THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 26, 1994 TAG: 9406240111
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARY FLACHSENHAAR, SPECIAL TO HOME & GARDEN
DATELINE: 940626 LENGTH: Medium
For window units to perform efficiently, clean or change filters once a month throughout the summer. Do it more often if you have pets, if there is construction in or near your home, or if you live near a source of dust or dirt.
{REST} The interior of a window unit should be cleaned professionally at least every three years. Check the Yellow Pages under ``Appliances-Household-Major-Service-Repair.''
When dust and dirt build up inside an air conditioner, the unit's efficiency decreases and the utility bill, alas, increases.
\ CHORE LURES FOR KIDS\ Summertime, and the livin' gets easier. Soccer practice, violin lessons and Scout meetings take a vacation, leaving the teens and preteens with more time for household chores.
Note that I didn't say more enthusiasm; I said more time. The taskmaster must coax and cut deals to get this group in motion, whatever the season. But in summer, they have fewer excuses for noncompliance.
If I break out of the make-your-bed-set-the-table rut, I get better results from the troops. Like most children raised on Sesame Street and video games, my three bore easily. A job that encourages creativity, such as ``make the salad'' has a lot more appeal than the age-old call to ``set the table.''
A job that has a definite stopping point, such as ``dust all the baseboards in the house,'' stands a better chance of being completed than the less defined directive to ``clean your room.''
``Clean your room'' might be restated as a series of smaller jobs to be completed over a week's time. Try: ``straighten the dresser drawers today, rearrange bookshelves tomorrow, attack the closet the next day,'' for example.
Also on this list of chore-least-repulsive-to-kids is any job that uses a spray bottle or a scrub brush. Washing the car is up there on the hit parade. Wearing bathing suits makes it more fun.
by CNB