Monday, February 20, 2012

Ben ~ My Smart Alec!

Have you ever heard of the term "elbow grease"? Growing up in my house, it was a very commonly used saying. "Go dust the table and use elbow grease this time." "Use more elbow grease." One time I was told to use "elbow grease", went to look for it on the shelf of cleaning supplies, didn't find it, didn't do the chore I was supposed to do. When my mom came home from work and asked why the dusting hadn't been done, I told her, "I couldn't find the elbow grease." There was much laughing that happened after that and I quickly learned what "elbow grease" really is. You know, right? Putting a little more effort into dusting (or whatever the cleaning job). Not just wiping dust around, but actually cleaning, poishing the furniture.

Obviously the saying stuck in my vocabulary. I guess I don't use it a whole lot, but I can tell you that I think of this silly phrase every time I am dusting.

Recently we were having one of those "fun" cleaning days and I asked Ben to dust the kitchen table. He was doing the typical half-hearted swiping of the table when I said, "Come on, Ben, use some elbow grease!" Both Ben and Abby looked at me like I was a complete lunatic! I know they had heard me say this before, but apparently Ben was feeling pretty ornery and did this...

What a smart alec!
You can always count of Ben to be so literal.
I did have to laugh.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

silly boy!

Mom said...

Brings back memories!!