Whack A Rug

It's clean-up week at the kids school. They actually finished out the year last Friday but this year, as with every other year they've been at the school, they're going in for clean-up week.

However, one thing is a little different this year. This year, they've decided on their own to go in and help out. In years past, I've told them they had to go because it was their responsibility and their duty as students of the school. Yeah, I'm such a drill sergeant. But then, yesterday the boy said, "You know, I think I might just stay home today." His sister glowered at him and he looked to me. I think I handled it pretty well when I said, "Well, I think you have to ask yourself why you're bothering to go in at all." Then I looked at my daughter and said, "I think the same question applies to you also." She said, "Because it's my school and it's my responsibility to help clean it up... And it's nice really, going in and helping out, scrubbing a wall and watching it come clean and being with friends." The boy didn't say anything more than, "Yeah, I'm going in today."

When I picked them up yesterday, late afternoon, amidst a hellacious thunderstorm, they were full of smiles. They told me they spent the day "Whacking rugs" (I think that's beating rugs, but call it what you will.) My daughter explained how they tossed each rug over the deck railing and 'whacked' one side, turned it over and 'whacked' the other side. She said, "You wouldn't believe the dust and dirt that came out!" (Oh yes, I would!) Then my son cracked me up with this observation:

"Whack a Rug, it's like Whack a Mole, only way easier, more repetitive, but less satisfying."