Chore of the Day - Thursday

How well I remember Scrub Day when I was a child! Mom would arm me with a small pail and I would have to first sweep, then wash the stair steps and side boards every week. It was not a difficult chore for a child, and I did pretty well at it. Later on, she added the chair and table legs to my list, as they collected dust on the decorative turnings and in groves designed for the look of elegance! (I try to remember these days when I pick out a new furniture piece - I don't care for the upkeep, so clean lines of mission style decor suits me well, for the most part!)
As I grew older, my most hated chore of the week was scrubbing the Dreaded Floors! Of course my sister and I only had charge of our bedroom floors upstairs - it was a dormer with hardwood floors. Dad had lovingly finished the attic with varnished wood and tongue and groove knotty pine (the wide WIDE boards!), saving the lumber money from every paycheck so he could complete the room for us girls once they knew my brother was on his way inside mommy's tummy! Sweeping that floor brought back memories of my sister and I years before, making porridge out of sawdust we found in the corners while dad cut boards - we mixed our concoctions up in the bowl of a little potty chair and fed it to our dollies and stuffed animals, or pretended to eat it ourselves!

Of course the floor would have to be washed (hands and knees, please - and don't forget the corners and baseboards!), and then - the WAX! Oh how I hated cleaning those floors! Mom always taught us the best way to complete that job is on hands and knees, if you really want that floor to be clean enough to eat off from!! Nowadays, I "cheat" and use a mop! But for those pesky corners, Momma knows best - getting down to eye level with that dust and dirt is the ONLY way to GET R DONE correctly!