*Twitch* just.... *twitch*

My family believes in efficiency.  Otherwise known as shortcuts.  As most everyone who has ever relied on shortcuts knows, eventually shortcuts are anything but.  One of my high school math teachers, Mr. Hofius, said something that has always stuck with me: "Necessity was NOT the mother of invention.  Laziness was."

Think about it.  We all know that the best way to get a window sparkling clean and streak free is to use a little bit of cleaner, a soft cloth, and a lot of elbow grease in a frantic race against evaporation.  But how many of us have discovered that a garden hose with more pressure than is probably safe also works just as well.  At least until you go back in the house and spot all the crud that was in the hose before you painted your windows with it.

Dusting is supposed to be done daily with a feather duster or damp cloth and the dust is supposed to be removed completely, right?  But how many of us do the Dance of the Bumblebee thing like you see in the Swiffer commercials or, in my case, vacuum the stuff til it looks great.  As long as no one bumps anything out of place and reveals what color the shelf is SUPPOSED to be.

Steve likes to grill, but has grown tired of things sticking to the grating.  Yes, that means it's time to replace the grill, but we have other things higher on our financial priority list at the moment.  So he filled an extra squirt bottle with cooking oil and went to town last night whipping up some really REALLY good grilled chicken.  The spray bottle worked great!  Of course, the grating that was the problem in the first place is not only still filthy and needing to be scraped clean, but now it's greasy to boot.  *twitch*

My darling children are supposed to keep their room clean so Steve and I can walk in there in the middle of the night without feeling like we're tiptoeing across a minefield of plastic booby traps when we check on them before bed.  This generally translates into a pair of human snowplows shoving things against the walls and into overturned toyboxes in order to clear a safe path for us.  Step off the path and BOOOOM!!!   This of course means that the next day is spent undoing the previous evening's plowing and much playtime and enjoyment is lost.

We're learning, slowly but surely, that shortcuts just don't pay off the way they promise.  Oh so slowly.... but eventually!

So today I was amused to hear Heather and Hunter arguing over the paper towels because they wanted to clean the windows, the tv, and their little Leapster.  How cute!  I'll probably have to go back over what they've "cleaned" but how bad could it be, right?

Remember Steve's spray bottle of cooking oil?

Yeah.

*twitch!*