Labor day isn’t free time
By By Michelle Blaylock, Mom’s Corner
“What does ‘labor day’ mean?” my son asked.
I replied, “Well, to ‘labor’ means to ‘work’ and ‘Labor Day’ was created by the government as a holiday to give people a chance to have a day off work and rest after a long hot summer. “
“What are we doing? Are we goin’ on a vacation?” he asked excitedly.
My youngest looks down with a long deep sigh and says, “I don’t think I’m gonna like ‘Labor Day.’”
I could not help but chuckle a little. In our family we do not have a tradition of what we do on Labor Day.
We have traveled, had barbeques, gone to picnics, spent time at lakes, and other recreational activities. However, it seems, more often than not, we have worked.
I guess because we are so busy all the time and we use what “time off” we have to frantically try to catch up on things around the house we have neglected. It amazes me how quickly stuff can build up. I am also a big fan of “fall cleaning.”
There always seems to be more emphasis put on “spring cleaning.” I know after a winter of being closed up it is nice to do a thorough cleaning and airing out of a home, but I like to put serious effort into “fall cleaning” to get ready for the holidays and do some much needed “catch-up” cleaning.
For example, all of the air vents in our home are in the ceiling, I find this very inconvenient. When we lived in Kentucky the air vents were in the floor and when I vacuumed I would just quickly go over them with the hose attachment. Unless of course, I had to get pencils, markers, Cheerios, Barbie shoes, Legos, hair ponies, ribbons, and the occasional toothbrush out of the air vent. Don’t ask - I didn’t. However, in this home it is much harder to clean the air vents, because my vacuum cleaner hose will not reach. The vacuum cleaner has to be set on a chair and held while the air vent is cleaned. However, on the upside, I have never found a toothbrush or anything else (except dust bunnies) in one of our air vents!
Light fixtures and ceiling fans are other things in our home that seem to be easily forgotten when it comes to cleaning. I have to admit this is not something new. I have always been terrible about cleaning these items. I blame this one on being short and hating to drag in stepladders to clean light fixtures (and ceiling vents!).
Electronics also get very dusty and dirty. It amazes me. I know part of it is because of static electricity, but good grief! It is very important to carefully follow manufacturer’s directions to clean these items.
My parents just bought a new TV and any type of cleaner will damage the screen. The TV screen can only be cleaned with a special type of towel made with a non-scratch material, slightly dampened in water. To remove dust many people use vacuum cleaners to clean TVs, computers, radios, etc. This can damage the electronics due to the buildup of static electricity caused by vacuuming. It is better to use cans of compressed air which are easily found at Walmart or office supply stores.
Other areas that seem to just love to collect dust and dirt are the baseboards, windowsills, mini-blinds, and door panels. I have found a toothbrush, small towel, and spray cleaner work very well to clean the little crevasses in some of these. As for the mini-blinds and if they are seriously dirty, they can be cleaned by hanging them over the bathtub from the shower curtain rod. I spray them with spray cleaner and rinse with the shower hose. Mini-blinds can also be cleaned by laying them in the yard and using the hose. I know it sounds like “spring” cleaning, but even if you did these things in spring it does not hurt to touch them up again before the holidays. (Thanksgiv-ing is 11 weeks away and Christmas is only 15 weeks.)
I also involve my kids whenever possible in the cleaning chores. I do not believe in child labor laws within a home. (My oldest tried that one when she was about 12-years-old or so.
She learned about "child labor laws" in school and insisted that it was against the law for her to do her chores. Um, no. Good try, but no.
Even very young children (3-years-old) can learn to clean baseboards with supervision.
I am not saying that children should be slaves without any free time, but learning to clean and work creates a good work ethic and also teaches them what to do when they have a home of their own. Remember my motto, “A good parent works themselves out of a job.”
I hope you had a great Labor Day weekend. If you have a comment, question or tip for Mom’s Corner, please e-mail it to: moms-corner@juno.com
