Vacuuming should be an event, according to my friend Elizabeth. I have three children and she has four, and she often dispenses useful phrases to me. Elizabeth says that vacuuming every day doesn't impress anyone, because there's never a noticeable difference if no one has seen the dirt. So I worked on the assumption that if the floors collected sand, grass, and dog hair, everyone would oooh and aaah when we vacuumed triumphantly on Saturday mornings. But our ancient canister-style vacuum was as noisy as a class-four hurricane. Between the frightening machine and the girls' basketball schedules, dirt disappearance didn't happen. Then one day in Target I had a brainstorm: child-size vacuums. I bought a bright red Eureka The Boss and a Dustbuster. Now the girls do their own rooms and the living room, and I handle my room and the kitchen. Elizabeth was right — it's nice to watch the dirt disappear in one impressive hourlong event.

Susan Straight is the author of Highwire Moon (Anchor, $14, www.amazon.com).