Friday, November 07, 2008

gratification

yesterday, i was dusting in our room for the first time in i-don't-know-how-long. it reminded me of the summer when i was sixteen and babysat for this eleven-year-old child. in addition to watching this child which consisted primarily of watching dirty dancing ad nauseum (by her choice) and going to the swimming pool in the slightly larger town fifteen minutes away, I also cleaned her house once a week for a little extra money - i remember dusting her curio cabinet full of precious moments figurines once a week and feeling it was pointless as there was no dust that could be seen on the surface of the rag when I ran it over the glass shelves -

our room was not nearly so pristine and i have to say that it felt very good to see the dark streaks dirtying the old cloth diapers

i also remember linda's mom telling me that she wished i could always watch linda because linda was so much more well-behaved when i watched her. it might have something to do with the fact that if her mom told her to do something in the morning before she left the house, i insisted that linda do it and i also insisted that linda be polite to her mom in my presence...

7 comments:

  1. You don't know how much I always love reading the little bits about your life...it's not everyone who can make even dusting interesting! ☺

    ~Emily

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  2. I dust with old cloth diapers (we call them nappies) too :)

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  3. It seems our bedroom is the last place I dust. Not a good thing since most of us spend most of our time in our bedroom.

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  4. I sometimes dust, but I am always AMAZED at the dirt when I clean the windows. Now that is a nearly useless pursuit in my house too.

    I wasn't nearly as good of a babysitter as you were.

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  5. Nice remembrence, triggered by mundane activity--I love it.

    I dread dusting. Once we had a gal come in to help me clean and each time she showed up she's drop her jaw and remark at the rate we acquired dust and cob webs. Honestly, I can't keep up, dread... When I do have clean windows and dust free furniture, I see things a lot clearer. Right now things aren't looking too clear to me, it may be time to get out the windex.

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  6. Anonymous12:30 PM

    Where does that dust come from? Honestly I dust and then it reappears.

    My friend won't let people touch her surfaces because they leave fingermarks in the dust and it shows it up more :)

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  7. We have so.much.more dust since we moved. I think the increase comes from living at the edge of the forest ... at least that's what I tell myself.

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