Dust is getting thick around here

Every Saturday when I was a kid Mom made a list of chores for my three younger sisters and me to do. She'd assign specific tasks to us individually as well as things we were all supposed to do. "Michele, clean bathroom. Tracey, vacuum living room and dining room. Stephanie, sweep kitchen and bathroom. Rachel, dust furniture. Girls, pick up living room."

With all that training on Saturday cleaning plus the weird cleaning I did in the Army (dusting the plumbing under the bathroom sink), you might think I'd be prepared to just get it done on some kind of regular basis. Ha, no.

I'm not saying you'd get food poisoning from eating at my house, but dusting and sweeping and vacuuming are all tasks that get done on an as needed basis. And since I conveniently don't see a need more than every couple of months, the only other time I clean is before guests come over. Sometimes I have a party just so I have an excuse to clean.

This has all gotten much worse since starting the Vermont College program. It's nearly the end of March, and I don't think I've dusted since before Christmas. Dusting is such a hassle when I have so many books and notebooks and pads and pens lying around. One benefit of having library books covering the surface of every table in the living room is that the table can't get dusty.

I don't feel guilty, however. In fact, I feel more justified than ever in spending my time not cleaning. I have homework to do. That's way more important than housework.