Company in the Time of Covid Vaccination

Grab the mess and hide it!

Source: Carrie Knowles

Ten minutes after the second vaccination, my husband began making his list of everyone he wanted to invite to our home for dinner. Only two people at a time, of course, and both of them double vaccinated, but really?

I could hardly catch my breath.

It had been a year since anyone had come into our home. It’s complicated. Rumbling right beneath the undercurrent of fear of close contact with other people inside our house was the startling realization that during the past 12 months, perhaps we hadn’t indulged in much housecleaning beyond keeping dirty dishes washed, laundry done and folded, and the floors occasionally swept.

We hadn’t, as so many articles suggested, dug into the back of our closets to get rid of things we didn’t need and/or want, sorted through that pesky junk drawer in the kitchen or even engaged in some deep cleaning ritual. We also hadn’t decorated for Christmas, other than hanging a wreath on our front door, or considered doing something as bold as painting a wall or cleaning our oven.

In short, we survived. We worked at home, stayed at home, ate all our meals at home, and muddled through with as few squabbles and as much grace as possible. I was fairly pleased with how well we had done.

But we hadn’t dusted, at least, not much. We did run the vacuum cleaner on a somewhat regular basis, and I became a kind of neat freak about taking out the garbage and recycling, because it made me feel we had a firm grasp on living in an orderly way. Plus, the walk to the recycling bins and the dumpster was easily as satisfying as picking up the groceries we ordered online.

While we are talking about groceries, I’m happy to confess that as soon as the 10 days had passed after my second vaccination, the first thing I did was double-mask and go grocery shopping. Who knew picking out cucumbers and lettuce could be so life-affirming and uplifting?

Other than figuring out what I was going to cook and how far away we should sit from each other at our dining table, I had to rewrap my head around what I should do to make our home company-ready.

Knowing that I was not alone in this dilemma, I turned to my trusty Woman’s Day Book of Household Hints. My younger brother gave it to me as a joke one Christmas. I keep it on my desk just in case I need to do something domestic. Some of the “household hints” are useful. Others are fodder for a good laugh. The book was originally published in 1945 and my copy was updated in 1978. Let’s just say there are some great gems in this old tome.

Take the advice, offered under the headline of "General Housework," about how to manage that awkward moment when your house is a mess and some guests telephone to say they are in the neighborhood and thought they’d drop in for tea.

Here’s the list of their helpful hurry up and get ready for company hints:

In the living room, stick all litter under couches and chairs. Shake out throw rugs and put over dirty spots in carpet. Wrap a towel around your arm and slide it quickly over furniture tops. In the kitchen, stack the dirty dishes in the cupboards; wipe off counters; sweep the dirt off the floor into the broom closet. Set out coffee cups, dishes, whatever will be necessary for entertaining, so you will not have to open cupboards to reveal your secrets. In the bathroom, close the curtains around the tub and put all dirty clothes in the bathtub. Close bedroom doors. Sit back and wait for the doorbell to ring.

I feel the need to point out that the book also suggests that if you don’t love cleaning, the best way to boost your morale while doing housework is to wear a cleaning costume. Something crazy which you normally wouldn’t have the courage to wear out of the house.

Now, there’s a thought.