Then vs. Now

Growing up, my mom had to get up really early to go to work at a factory job. On weekends, when she could have slept in, she got up early too. Saturdays meant cleaning day. Oh, she cleaned on weekdays too, but on Saturday, she really got down to business.
I was never a sleep-til-noon kind of girl - my bedroom received lots of sunshine so it was pretty easy to get up. Her greeting of "rise and shine" was particularly relevant!
As soon as my mom's feet hit the floor, she had a plan. First breakfast - a hot, cooked breakfast (not cereal or poptarts). Then----the-----cleaning----would-----begin!!!!!
Dirty dishes did not sit on the counter; dishes had to be handwashed immediately. Chores were distributed to everyone, and much to my dislike, chores were divided by what she considered to be women's work and men's work.
Laundry would be hauled down to the basement, and wet clothes were hung outside to dry on a clothes line. I was NOT allowed to do laundry. I had never screwed it up, but she still wouldn't let me do it. (I didn't learn how to do laundry until college.) Everything had to be dusted, vacuumed, wiped, swept, and mopped ------ every ----- nook ----- and ------ cranny. I use the dashes for extra emphasis; she was very detailed.
Our house was small and not in the least bit upscale, but it was VERY clean! And to be fair, I will admit she was not OCD about it. Clean is clean and anything else is just laziness and irresponsible - she never said that, but I got the jist of it.
Even though I was expected to help her and do whatever she told me to do, she never MADE me get up early with her. But she didn't make it easy to sleep in either. As soon as breakfast was ready, she would come into each of our rooms and loudly announce that breakfast was ready. If we moaned or didn't answer, she'd always say, "I'm eating without you, and I won't come call you again." And she meant it. We usually rolled out of bed and joined her. If, for some reason, we did go back to sleep, she would show no sympathy - the next time she came into your room, she'd have the vacuum cleaner with her - vacuuming around and under the bed and using the hose to get behind the bed and in all the corners. And she'd be talking loudly, naming the things that needed to be done. There was really no use trying to sleep in.
I'm thankful for the good things I learned from my mom, but I'm not the rigorous cleaner that she is - mostly by choice - but I do feel a genetic tug to clean just like her.
Today, I had planned to clean out a spare room and large closet. It's 7:26 pm, and I'm just now getting around to that. My mom actually called me today. While we were chatting, she asked me what Abbie was doing. I said, "she's just running around the house, still wearing her pajamas at 11:30 am."
And my mom said, "Well, let her!" I just thought it was a super funny reaction to our level of laziness on Saturdays.
And to be fair to my mom, she did let me watch some cartoons every Saturday. It wasn't all work and no play! Love ya, Mom!