I grew up in a family of eleven (11) children. And yes, we had a very large house. My mom hired a lady named Elzora to clean on occassion, but most of the time us kids did all the housework.... at least that is what I thought at the time. I'm sure in reality my mom did a large portion of it, but this mostly occurred while the rest of us were at school, or sleeping (she is known to stay up very late, and rise very early). I imagine a lot of her efforts were focused on fixing the cleaning failures of her offspring.
My mother used to try to make us think housework was fun. It never worked, but I appreciate that she tried. When my sisters and I were teenagers, she tried to convince us that housework was aerobic exercise, and it would give us beautiful figures. I think she was just trying to get us to work faster. She would put on rousing music to get us to move faster. It didn't work. But at least it made the work a little less boring, because she would allow us to play "our music."
I guess a little of it sank it, because these days when I have a lot to accomplish in a short period of time, I put on certain music that helps me move faster and get more done. (Although with some songs I have to stop working and just dance.) You know those songs that make you move? Here is my housework playlist.....
Don't Stop Til You Get Enough (Michael Jackson)
Take on Me (A-ha)
Fly Me Away (Goldfrapp)
Krafty (New Order)
Speed of Sound (Coldplay)
I Send a Message (INXS)
Mamma Mia (ABBA)
Always Something There to Remind Me (Naked Eyes)
Invisible Touch (Genesis)
New Song (Howard Jones)
There She Goes (The La's)
Shiny Happy People (R.E.M.)
These Are Days (10,000 Maniacs)
Good Morning Britain (Aztec Camera with Mick Jones)
One Little Slip (Chicken Little Soundtrack - I will leave out the name of the band)
Alice Everyday (Book of Love)
Superman (Lazlo Bane)
Overkill (Men at Work)
Here It Goes Again (OK Go)
Everytime (The Samples)
Allstar (Smash Mouth)
1979 (Smashing Pumpkins)
If I Ever Lose My Faith in You (Sting)
Leave It (Yes)
My family is only a fraction of the size of my mother's, and so is my house, thank goodness. I like to have a clean house, but it's never really clean. I have to clean it piecemeal. By the time I finish one thing, another needs to be done. I don't think all of my house has been clean at the same time since the day I became a mother. And, you know what? That's OK. I'd rather read to and play with my kids then have a clean house all the time.
So, what songs get you moving?
Son's Gonna Rise (Citizen Cope)
ReplyDeleteClear The Area (Imogen Heap)
Fidelity (Regina Spektor)
Change Your Mind (The Killers)
Xanadu (Electric Light Orchestra)
Lady (Modjo)
One Day Closer To You (Carolyn Dawn Johnson)
The a la menthe (Nikkfurie de la Caution)
We Belong Together (Mariah Carey)
Be (Common)
Everything is Everything (Phoenix)
. . . just to name a few. I love listening to music and I do all the time. I have the same(ish) memories of mom doing that too. Except by the time I was old enough to help clean, she was getting a little sick of listening to her children's music. If you ask me, it's a result of three things: Heidi and Christian, the 90's and Pearl Jam.
I will have to check these out. I don't think I have heard any of them, but then I never recognize songs by their names.
ReplyDeleteWhat was the deal with Heidi and Pearl Jam? Christian still thinks he "discovered" U2. :)
On second thought, of course I know "Xanadu!" I'm sure mom approved of that one.
ReplyDeleteI have just thought of yet another reason to come for a visit... to put YOUR music on my IPod. All great memories.
ReplyDeleteDo you know that song "When I wake up"...or something about walking a thousand miles? Rembrandts maybe? It's on Benny and Joon. That one gets me moving. Or anything ABBA.
Nice memories Alice.
Jen, It's "500 Miles" by The Proclaimers. That's a great one. I should add it to my playlist. Thanks for the tip. :)
ReplyDelete