MHBP: Follow-up

In April, I blogged about Mental Health Best Practices. This was during a time of my life when I was told for eight consecutive months that "Don't worry, this month is the worst month of teaching. After this, it's all downhill..." April was in fact the worst month, and after that, it got better. But during the month of April, I was determined to find my MHBP-- that one thing that might help me retain my sanity in a morass of rollercoaster weeks. Courtney promptly suggested that "cleaning" might be my MHBP. At first, I thought this was just a sneaky ploy for her to get me to clean the apartment, but it is true that I am much more efficient in a clean work/play environment... and general cleanliness and organization gives me a little peace of mind. Now, when my brain is a little tired from work, I try to remember to clean the kitchen instead of doing some other more destructive worse practice, like throwing things or eating everything in the refrigerator.

The best things about cleaning the kitchen, as a MHBP:

1. I can take out aggression on food stains on counters or dishes.

2. Dish soap is has a very non-abrasive scent, as far as cleaning products go.

3. Who doesn't love a new dish towel?

4. I can definitely knock out an episode of Law and Order while I'm cleaning the kitchen.

5. Other than the dishes, everything else can be cleaned with Lysol.

6. When I'm finished cleaning the kitchen, the surfaces sparkle.

7. The *hard surfaces* vacuum is much lighter than the rug vacuum.

8. If all else fails, I can throw a dish on the floor for a really satisfying solution to frustration...

9. After mopping the floor, I can do this really cool trick to walk across the floor: Rip two new paper towels and put them on the floor. Step one (bare) foot onto each paper towel and shuffle across the floor to my intended destination. Result: no footprints on the floor, and now a dry path for me to back-track across if I realize I left my cell phone on the far end of the kitchen.