The library still isn't open. School still hasn't started, and even though the pool is still open, the weather is not conducive to that activity. So, it's time to clean the house from top to bottom.

Yesterday, we did the upstairs. Rose went through all her magazines. That involved sitting on the floor and reading various articles. I totally get that. A friend used to complain that's how her ex cleaned the house. I had to look sheepish and say me too. To her credit, Rose did get all her new birthday presents squared away.

I told David to have Daddy help him plan out his Rosh Hashannah outfit. This turned into an hour's worth of going through the fancy clothes deciding what didn't fit and what had chocolate stains on it. I'm very pleased we did this project several days ahead. Hopefully, on Thursday David will stick with the argyle vest and not go for his little black dress. We managed to get all his toys off the floor, so I could dust and vacuum.

Mostly, I got to clean my room. Thank you John for occupying David. As you all know, I am not a neat and tidy person, so this was not a small project. The desk is going to have to wait until the kids go back to school.

Today, we attacked the downstairs. Once she committed to helping, Rose dug right in organizing the bookshelves, dusting everything in sight, and mopping the living room and dining room. Rose only likes to dust if there is a big pay off. She kept running to show me the huge smears of dirt on her dust rag. Despite interrupting me every two seconds, we've finally gotten to the point where her help is actually help. I still remember how her mopping used to involve me squeezing and then cleaning up the huge sloshes of water. David had several fits. I'm not sure why. Not about having to clean. He and Rose kept fighting over whose books were whose. John finally got him to "help" clean out the art box, and he found his equilibrium. Enough so that he swept and mopped the kitchen.

Tomorrow, the garden.