Rug Removal

Have you ever experienced one of those moments when you realize you’ve been doing something for a long time, accepting it as the thing to do because you’ve always done it.   You don’t question why, because it just is the way things are done—then, suddenly one day you realize you’re not sure it should have ever been done that way.  

We were having dinner with some friends on Saturday night, talking about carpets, rugs, children making a mess, the usual.   We mentioned how we took for granted the dog’s ability to clean up crumbs.   There were conversations about rug cleaning and dining room tables and our hosts mentioned they didn’t have many rugs, just the one in the foyer.    It was then that something mentally whacked me in the side of the head.  (Imagine my mind whirring as you read this next bit.)

These friends didn’t have a rug under their dining room table.   They could simply sweep up the crumbs.   They didn’t have to worry about spills on the carpet from messy children because they could mop it up.    My best friend has no rug under their breakfast nook table…our other friends don’t have a rug under their dining room table…in fact, lots of people I know don’t have a rug under the table they eat at.     

It was then that I hit upon a great idea: get rid of the rug under our breakfast nook table.   Could I do it?   Would it work?   The rug was badly in need of a cleaning and with the dog on vacation with my mother-in-law, I was getting tired of sweeping/vacuuming.    I decided.   I was going to do it.    I told my husband and he said, “okay.”

This morning I moved the table and chairs to the side and with my husband’s help, moved the rug onto the covered porch.    It was going to sit there until either I cleaned it and put it back under the table or decided to roll it up and store it.  

I cleaned the floor, put sliding feet on the chairs so they’d move easily and sticky feet on the table legs so they’d stay in place.   Then I looked at the room and realized the tight six-person table we’d been sitting at for five years was only tight because I didn’t have the leaf in all the time.   Why didn’t I have the leaf in all the time?   Because the rug wasn’t long enough in that configuration.    

So I put in the leaf and then pushed in all the chairs at the same time—something that couldn’t be done without the leaf.   Then I stood back and evaluated the change in the room.   I was expecting it to look empty or different or less-colorful without the green rug, but it didn’t.   It looked better.   It looked more open and more spacious even.    

It was less than an hour later when the new configuration was put to the test.  Four children were hungry, wanting strawberries, blueberries and crackers.    I came back twenty minutes later to a table empty of children but covered with crumbs, strawberry “hair” (as my daughter calls the leaves) and blueberries.  The chairs and floor didn’t fare any better on the crumb front.    I went and got a single cloth and the broom. 

I brushed all the crumbs from the table and chairs onto the floor and pulled the chairs back.   Then I used a feature of our central vacuum system I’ve rarely used before.   We have a toe-kick opening under the cabinet connected to the central vacuum.   You simply sweep your debris over to the spot, kick the port open, sweep in to the loud, loud sucking sound of the unit running, kick the opening closed and put your broom away—no dustpan needed.   I think, after today’s carpet removal, I’ll be using that feature a lot more often. 

Tomorrow, I roll up the rug and put it in the attic.

The Big Boy Update:  My son had an evaluation with the occupational therapist we’ve been holding for since April.   She’s worked with other students in his class and has been highly recommended.   He very much liked her.   I’ll have to write up more details later, but the good news is he has no strength or coordination issues with his writing.   Bethany is going to work with him on how to help him know when his body is ready to work and if it’s not, what he can do about it.   She’s also going to work with his writing too, but she thinks he’ll do well with some guidance and skills to help himself.  

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter can hardly see some things while other things she can see well.   We were headed out to dinner with my parents the other day in the mountains.   As we turned right off their street my daughter called out from the back seat, “guys, guys, you forgot to stop!  There was a sign that says stop!”   She was right, there was a stop sign.