Actually, that's not true...if I tell myself I can't even think about getting a "real" job until my house is organized, clean, and running like a well-oiled machine, I figure I buy myself another few years!
Where to begin? Signed-up with FlyLady.net, check. Started a To-Do list, check. Sat down and had a cup of coffee, check. Checked my email and Facebook page, check....oh, wait! I'm off-track already!! Better change delay in employment to the high school years!
I honestly don't know how my mother did it; she had SEVEN little people to keep clean, well-fed and clothed. At one point, she had six in school at one time (she just recently spoke about her morning sandwich assembly line)!! I don't ever remember having a dirty house and we could never afford take-out.
Of course, she did have her minions...as soon as you hit a certain age, you were on the Chore Distribution List. Such duties included but were not limited to, based on age and gender, polishing (not dusting) the furniture in an assigned room, vacuuming said room, mowing the lawn, taking out the garbage, emptying the dishwasher, and doing the pots after dinner. "Whose turn is it to do the pots?" "Hers, I did them last." "No you didn't, I did!" "Okay, you can wash and you can dry, problem solved!" See, my mom didn't keep a list or chore chart. She would just point and assign. We'd whine and make an attempt to get out of it (at least I did), but it never worked. Short of high fever or violent vomiting, you were stuck. And you couldn't see your friends until it was finished. Had we eliminated the whining and grumbling, it would have taken anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and then we'd be free to roam. Even though she told me this 9,999 times, I never listened...well, that mustn't be true since I heard the exact words coming out of my mouth recently and decided I must have heard that from her because I would never come up with that phrase on my own!
So here's how I think a Saturday chore list would have looked like for my mother circa 1970:
Jim, mow lawn and clean bedroom.
Barry, take out garbage and clean bedroom.
Chris, clean playroom and clean bedroom. (I'm thinking since he had his piano in there and the thing was HUGE, I can make this assumption!)
Mary Ann, help me clean kitchen, help Jeannie and Eileen polish and vacuum, clean bedroom. (and by "help" I mean "do it completely over since I'm sure they'll do a less than par job")
Stephen, clean bedroom (that would be enough work for any man (though I should talk!)
Jeannie, polish living room, dining room, family room, clean bedroom.
Eileen, vacuum living room, dining room, family room, clean bedroom.
Of course, at the end of the day, the bedrooms would have been minimally tidied, much less cleaned (except maybe Mary Ann's); my dad would lose is patience with Jimmy and take over mowing the lawn the "right way"; the garbage would be taken out only because it was overflowing and Barry would probably have the bag handed to him; the play room would remain relatively untouched save for the piano which would shine like a new penny! In 1970, Jeannie and I would have spent two minutes doing our chores and then be sent outside to play (aka, get out of the way) and Mary Ann would spend the majority of her Saturday cleaning with my mom. That would change in a few years when Jeannie and I wouldn't have the excuse of youth on our side.
These are only assumptions. I can see my inbox filling up with sibling emails with all the writing in capital letters and exclamation points. However, although these are assumptions based on a little girl's memory, it's the list I'll have in a couple of years... though with far less minions to divide the work. Until then, I guess I'll have to do it myself...or go make another cup of coffee!
~Eileen Cassidy Bishop
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