Last week I was tearing my classroom apart getting it ready for the new school year.  As I looked at the mess around me, I laughed to myself about the paradox of the chaos I was creating to achieve order.  There was a day or two where my room was definitely more chaos than order, but the desired end result was finally achieved.  I was thinking about this paradox once again as I continued my instruction of Allie in the art of dusting. 

Here we were, dusting polish in one hand and rag in the other.  I also had a feather duster for those hard to reach places.  And Allie, bless her heart, was there, wide eyed and at the ready.  Deep sigh.  I know that if I want to produce a child who is able to carry out household chores properly then instruction needs to start early.  We went through the “help mommy” stage where she swipes a rag around a table for 5 seconds and I pour praise on her for being so helpful. She just turned 11 and it is time that she start proper instruction on all of those little nuances that help us to produce clean, dust-free rooms (well, at least for a few hours.)  We actually started on “dusting lessons” about 2 years ago and she is doing pretty well, but I know that eventually I will be able to give her the duty of dusting and entrust that job to her.  Let’s be honest, I don’t want to produce a child who thinks that mommy is always going to do all of the housework.  All children need chores (Allie’s first chore was assigned when she was 2) and responsibility increases with age.

So, I went over the “follow the grain” and cover all surfaces lecture and left her with a table that she could not harm if she over sprayed the polish (a favorite dusting pastime) and dark enough that she could see the results of her handiwork.  To my delight, she sprayed just the right amount of polish and then she not only polished the top of the table, but she polished the legs and even under the table top.  I have to remind myself that she is a literal child (“polish the whole surface of the table, Allie”) and that she has come a long way.  With a chuckle to myself, I explain to her that mommy was not very clear and show her what parts get dusty.  I stood back and watched her remove items from table tops one by one and place them carefully on the floor.  Then she removes items from another table and puts those things on the floor.  After a dusting frenzy she tip toes around the many objects at her feet and then starts placing them back.  My initial thought was to explain how to be more efficient and then I stopped myself.  I believe that the problem solving involved would be good for her so I left her to figure out for herself.  I was reminded of my own experience of emptying everything out of the buckets of stuff that I had been stockpiling in a shelving unit before tidying it all away.  Maybe it was more efficient to do it another way, but I got the job done and it was therapeutic.  So….. Allie can do it whatever way she wants as long as it gets done and nothing is damaged.  Go Allie!

© Ann Wheeler, DSC 2010

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