Clean Your House!

Hey guys!

So I just started reading a book that I wanted to share with you.  It's called "Home Comforts: The Art & Science of Keeping House" by Cheryl Mendelson.    The book is basically an encyclopedic reference for how to do all those little things - proper table setting, fabric care, bill paying, etc.  Everything that anyone might need to know about keeping house.  But the first chapter explains why it is a good thing to keep house.  Talk about validation for (what feels like) my main existence on this planet right now!  It was wonderful.  The author is a non-LDS lawyer so you're not getting the eternal perspective like we often get in RS Meeting - but that almost made it better for me.  I had to share some things that I particularly enjoyed:

"Housekeeping creates cleanliness, order, regularity, beauty, the conditions for health and safety,...it is your housekeeping that makes your home alive, that turns it into a small society in its own right, a vital place with its own ways and rhythms, the place where you can be yourself."


"No one is too superior or intelligent to care for hearth and home."  (Regarding modern feminist views)


Routines bring satisfaction.  Routines echo the rhythm of life and body.


Housekeeping requires knowledge and intelligence as well, the kind that is complex, not simple, and combines intellect, intuition, and feelings.


Our homes are the center of our lives, and we should allow time and resources to make the most of them that we can...we should avoid thinking that time spent on our homes is wasted time, or that our goal should always be to reduce the time and effort we spend on them.


"The act of taking care of our homes brings comfort and consolation both in the enjoyment of the fruits of our labor and in the increasingly rare freedom to engage in worthwhile, unalienated, honorable work."


"Good housekeepers are listmakers."

This is not a book about decorating or being overly neat.  It's not a book about organizing.  It's a book of knowledge.  The proper care of a home whether you stay home with kids or work a full-time job.

I have been cleaning and straightening today and enjoying the feel of a clean space.  If you're needing some motivation and validation - I recommend chapter one.  If you just think knowing more about the job would make it run smoother - I recommend the rest of the book.  I haven't gotten very far through that part yet.  Just skimming bits and pieces and looking for the things that I find necessary to my life.  So I skipped the sections on hosting a formal dinner (table-setting) because not only do I do that rarely, but my mom did a pretty good job of teaching me how to do it if I ever wanted to.