Mrs. Dunwoody

I got a fun book at the library this weekend. I wasn't looking for it, but stumbled across it while looking for something else. It's titled Mrs. Dunwoody's Excellent Instructions For Homekeeping by Miriam Lukken.

It's a collection of timeless wisdom and practical advice from women of old. It's funny and sweet. My oldest daughter and I have had fun reading over it. Mrs. Dunwoody has opinions on not only housekeeping, but also things like taking care of the sick, hospitality, and so forth. There's also some old fashioned homemade cleaners and remedies of all sorts.

I tried one of her tips today and it has worked great. My room seems to be the catch-all of the upstairs. So after cleaning my room, I sprayed a little air freshener, and *shut the door*. Keeping the door shut means that nobody goes in there to plop on my bed or put something in my room, or anything else to mess it up. Whenever I've gone in there today, the bed still has no wrinkles and I can still smell the air freshener. Good tip.

Before we started our chore time this morning, I read aloud what Mrs. Dunwoody says about daily cleanup. I think it made it a little more fun (and more efficient). Besides, it's always better when someone besides Mom tells you how to do it.

Here's what she says from page 11...

I suggest that after breakfast, you should begin with the daily cleanup. Take a twenty minute walk around the house with a basket hung on your arm and a dustcloth in your hand. The basket, of course, is to gather up the small items that are out of place, carrying them with you until you reach the place where they belong. This saves endless trips back and forth from one room to another. As you go, you will gather up the jacket or shawl that was left on a chair, and carry it over your arm until you reach the owner's bedroom. Start in the living room, and wind up in the bedrooms, opening windows as you go to fill the house with wonderfully refreshing air, and making the beds as you come to them. Now you have a house in perfect order, early in the day, and you can move on to the major task for the day--laundering, marketing, the thorough cleaning of a specific room, or whatever the day demands. When you have finished your primary duties of the day, it is so pleasant to know that the house is already in perfect order, and you need only attend to your own needs or those of your family.