House dresses and clean floors

I need a house dress. Some of you may call them "dusters", but around these parts, we call them house dresses. And I need one.

In case you don't know what I am talking about and are wondering if I, like June Cleaver, don a sporty little dress with a swinging skirt, tight wide belt and pressed collar, let me dispel the myth and explain.

My grandmother, my mother's mother, cleaned house continually. I suspect that this is a gene that skips a generation and hit me full force.

In order to protect her yard clothes, her Sunday best, or her out and about outfits, she wore a house dress while doing chores. It wasn't formfitting, so she had plenty of freedom to move. It snapped up the front so it could easily be removed and hung on the back of the bathroom door should she need to go out in a moment's notice. It was made of cotton as to allow her to remain calm, cool and collected as she moved about dusting, straightening and vacuuming. They were also bright and cheerful. I am convinced that had to lighten her mood as she swept behind the couch and dusted the tops of the doorways. (Yes, this woman was serious about her housecleaning.)

Since I don't have a house dress, I tend to wear horribly misshapen gray capris and a Dave Matthews Band shirt. My grandmother would be appalled.

Last night when I got home, I had a multitude of chores before me. The largest task at hand was sweeping and mopping. As we only have one carpeted room in our house, this is no small undertaking. So, I changed into my cleaning attire and went to work. I swept. I lugged that bucket all over the house. I dumped water. I refilled. I rinsed and I scrubbed.

By the time I took my last swipe with the mop, I was hot, exasperated and ready for a very tall drink of whatever I could nab out of the fridge without leaving footprints on my nice clean floor.

I sat down and waited for my floors to dry before phase II of my chores began: putting everything back where it went prior to the mopping.

As I sat there with my peach tea in hand, I kept thinking that this whole thing would have been made much easier had I been wearing a house dress. I would certainly have been much cooler. I would have been much more shall we say "stylish" and I am also convinced that my floors would have shown their full potential had I been wearing one.

I am going to Target at lunch to spend another gift card, but alas, I suspect they no longer sell house dresses. Too bad, I have to price yard sale stuff tonight, clean my jewelry and polish some shoes. Wouldn't I be grand in a floral one piece standing over the sink rinsing my earrings?