Do you remember those tedious writing prompts you were assigned in school, the ones that bored you to tears? Like, whenever you came back from an extended holiday, you’d have to write a dull little report titled “What I did during my holidays”. Or later on, in middle or high school, you’d be given precious stuff like “Discuss the pros and cons of wearing a uniform”.
Well, whatever you suffered through in your school days, it’s nothing compared to what the kids at Little Hearts had to write last week – an essay about the broom closet! Yes, you read that correctly: they wrote an essay about our newly built storeroom for brooms, mops and other cleaning equipment.
Here’s a sensible, matter-of-fact approach to the topic by Michael:
Our new storage room is a nice location to put our cleaning materials. It is wide and spacious enough to put all our brooms, mops and dust pans. It is protected from the sun and rain, but the light still shines into it and it’s a big, open space that lets in a lot of wind and air. This is important because it reduces the bad smell of the mops after they’ve been used.
Dany’s response is equally practical, if more succinct:
The new storage room is great because it has no door, so it’s easy for us to take out the cleaning stuff and put it back.
In contrast, Sarem’s reflection is contemplative and almost sentimental:
Having a storage space to put everything in one place is a small dream come true for someone like me. I hope you have the same vision as I do—having a tidy room, a clean bed and a well-organized storage space.
Noah’s commentary focuses on the leading role played by our handyman, Billy:
I feel happy because Mr. Billy just built a new storeroom next to the laundry. It is bigger than the old one, so we have more space to put things in and take things out. Mr. Billy spent almost a week building it.
The idea to create this palatial new home for our mops and brooms, however, came from the kids themselves, as Elizabeth confirms:
During our vacation, we kids came up with wonderful projects to keep ourselves busy and creative. We had some extra space near the laundry room and we came up with a great idea to turn it into a storage room, because the old one was small and a bit stuffy.
Go on then, all of you out there who are reading this – be inspired by our kids! Go to your broom closet right now, open it, and gaze upon it lovingly. Then visit our Facebook page and leave a comment (it can be a poem or a haiku if you like) telling us how you feel about it.
On the subject of campus improvements, we can also report that the kids now have a basketball backboard and hoop. It was built by Billy with help from some of the boys and painted by Ilay. It is conveniently supported by the frame of the swing set. The kids now practise their dribbling and shooting skills every day.
And, of course, there was a big cleaning on Friday. This is a weekly event when the kids spend two hours on Friday afternoons thoroughly cleaning their bedrooms and bathrooms. The furniture, clothing and other personal items are moved out to the outdoor walkways so that the floors can be swept and mopped properly, the walls scrubbed and the window shutters dusted. Even the blades of the ceiling fans get washed.
How do the kids feel about the ‘big cleaning’ on Fridays? Micky is quite specific in her reasoning:
The normal cleaning is not enough. If we don’t do the big clean-up, the walls will be yellow and look dirty.
And Sarem, wistful as ever, has this aphorism to add:
A peaceful family lives in a clean house.
