chore

Return from the visit to the bakery café with the son, enter the dusty old red door of the house. Look at the stairs on the way up to the flat, see that they are in a bad state. They are dusty and dirty, so resolve to do something about it. The son has homework to do and exams to prepare for. And he has no sense for the fact that things need to be cleaned occasionally.
The wife gives a lecture on how she is the only one to care about the son's progress, the only one to ensure that he has success in school.
Listen to the tirade with interest, do not contradict. Contradictions always lead to escalation. And what good would that do?
Pick up the small cordless vacuum cleaner, and try to vacuum the dirt off the stairs.
This does not work at all, the device is too weak.

Find a handbrush, one bought recently, one with robust plastic bristles.  There is a dustpan in the same design there too, use these instruments to sweep the steps from the top of the house to the bottom. There are so many edges and corners in the steps and the bannister supports, it is hard work sweeping the loose dirt into the dustpan.
All the way from the top of the house to the bottom.
Forty steps and a landing all together.

Then, a large black bucket of warm water, some detergent.
Wash the dust out of the cracks, on all of the steps and the landing.
Two hours, it is work, but the stairs look the better for it.

Take the bucket out into the alley, and wipe the dust off the trimmings of the red door.
It does not look as filthy as it did now any more.

Chores