes to being on the floor. Well, today that all changed, and the kitchen became a new safe(er) zone for Johnathan to play. I'm still working on getting all "my" cabinets baby-proofed, but it'll happen soon!

Yesterday I made Johnathan his own little cabinet, and supplied it with child sized pans, bowls, tins and rolling pins. I figured that if he is going to play in the kitchen, he might as well have something that he is allowed to "get into" and some items that will encourage creative play at the same time. Johnathan's little cupboard now sits right next to the fridge, and when I'm in the kitchen cooking or cleaning, he is able to play right there with me! It's so adorable, and I just love that he has his own little special place to keep his things. Too cute!

Anyways, back to today, and to my cleaning tip! With the knowledge that our kitchen floors were going to be a place that Johnathan was going to spending a bit more time toddling and crawling around on, I wanted to make sure that they were in tip-top shape, squeaky clean and the type of surface that you could eat off of...'cause, let's face it, when a baby sees something on the floor, it almost always goes into his mouth! I'm not advocating letting your child eat off of the floor, but if it's bound to happen at some time, the least you can do is make sure the floor is clean! This morning I vacuumed, swept, wiped and mopped the floor, and I was pretty sure that I had done a good job of it too. Well, this afternoon I proved myself right! I had made some rice to go along with our evening meal and decided to give a little to Johnathan to see if he liked it. He did, but in the process of enjoying it some ended up on the floor...perfect! Time to test my cleanliness!!! After he was all finished, I went to grab the broom and sweep up those bright white grains of rice, and you know what?---they came up clean as a whistle! Woohoo! Now I know that my floors are clean! Course I'll have to keep on mopping them pretty often to keep 'em that way, but I feel good right now knowing that Baby J. has a clean place to play! Who knew that rice was good for something more than just eating and throwing at people after weddings!

(NOTE: I didn't eat the rice off the floor, although I'm sure I could have!).