1964 Awake! - Theocratic Collector.com

W
HEN
friends
pay you an unexpected
visit,
do you find
yourself having
to scurry
around picking
up odds and
ends and takingprecautions
to make
sure no one sits on the chair with the broken
leg? Do you repeat the familiar, "Excuse
the mess, hut ... "? But what? You
may be able to think of a dozen excuses,
but could this embarrassment be avoided?
Do you really care for your home? It may
be that this has happened so often that you
do not even feel embarrassed anymore and
expect people to take you the way they
find you. But if this goes on you may find
that your friends just do not drop in anymore,
because, even if you feel at ease,
they may not. Failure to take care of what
you have creates problems.
Of course, it may happen now and then
that someone will visit you just at the
"wrong time." But if caring for what you
have becomes a habit, no time need be
the wrong time. Keeping a home tidy
means work, but if good habits are formed
in putting things in their proper place at
the proper time, the home will maintain a
neat appearance with no extra effort and
there may be actually less housework to
be taken care of. It is a ,matter of doing
things now instead of leaving them until
later.
When a new item comes into the home
it is good to decide where it is going to be
kept. If it is something the whole family
will be using, it would be a good thing to
let everyone know whether it is to be kept
in the kitchen, the closet, the garage or
some other place. This does not mean that
24
family life has
to be a regimented
affair.
Probably each
one can have a
limited space
where he is allowed
to keep
"odds and
ends." But it
contributes to
peace and good
housekeeping if movable items in regular
use have a fixed place to stay and there is
an understanding that each one in the family
will return them there after use.
In many homes the "untidy" part of the
day is early in the morning. Why is this?
Well, there are the children's toys from
the night before, yesterday's newspaper is
still on the floor, the dirty clothes are
strung over the backs of the chairs, and
perhaps the sink is full of supper and
breakfast dishes. It really looks as if mother
has her work cut out. And suppose she
doesn't get through today and some of this
is carried over to the next day? Why, before
you know it you have more shoes under
your bed than you have in the closet
and you find yourself washing dishes before
meals instead of after so that you can
eat. But is there any good reason for this?
Obviously this kind of turmoil can only
lead to a waste of time and frayed nerves
caused by looking for things and scolding
about who put them where. The remedy?
Children should be taught that time allowed
for play includes returning toys to
their place. You are through with the
newspaper? Put it on the rack right now
instead of throwing it on the floor and
picking it up later. When you remove your
dirty clothes, take the few steps to the
hamper before they leave your hand. Instead
of having a rest "before we wash the
dishes," make it a rule that the rest comes
AWAKE!