Monday, January 18, 2010

Fun Monday - Least Favorite Chore

Lil' Mouse at The Adventures of Lil' Mouse is our host for this Fun Monday excursion. Lil' Mouse is asking us to tell about our least favorite chore.

If you asked me this when I was a child, my immediate response would have been doing the dishes. I hated this task, which was shared with my sisters. One of us would wash the dishes; the other had the responsibility of drying. During this unpleasantness, we would argue about who was required to rinse the dishes. Of course, some of the tiresomeness of the job was related to our constant bickering about the task at hand. Unfortunately (as I remember), we were unable to rise above pettiness, and each evening of dish-doing seemed interminable.

As a mature adult (old lady), I do not mind doing the dishes. Although there may be two reasons for this, 1) we have a dishwasher and 2) my husband, Daddy D, usually washes the few dishes that require hand-washing. But in these later years, I really do not mind any of the regular household tasks like vacuuming, dusting, washing the floors and windows, or even cleaning the toilet. What I really dread is sorting stuff whether the stuff is the daily mail, digital pictures, old clothes, books, or other treasures. Furthermore, deciding what should be kept and what should be tossed is difficult for me. Even after I have decided what to keep, I dread organizing the kept items.

You might think that our home looks like Adrian Monk's brother, Ambrose's house. However, I do occasionally force myself to sort, toss, and organize. I dread doing this both in my home and in my classroom. This past year, we moved to a new home, and I moved to a new classroom at school. These moves required a great deal of this decision-making, but I did not like it ONE BIT.

23 comments:

Jill said...

ooh! Sounds like what we are about to go through, I'm starting to look at everything a bit more carefully, I noticed some holey socks and a chipped glass, and they went to the trash and recycle, respectively. I see no reason, to be keeping things, that don't really serve their purpose, anymore, especially since we are doing the 'big move' to our permanent! home, soon. Thanks for playing, not sure everyone liked the topic, but you have spirit of it!

Sayre said...

I love the organizing bit... Most of my projects start out with pulling everything out and deciding what to keep and what to toss. Then when I finish, I organize things in a way that makes sense. It is a neverending process though.

min said...

I AM Adrian Monk's brother...especially when it comes to newspapers.

Gattina said...

I don't have this problem, lol ! Suddenly it comes over me and I throw everything out what I think I don't need anymore and afterwards I regret !(sometimes)

Margaret said...

I don't like sorting/organizing either. Once I start on it, it MUST BE finished! I don't like to dust very much, but don't mind vacuuming. Unloading the dishwasher is a pain.

Pamela said...

I have to wear gloves - -especially during the winter. I am so sensitive to any soaps and detergents. My poor split and cracked fingers. sigh.

As a kid, with 3 sisters, I enjoyed the dishes...sort of. We would sing- and that always made the time go by and made for sweet memories.

Molly said...

Too bad that my sisters and I bickered instead of singing, Pamela. Maybe we would have actually enjoyed the task.

grace said...

I'd rather organize and all than do the regular chores. Funny about you and your sisters bickering, my sister is 13 years younger than me, so I basically took care of her and we never got to do dishes together

karisma said...

I have to admit I don't mind doing the dishes either. However, my hands dont like it. For the first time in years I find myself with severe dermatitis. Must remember to wear gloves. In general I am rather sick of housework. Our household makes too much of it.

Nice to see you are still about Molly...hope all is well in your end of the world. Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Mariposa said...

I hate sorting stuff as well, and that explains why I need 2 extra rooms for my old stuff, I just can't seem decide what to keep and let go!

It's not just so practical to use dishwasher here bec. there are not much dishes.

Have a great week!

Living Life said...

I actually like organizing and sorting through closets and junk drawers, but I only do it maybe twice a year. In fact, this is the time of year that I go from room to room and "clean out".

Janis said...

I try to keep things organized...I am pretty good about getting rid of stuff we don't need or use anymore. You n your sisters sound like me n mine..bickering over the dishes...lol..we lived with my grandparents and my grandpa would charge to do the dishes and many times I took him up on his offer...he charged 35 cents.

joanygee said...

Organised chaos is what someone said when I was at work!
Must admit to being a hoarder, never know when something might be useful. And, yes I do have throw-outs especially when charities are collecting door to door.
We have two dishwashers or so I'm told, but I say three...the third being the machine that's there for the purpose. OH likes to say he's saving money by doing it himself.

daddy d said...

Form should follow function. If it junk, junk it. However, some stuff gets termed junk because there is not enough room for storeage of said stuff. It is a matter of material density. The mass per volume has two parts. Mass is the stuff and volume is the space to put it into. The result is a hard problem, of the proper ratio.

Susie said...

I also have a hard time going through things and letting stuff go...I might need those things someday! It's never ending!

I'm glad to see you blogging again, I hope you keep it up!

wendishness said...

Organising is one of my favourite things I think! I love everything to have it's own place so it's easy to find.

Jenni said...

I have always loved doing the dishes. My Grandaddy Ferguson was blind and he always did the dishes. He taught me a trick to doing the dishes that just thrills my little OCD soul. To be sure the dishes are truly clean, feel them rather than just looking at them. There is often some miniscule bit of stuck on gunk that blends in with the color of the dish which you'll only be able to find by feeling.

Now sorting through papers and such is very difficult for me for the same reasons you gave. I dread that task. I have the Adrian Monk tendencies that crave perfect order but the inability to carry it out, especially with paperwork and odd bits.

Faye said...

Hi Molly! Nice to see you on Fun Monday again. Hope the new house is finally feeling right to you and the major projects are complete. This is a good time of the year to to go through the "stuff" and at least put it in newly-labeled boxes. :-)

Dishes? My mother would always say, "faye, I'll let you do the dishes". As if I were just dying to!

LizLSB said...

Thanks for visiting my blog!

As a child, the chore I hated the most was also dishes; part of the aversion for me was the fact that my parents were smokers, and they would often smoke at the table after dinner, flicking their ashes and crushing their butts on their dinner plates. Smoking itself is such a disgusting habit (sorry smokers!), but to leave that on a dinner plate is just vile! I despised doing their dishes.

Today, most household chores do not bother me, though I am not fond of folding and putting away laundry. Great topic!

Unknown said...

I still don't like dishes, but I don't like sorting either, lol. I have the same problem figuring what to keep and what not too.

Anonymous said...

Hi Molly - glad you found me!! I decided to organize my email addresses and very cleverly 'not' delted one only to discover it was the one for my blog!! so have had to start again - hence the title - just keep it simple judy :) I'm also taking part in the 365photo project www.365-2010.blogspot.com - have now added you to my list once again of friends, take care, lots of lovew Judyx

Frema said...

I *still* loathe doing the dishes as wel as sorting through things. Sometimes Luke and I let the mail go for a few days and then it takes me 30 minutes just to get it all opened, read, etc.

One chore I actually like is vaccuuming. I like seeing the track marks on the carpet - they're like a visible sign of cleanliness. Too bad we don't get a chance to do it more than a few times a month.

ChrisB said...

I wish I could say Embee did the dishes but he finds it difficult to even put them in the dishwasher LOL.

Now he's finally retired our big project of sorting and getting rid of things has just started-so I sympathise, as it's not an easy task!