Cleaning toilets never came natural to me

I never really learned how to clean properly. I know generally, but I've never read the handbook on bathroom cleaning. Now I kind of adlib. 

While my wife cleans as well, she tries to give up those responsibilities to the men in the household. My nephew vacuums weekly. I sweep and clean the bathrooms somewhat regularly. 

In a survey on marriage, many women wished they would have established a more even distribution of household chores earlier in the marriage. That makes sense and it's totally understandable. Why should women, even those who are staying at home with the kids, be responsible for everything? Looking after the kids is a full-time job unto itself. 

But I'm not trying to be self-righteous here, because I can't claim to do the majority of indoor household chores. My wife does the laundry and most of the cooking. That constitutes 90% of household work. While she likes it when I cook, she won't let me do laundry very often. There's too much risk involved. You know, clothing turning the wrong colour and tights coming out half the size they should be. 

There's only so much I can do wrong when cleaning the bathroom. Nevertheless, there's still some risk involved due to differences in standards of cleanliness. 

Back when I lived with my brother, future brother-in-law and his brother, our standards were quite low. Our bathroom was washed probably once the whole year, that being the last day when my then wife-to-be cleaned it. That was pretty swell of her. 

Nor can I ever remember washing my bed sheets. That was a new concept introduced during marriage, along with the folding of underwear (I never thought it was possible). 

Yet even then, I was still one of the tidiest young men in my high school. In my high school dormitory I was rewarded for this by getting to clean a storage room where a cat had been secretly held captive for half the year. I never did get those stains out. 

And I still don't really know how to clean. 

Like how do you properly clean a low-flush toilet with toilet bowl cleaner? Beats me how to get the gooey gel off the sides without flushing it fifty times.  

And who really needs rags when you can use toilet paper, tissues and paper towels? It's just a rag you're gonna have to clean anyway.

Lesson #1: One wipe might be all it takes.

The best trick is to do a quick touch-up every now and then with the wipe of a tissue. Just wipe down the chrome and the dirtier parts of the sink, and it looks like you've cleaned the whole bathroom. 

That's a lesson in cleaning that a man will teach you. It doesn't have to be a complete overhaul of the bathroom each time you clean. Just a simple touch-up here and there is sometimes all that's required. Why waste energy on things that are still relatively sanitary? 

I really shouldn't make this public, but my wife likely already knows. Women can sense when something is one-wipe cleaned and when it's really cleaned. It goes back to that standards thing. In general, there is a little more attention paid to detail. 

I notice it in my eight-your-old daughter already. The other day she was aghast to see me stick my hand in the toilet's water tank to try to fix the overflow mechanism. I had to assure her that no feces ever got in the water tank, only the toilet bowel.  

She was relieved to hear this, but still wouldn't touch my hand for the rest of the day. 

She's not ready yet, but one day I'll show her how I clean the toilet bowl.