Cleaning house when there is no party

I like to think I set a good a example for my boys.
But sometimes, I think I'm falling down on the job.
It was early on Saturday when the cleaning muse struck. An organic urge to organize and discard broken toys, clothes, and whatever else was in my way, seemed right.
I dumped toy boxes, swept, polished, and ironed linens.
I was so frenzied that when I caught a glimpse of my fishwife-like appearance, I wondered briefly who the maniac was in the ill-fitting sweatshirt and stringy, clipped-up hairdo reflecting off the window.
I was brought down to Earth by my fever-saddled 4-year-old.
D, glassy-eyed and looking a little like Cindy-Lou Who with her blanket, caught me when I was on the last room - the kitchen.
The Windex bottle was cocked like a revolver in my hand.
 "Mommy, why you cleanin'? We havin' a party or somethin'?"
My silence hung mid air.
D waited.
He hunched his little shoulders as though I had neglected to inform him it was so-and-so's birthday and there will be cake, lots of  it.
"No. We're not having a party, D. Don't you like having a clean house?"
He stared.
"Can I have some juice, please?"
Nothing more was said aloud.
 But the dialogue in my head opened like a faucet on full blast.
My child thinks I only clean when I have a party?
Is it any wonder they don't clean their rooms?
Look at their mother!
Children learn by example...
You can't get mad when they leave their juice boxes on the Thomas-the-Train table when you leave your flat Diet Coke on your nightstand.
Good God! Am I a fraud?
F rescues me from my mental flogging.
"Hey Mom! Can you build us a train track and play with us?"
Step away from the Windex, said the voice in my head.
There are tracks to design. Cleaning can wait for the next party.