With rainy days followed by hot, humid weather, I stayed indoors and tackled some of the long-overdue household chores on my to-do list.
As school is right around the corner, I decided to use the tried-and-true method of A-F grading. Here’s my Housekeeping Report Card for the Summer of 2024.
Laundry – A – I’m a weirdo who enjoys doing the laundry. There’s a feeling of accomplishment watching a pile of smelly, wet clothes transform into folded, dry stacks of clean clothes.
Vacuuming – F – Why vacuum something I’m going to walk on over and over again? Besides, we have brown carpet and light brown tiles in the house so the dirt is practically invisible.
Mopping – F – See note on vacuuming.
Dusting – F – As my friend Patsy likes to say, dust is a protective covering on furniture. Our furniture is over 40 years old and still looks great. Underneath layers of dust, that is. I’m tempted to raise this grade to an A, but in terms of housekeeping, it’s a definite fail.
Rearranging pillows on the couch – A – I don’t go to bed unless the pillows on the couch are arranged in a specific way. Maybe if I spent more time vacuuming than rearranging pillows, our house would be cleaner.
Making the Bed – A+ – I never made my bed when I was a teenager. My husband convinced me that making the bed in the morning was a good start to the day. He’s been right about a lot of things. This is one of them.
Washing windows – D – The only reason I didn’t get an “F” here is because I occasionally wash the inside windows and the windows on the patio door. Toddler handprints have a way of being quite evident.
Cleaning the Fridge – C+ – I’ve improved in this household chore, mostly because it’s just the two of us here, so there’s not as much food in the refrigerator.
Maintaining an orderly pantry – D – I try, I really try to put things in the same place in the pantry after each shopping trip. But when there’s a sale on something and I buy a dozen cans, things must push aside to make room. That’s not always an orderly shove.
Closets – B- – The grandkids have closets in their rooms, and for the most part, those stay orderly. However, whenever they come over to play, forget order. Legos, swords, cars, trucks and plastic fruit are all over the place. When they go home, I shove everything in the closet and shut the door.
The Kitchen Table – A – I make sure the table is cleared every evening after dinner with plastic fruit in a bowl and napkins in the middle of the table. Now if leaving my laptop, notebook, pens, headphones and mouse on the table count as cluttered, then this grade could easily be lowered to a C.
Bathrooms – B – Of all the household chores I avoid, cleaning the bathroom isn’t at the bottom of the list. I procrastinate, but once I get going, I don’t mind swishing the bowl, cleaning toothpaste out of the basin and Windexing the spit off the mirror.
My Car – C – I could blame my messy car on my grandchildren who ride with me quite a bit. But they’re not responsible for the gum wrappers in the front cup holder, the discarded grocery lists or the unfolded blanket, two umbrellas and extra pillow I carry around for emergencies.
Kitchen Drawers – B – I don’t have fancy dividers or holders in most of the drawers. For spatulas and big spoons, they’re tossed in the drawer well enough so the drawer closes. I do have a holder for forks and knives, but when a toddler helps unload the dishwasher, all bets are off.
When I add everything up, I’m passing and that’s good enough for me.
This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.