I really didn’t want to write about this task. I would rather clean a nasty toilet. I don’t know why that is. Even though I have an electric, self-cleaning oven,  I still have to do some positive self-talk to prepare to clean the oven. My problem is that we do a lot of cooking at home. This process must be done in increments over a day or two. I just don’t like having the kitchen out of order for that long.

If you have a self-cleaning oven, turn it on the day before and let it do its magic. To prepare for this task, lay some old towels on the floor around the bottom of the stove or oven.   When the oven is cool, put on rubber gloves and spray on the oven cleaner. Open a window if the fumes begin to bother you. Close the door and let it sit overnight. The next morning, put the gloves back on and start wiping out the oven with paper towels. It helps to keep the trash can close so you can toss the soiled paper towels in the garbage as you go. Be careful not to get the cleaner on your bare skin. It is very caustic and can burn. If you get some on you, wash it with soap and rinse well with water.

When you are done wiping it out, use an SOS pad to scrub anything left over. Use a paper towel to wipe it clean. You may want to spray the oven with Windex to get the remaining residue off the oven’s walls. This step does help with decreasing the-at funny smell when you turn it on again for the first time.

Keep the gloves on and wash them with warm water and soap just like you would if you were washing your bare hands. This will get all the oven spray off so that it doesn’t accidentally cause skin irritation when you take them off.

Throw the old towel in the washer and take out the trash. OH SNAP! You know when you write out your feelings and feel better after because you did some emotional processing through writing? Yeah? Well, I feel better now.

You must coach your teen through this task a few times before they can handle it independently. So, emotionally get yourself in a good place and order pizza for dinner! (If you are not into that emotional eating thing, take your teen out for a movie.  OR better yet, watch the Disney Movie: Pollyanna and play the GLAD GAME.  WHATEVER! Just be into the reward thing for this one- seriously!)