No, that's not the sound of Matthew playing with trains. That's me, tooting my own horn after I finished doing some housecleaning. I am feeling very virtuous because this morning, I mopped the kitchen floor and even some exremely bad looking areas on the woods in the living, dining, and family rooms. It is now afternoon and I am still unshowered and the chairs are still lined up to play Train Ride, because I'm waiting for other family members to come home and Take Notice. That's because it was such a big job, since I haven't done it since Neil and Kristie and their 6 kids came... and the broom was broken (and used for Captain Moroni's Title of Liberty) and we had pizza for dinner. I think I felt pretty proud of myself on that occasion, too.
I also cleaned up the kitchen, but that is not really worth noting since it's done so often. And because we have a dishwasher, it's way easier when you can throw the dishes in there. Wow, all those years in Jersey City without a parking space, laundry machines, dishwasher, and disposal sure made me grateful for appliances.
If there is a more obnoxious chore than scrubbing the floor with a long, awkward tool, I don't know what it is. Except maybe sweeping beforehand and having the crud get stuck in the grout. As I was growing up, my mom tried many different forms of job chart rotations: a daily one, a weekly one, and all with creative names. But one summer, we had the same job (in addition to dishes and clean your room etc) all summer. That was a great summer. We all earned candybars at Sunday's family council (fruits of doing your job well all week), and the house was at its cleanest because we were cleaning what we liked. Some said it was kind of a communistic system but I believe one of my brothers said it was really more economical, since we were doing what we did well and liked to do.
I enjoy cleaning the bathroom because whoa, you really see and smell the results after not that much work or time. I think Heidi had the living room because she was Popular and wanted her Popular friends to think we had a clean house. I think Kurt did the garbages because they were fast and easy, take out the kitchen trash before dinner and all the others on Saturday, Kent had the toyroom because he could ignore it all summer and Brian had the Special P (project) because he enjoyed being Mom's minion. Meanwhile, the meeker members of the family left at home, Craig, Tyler, and Liesl, they had to just take what was left, the floors, laundry assignment, and family room. Actually I can't remember. So correct me. What IS your favorite chore, anyway? Least favorite?
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10 comments:
I don't remember having the living room for a whole summer, but I do remember that I ended up always having the floors because I couldn't stand how dirty the floor got and nothing brought me the same piece of mind as having a clean kitchen floor.
I'll correct you. You're wrong, that's what. No such summer ever happened. Not that I remember, anyway. You dreamed the whole thing up. Classic case of Fatso forgetting the past.
And I did NOT do the Special P's because I enjoyed being Ma's minion. It was because I just wanted to get it over with so I could play Civilization.
least favorite: bathrooms, but that's Derek favorite.
Most favorite: dusting, which is Derek's least favorite.
We are well-matched. (He also likes the orange candies while I like the red ones, so we share well, too!)
Kurt still has the trash! Thats his one official job at our apartment. I'm laughing!
My latest thing is giving the kids the same job for six months--it seems to work pretty well. They get some input into which job they do and there aren't problems with forgetting which person has which job on which day. I think they can get into more of a routine with the same job too so maybe they don't mind it as much.
first of all - mad props for mopping the floor! - it is my single most hated housecleaning job and I grudginly do it every other week or so. But I, like you, really enjoy clean bathrooms so I clean one of the four everyday and the bathroom is almost always sparkling. Not so with my much abused and semi-neglected kitchen floor though . . .
Good question JoEllen. I love vacuuming and dusting but hopefully my favorite chore soon will be hiring a cleaning lady!
If lounging on the couch and eating bon bons is a chore, that is the one I like best. If not . . . I think it would have to be cleaning the bathroom. You're right. Big difference without much effort. But after the "apple incident" Andrew is the best bathroom cleaner in the family. So I am left with kitchen duty. I love the way a clean kitchen looks, if it would only stay that way . . .
My only regular chore is also the garbages, just like Kurt. Although I refuse to take the bathroom garbage because that's just gross girl junk in there.
I also am pretty good at doing the laundry, but Mel refuses to allow me to fold it, as I am a miserable folder.
Every so often I'll mop the kitchen floor, but let's be honest, it doesn't really compare to a floor of someone with 4 kids. 2 adults keep everything pretty clean.
Kent is an excellent garbage man...I just have to gently remind him, or put it next to the sliding door and he takes it out for me. And I would rather fold the laundry than have him shove all of it, balled up, into his drawers...
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