Now I think I know what they mean.
Last Friday, I cleaned the refrigerator. Not just wiping the shelves, which I try to do on Fridays before Kansas Dad comes home with another week's worth of groceries. I sat on the floor, pulled everything out and clean the shelves and the drawers, tops and bottoms. I'm not sure it's been so clean since it was empty right after we moved into the house!
Today, after washing the breakfast dishes (with help from First Daughter), I cleaned the counters and then glanced at the chest freezer. I wipe the chest freezer off every time I clean the counters, but there always seemed to be a little residue left. Today, I sprayed it with cleaner (as opposed to just a washcloth with soapy water) and started scrubbing with a toothbrush. First Daughter was intrigued, so she helped, too. (I use a cleaner of castile soap and essential oils, so I don't have to worry about letting her help clean if she asks.) I scrubbed after her quite a bit, but she did a surprisingly good job.
Then my glance fell on the hutch, which is perilously close to the table so often gets sprayed with food and drink from Second Daughter's meals. We always wipe it down, but sometimes we miss a little or don't see it until later. And it was dusty...so then I made some furniture polish (olive oil and distilled vinegar) and cleaned it from top to bottom. So beautiful and gleaming! It made the bookshelf look a bit dingy, so I wiped down most of that, too. (I didn't actually take the books off the shelves.)
And it's just now lunch time.
It's not clear to me how having a gleaming hutch in my kitchen will make the house a better or safer place for the baby, but I do love how wonderful it looks just now.
For those that are interested, I make the cleaners with recipes from Green Clean: The Environmentally Sound Guide to Cleaning Your Home
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