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Kids and Chores




Yum

March 5, 2014 by Andrea Fabry 5 Comments

cleaning

Kids and Chores

Every Saturday we spend two hours cleaning. This saves me the need to clean during the week. It also keeps the kids involved. When our 14-year-old daughter suggested we do a cleaning competition, I jumped at the chance to make our semi-annual window cleaning chore a contest. I sent out this email three days prior:

This Saturday will be our first-ever Fabry family window cleaning competition. Each of you will be assigned 1-2 windows and our unbiased judge (Dad) will choose the cleanest window. A prize will be awarded to the cleaner of the cleanest window. In a separate and secret email I will let you know which window(s) you are cleaning.

Thank you in advance for your participation.
The Cleaning Coordinator

We had five competitors. Supplied with their own rags, paper towels, folding chairs, and white vinegar spray bottles, the competitors had 45 minutes to make their windows sparkle. The judge willingly went into seclusion in his office, and the Cleaning Coordinator announced, “Let the Games begin!”

We gave our competitors an extra five minutes and then watched as our esteemed judge took careful notes, examining each casing and pane.

window games

To the dismay of four of the participants and the elation of one (dealing with the dismayed participants is exactly why the Cleaning Coordinator chose Dad as the judge), the kitchen window was awarded Cleanest Window. When asked for the secret to his success, Colin described his technique of scrubbing and spraying small parts of the window rather than spraying the whole window and then wiping. “Keep scrubbing and spraying,” he advises all future window cleaners.

Not bad advice from the winner of the Window Games.

Filed Under: By Kids for Kids, Cleaning, House, Uncategorized Tagged With: chores, Hunger Games, kids

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Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    March 6, 2014 at 3:59 pm

    Congrats to Colin and the rest of the Window Warriors!!

    White vinegar to the rescue!

    Loved the story and the cleaning tips! 🙂

    Reply
  2. DSolomon says

    March 6, 2014 at 9:01 pm

    You guys are having way too much fun! Good for you! (Do you think this will work with 3 teenagers?)

    Reply
  3. Andrea Fabry says

    March 7, 2014 at 9:07 pm

    Well our competitors were 17,15,14,12 and 10. The prize of a free movie rental drew in the teenagers. 🙂

    Reply
  4. Kristen @ Smithspitations says

    March 27, 2014 at 3:42 pm

    I loved this, Andrea! What a fun family activity. Productive, too. 😉

    Reply
  5. Ruth Lynn says

    March 31, 2014 at 8:55 pm

    Fun! Congrats, Colin!! Can you come teach Josh to do windows that well?

    Reply

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MEET ANDREA

I am a certified Building Biology Advocate, a former journalist, mother of nine, and avid CrossFitter who likes to think outside the box. After our family's health crisis in 2008, I learned to ask questions about what's in our food, our water, and our air. I hope to empower you as you seek to live safely in a complex world. Thankfully, small steps lead to big changes. Let's travel this road together, one step at a time.

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