A Mother’s Values on Cleanliness

I cannot concentrate on studying my lessons when everything around me is untidy and disordered. I don’t see this as a reason for procrastination, but instead I consider it as one of the values I got from my mother – values concerning cleanliness. There are two aspects in my memory in which mother applied the values of cleanliness.

At the age of five, mama provided me my own bath set – complete with baby soap, a bottle of baby shampoo, a pumice stone, and a face towel. They were all put in a small transparent kiddy bag, creatively printed with colorful flowers, which caught my baby eyes. I didn’t easily recognize what it was, and I had no idea what it was for. As she set out the contents of the little bag, she introduced the cleaning paraphernalia one by one. She was like an instant promo girl as she demonstrated and explained to me how and when to use those things. Thus I learned that I ought to keep my body clean.

During my childhood days, my mother used to be the one to clean my body parts with cotton balls and baby oil. For her, “libag” or skin dirt usually caused by sweat, should always be removed from the body, mainly because it is very disgusting to look at. She taught me how to do it myself – how to rub the cotton forcefully through my skin to remove the dirt. Although I became aware of her purpose of teaching me this, I didn’t really exert much effort to include it in my daily routine. The thing is I liked it when she did the cleaning for me on weekends.

When I was in my sixth grade, I had a teacher who included checking the ears and the nails as part of the pupil’s grade. He would deduct grades of pupils who had dirty ears and nails, and he would give plus points for students who had dirt-free ears and nails. My teacher justified this rule by stating that he gets distracted every time he sees children who have grimy ears and nails. I blushed as I realize how embarrassing it feels when you get caught by other people having dirty ears and nails. I remembered why mama wanted me to learn how to clean myself. Maybe she knew that other people build their impression of who you are based on your grooming, your appearance – how you take care of yourself. It also complemented our teacher’s claim that cleanliness affects a person’s character in some ways, for it becomes other people’s basis of whether you are likable or not, whether you are neat or filthy, and even whether you are decent or not at all. From then on, I made sure that I always cleaned my body parts thoroughly.

The other aspect that my mother also applied values on cleanliness is the home. For the first ten years of my existence, I grew up having a housekeeper living with us. I lived like a señorita for a long time – I didn’t do the dishes, I didn’t sweep the floor, I didn’t iron my school uniforms, I didn’t wash my own clothes, and I didn’t even care to arrange my things. I didn’t like doing any type of household chores. It’s not that I couldn’t perform cleaning at all; I was just intuitively lazy at that time. And my mother sensed what was going on as she was always monitoring my attitude towards cleanliness.

When I was in grade five, Lola Seling, our housekeeper for almost five years, decided to quit her job. During those times when she was only planning to give it up, I begged her not to leave us, for I was afraid that mama might not get another housekeeper. I definitely figured out that if it happens, I’ll be the one who would do most the housework she will leave behind, especially the house cleaning, which I didn’t like very much. I also anticipated the possibility of being an alternative yaya to my 4-year-old sister because I am the eldest.

Unfortunately, as I had predicted, mama did not hire a new housekeeper when Lola Seling left. I tried to convince her to look for a new one, but she refused, telling me she wanted us to learn how to do household chores. She even insisted that we must learn not to depend on other people when it comes to matters regarding cleanliness. I was totally not in favor of what mama wanted because I yearned to enjoy the remaining days of my elementary years. Her decision seemed unfair to me for it felt like she had taken part of my childhood that I was supposed to fill up with fun.

When mama and papa divided the housework among the five of us, it added to my disappointment that my tasks were heavier than my brother, who is a year younger than me. Even though I hated doing household chores, our situation left me no room for excuses not to perform them. Both of my parents have full-time jobs. As the eldest among the three, I forced myself to function well in the house.

Little by little, I adjusted to our new lifestyle. I learned how to cook rice and other easy-to-cook viands. I followed mama’s procedure of doing the dishes – to rinse all the kitchen utensils all together in a basin to save water. I learned how to iron clothes – what part of the fabric to iron first and how to place it properly in a hanger so it won’t get crumpled.

With mama’s patience and guidance, I was able to overcome the house cleaning with less difficulty. Eventually, I realized that mama did not take part of my childhood; instead she had given me memories that help me understand my responsibility as a person. It was a gratifying experience that my mother is the reason I became aware of things I usually care less about before.

At present, I view cleanliness as an important factor that has to be utilized by an individual. I have realized that both the values on cleanliness in the body and the home help me develop my sense of responsibility. In the aspect of self, even though mama stressed the importance of cleanliness based on other people’s impression of me, I discovered that it’s not just other people’s impression that matters; it’s also about how I see myself and how I give importance to it. In the aspect of home, even if she stressed the importance of cleanliness by learning to do household chores, I have discovered that the importance of cleanliness also instills a sense of duty in every member of the family.