I got this term from Sunnyday some months ago. She used it to describe her turn to wash the dishes at night--"Brb," she would type in chat, "It's time for my superhero duty."
I'm writing about this now because just last Sunday I found myself doing the same superhero duty--our kasambahay took a leave for the weekend, and the Sunday morning kitchen chores hadn't been assigned to anyone. It so happened too that my parents just got home from the market and they were busy putting away the vegetables, not to mention nobody had done the daily chores of sweeping, dust-wiping, mopping, feeding the cat and so on.
Little though my house is, there's just so much to do--and even if they're pretty easy to do one by one, the fact that you have to do all of them can be pretty overwhelming. Add to that your day's duties apart from the housework and perhaps that's why some people can say there's really no time for anything.
But going back to the title. Doing chores, no matter how small and insignificant-seeming (what a word), brightens up the home significantly. Take washing the dishes. After our breakfast that day, looking at the dining table was a pain. All those plates and cubiertos, glasses and mugs everywhere. You'd wonder how a family of five eats at a table like that. But when I rolled up those sleeves and managed to convince myself that it just "looks like" a lot, it all started to look better. Before I knew it the dishes were out of the table, and the plates were stacked away properly etc. and the dining room looked inviting again.
My mom, holding a rag, came out of the bedroom prepared to declutter the dining table. Apparently she had told my dad not to touch the clutter, she said she'd do it herself. When she saw that I had fixed it, her first reaction had been, "Did your Papa tell you to clean up for me?" Wow. I think that just goes to show how little initiative I have around the house. I guess the superhero balloon sort of deflated from there.
I suppose a superhero's duty is what it is because it's constant, and not a "whim" kind of thing. To volunteer once to wash the dishes is simply that--your turn for a day. But to take the rein without anyone pushing you to, to get the job done (and done well) so constantly that the only way anyone will notice that you do it is when you suddenly stop doing it one day (like in the storybook Chenelyn, Chenelyn!)--now that's Superhero Duty. And the awesomeness of it is anything, not just chores, can be superheroic.
...and to help us along, maybe sometimes we just need to look at things in a "cool" kind of perspective, don't you think?
6 comments:
Hey, nice blog here, petrufied. I remember telling you how I grew to love our home even more when doing superhero duties became constant. I seems it's somewhat like loving people. The more you do for them, the more you grow in love for them. And the more you love them, the more you usually end up doing things for them :-)
I laughed out when I read this part:
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When she saw that I had fixed it, her first reaction had been, "Did your Papa tell you to clean up for me?" Wow. I think that just goes to show how little initiative I have around the house.
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On another note, my sister pointed out to me recently that dusting seems senseless because it just "relocates" the dust. Hehe. Found that amusing, but it's true. Anyway, that's why she'd rather vacuum than dust.
Thanks, Sunnyday! Haha yeah! Dusting is senseless that way. When i interviewed Marjolea Kramer for the housekeeping article, she said that too. So she recommends we should dust with damp microfiber cloths. ;)
Microfiber cloth? What's that? Sounds expensive :-0
Marjolea says she found some in Divi for 12 pesos each!! ;)
Microfiber? Bah! All you need is Super Tina, my OC powered loving wife, and all your dust problems are...dust. :-)
Great entry. I enjoyed this one immensely.
Hahaha! Thanks, John-D!
Saludo talaga ako sa inyo ni Tina. Parenting and housework are two very important superhero duties!
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