Old style housekeeping question?

Atalanta

penguin83 wrote: »

Reminds me of the poem below that my nan gave me -

Dust if you must, but wouldn't it be better
To paint a picture, or write a letter,
Bake a cake, or plant a seed;
Ponder the difference between want and need?
Dust if you must, but there's not much time,
With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;
Music to hear, and books to read;
Friends to cherish, and life to lead.
Dust if you must, but the world's out there
With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair;
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.
Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it's not kind.
And when you go (and go you must)
You, yourself, will make more dust.

I love this thread - and this poem is great. I always tell myself that noone ever grew up and said "I wish Mum had spent more time doing the housework"...I think it is definitely small children that are the biggest hindrance to having a clean and tidy house. Mine are 6 and 4 now so it is getting easier, but when they were smaller it was a different story - constantly making a mess, and constantly demanding attention so no time to clear it up! I know you are supposed to involve them in the tidying, but I always found this just made it take 10 times as long.

Cookie_monster_7

Ballymackeonan wrote: »

Somewhere I have a list of household tips given to my mother on her marriage (from about 1947) - I remember it included stripping beds and turning mattresses every morning! If I can find it, I'll post more on the forum...

Have you found that list Ballymackeonan?

Lentilsforteaagain

Atalanta wrote: »

penguin83 wrote: »

Dust if you must, but wouldn't it be better
To paint a picture, or write a letter,
Bake a cake, or plant a seed;
Ponder the difference between want and need?
Dust if you must, but there's not much time,
With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;
Music to hear, and books to read;
Friends to cherish, and life to lead.
Dust if you must, but the world's out there
With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair;
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.
Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it's not kind.
And when you go (and go you must)
You, yourself, will make more dust.

Wonderful! The schools here were all closed today so all the children were home. We have spent the most wonderful and unforgettable day together in the snow - sledging, watching the puppy fall about chasing snow and generally mucking about. Now curled up with hot chocolates and nattering ... dinner bubbling away in the slow cooker. Sheer bliss! I can honestly say I've achieved nothing in my work or housework but who cares? Best day ever!!! :j

Cookie_monster_7

I have followed the suggestions on here and just had to say it has changed my life The house is always neat and clean :j and I don't feel like I am always cleaning. I have more time to spend playing with my daughter and have even had the time to start making a HM soup everyday and exercising in the evening.

I'd like to have less stuff so I think i need to declutter a bit more.

Any old style home organisation tips anyone?

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

debtdesperado wrote: »

This thread is great!

Flylady has helped me get my flat in order, and when I was talking about it with my mum it turned out that lots of 'new' flylady ideas were what she had done forever (eg little and often, and no clutter, pick up after yourself and work out a routine). I had never noticed!

I lived next door to an old lady in London who had lived in the same council flat since the war. I would often see her outside sweeping the street, and one day she told me that it was just habit, as when she'd first got her flat, council tenants were responsible for keeping the pavement in front of their flat tidy - if they didn't, they could be evicted!

I still do this
I was brought up with my gran,who was also a war time housewife.She always did this till the day she died.
It's just second nature to me to pick up any rubbish blown in, sweep my garden path and outside of the gate.At the same time I wipe down my window ledges and front door and wipe my front door step over.It takes me no more than 5 minutes.Some of the younger ones must think it odd but to me it's just taking pride in the enviroment I live in,just as I take pride in my appearance.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

Atalanta wrote: »

penguin83 wrote: »

Reminds me of the poem below that my nan gave me -

Dust if you must, but wouldn't it be better
To paint a picture, or write a letter,
Bake a cake, or plant a seed;
Ponder the difference between want and need?
Dust if you must, but there's not much time,
With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;
Music to hear, and books to read;
Friends to cherish, and life to lead.
Dust if you must, but the world's out there
With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair;
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.
Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it's not kind.
And when you go (and go you must)
You, yourself, will make more dust.

I love this thread - and this poem is great. I always tell myself that noone ever grew up and said "I wish Mum had spent more time doing the housework"...I think it is definitely small children that are the biggest hindrance to having a clean and tidy house. Mine are 6 and 4 now so it is getting easier, but when they were smaller it was a different story - constantly making a mess, and constantly demanding attention so no time to clear it up! I know you are supposed to involve them in the tidying, but I always found this just made it take 10 times as long.[/quote.

I think you're right.
I had three little girls aged four and under.They're in their mid thirties now.
When they were lttle they did'nt go to nursery or anything and I had no family to help out.I always thought that being so small was such a precious time in their lives I did'nt want to miss a bit of it.So I had to be super organised I can tell you.
What I used to do was get my housework all done before mid morning so we could have the whole of the rest of the day just playing.
The fact I had nothing else I had to do made me more in control of what they got up to and yes sometimes it was just organised chaos,but at least it was easy to tidy up.
Writing this is making me feel realy tearful,just thinking of when my now three very grown up women were very tiny little girls.
Treasure your little ones they grow up so fast.

vivmagb

I was brought up in poverty in a very dirty home. Scabies, nits and bed bugs were no stranger to me. Other children were not allowed to play with me because of this. I have spent my entire adult life trying to blot out these memories and have OCD as a result. It gets me down sometimes but if something needs doing it has to be done.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

Viv,I'm of an age when I remember nits and scabies as well.
Nits and scabies are still about only they don't carry the awful stigma like they used too.My daughter works with pre school children and has to nit comb her hair every evening in the shower as she says some of the kids are crawling with them.She's caught scabies too,a couple of years ago.

I do understand how you feel as you were meant to feel so ashamed back then.Nitty nora the nit nurse would come and drag you out of class to check your head.Everyone would know and you'd feel so ashamed.
What made it worse(if I ever caught them)was our nitty Nora lived just next door but one and seeing her everyday terrified me.

I always get over things like this by thinking that that person is'nt me anymore.That part of your life wasn't in your control.Don't let it ruin the rest of your life.It's what happens now that matters not what happened then.That's in the past.Life can be so good.

mardatha

Vivmag, things that are outwith your control are outwith your control. You probably turned out a very caring person & are an ideal person to understand & support kids who are in the same boat a generation later. xxx

tara747

afterglow wrote: »

my mum is like this, she starts her cleaning about 8 in the morning, does the bathroom, andkitchen thoroughly daily and puts on the washing, then hoovers the house and dusts, then hangs washing and does the garden!! all done by midday!!

That's fine if you don't have a FT job and can be in the house till midday!! :eek: I could be the cleanest tidiest person in the world if it weren't for my job. :rolleyes: