Families Dusting Together

Have you been busy with summer fun or work, when all of sudden you realized it has been three or four weeks since you last dusted?   Can you write in the dust?

Oops!  I can.  No excuses are necessary.  We make choices about how we are going to spend our time and energy.  Sometimes, the house suffers:  well, actually--the house doesn't care, but we do.  Therefore, I am sending out a dusting challenge this week.  Let's dust and vacuum at least one room a day.  Here are some choices of how to do that.  Dust with a throw away Swiffer duster or a Microfiber Dust Rag.  My mother always used the vacuum cleaner brush and sucked up that dirt and hair.

1. We are dusting, not polishing, unless you just prefer to spray and wipe.
2. Choices of how to do this job are:

• Dust and vacuum one room a day.  Or
• Dust all your rooms in one day--perfection is not the objective here.
• Vacuum the centers of the rooms, not every little corner, or under everything.  Break this job into increments of time you are able to accomplish or let someone else do it for you. 
• Option for mothers and fathers with children at home:  hand each child a dust rag and set the timer.  Give them specific areas to dust  and turn on some music.  You can make this a family affair, working in one room at a time or let them do their own rooms. If your child needs hands on attention for this job:  stick to doing one room together.  Make it fun with a treat at the end, such as reading a book or watching a DVD.

Parents, children need to learn to work at home.  It is a necessary part of their training, or they are liable to expect someone else to do it their whole lives.  If they need supervision, remember they will probably not do the job as well as you;  however, it is still important they do it.  Do not frustrate your children by constantly comparing how they do their chores with other members of the household.  Do not heap your perfectionism on them.  Be matter of fact:  "Today we are going to dust.  We will start in the ________.  You work in this section of the room.  Your sister will work in that section of the room, and I will work in this section."

Do the children want to do something later, such as going to a friend's house, swimming, or playing in the sprinkler?  Tell them that none of these things are going to happen, until together you dust a certain number of rooms.  STICK TO YOUR GUNS!  This is training time that will benefit them the rest of their lives.

We did it!
Image Courtesy of [Ambro]
/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Back to Vacuuming

When you dust, you should vacuum if you can.  These two jobs go hand in hand.  However, use your best judgement.  You can only do what you can do, and you may have to find creative ways to get the job done.  However, I would not wait more than one day to vacuum each room you dust.  What is on the floor will eventually manage to find it's way to the furniture.  Moreover, if you have not vacuumed and dusted for a while, you might want to change your filter for your air conditioner.  A clean filter will help keep your house clean longer.

Note:  If you are going to have to declutter tabletops, because you have let things accumulate on them, you will want to do that a different day than the day you dust;  unless, you are so impressed with clean tabletops, you cannot help yourself.  If you just have to dust after you pick up and put away what is on the tables, the  one room a day method is best

Have a great week, and remember:  when you can write in the dust, your house looks dirty, even when it is decluttered.  

Love,

Deborah