Ladies, ladies, ladies ! Instructions for a lady!
Today when I was helping clean up in the Chateau I came across a book that was published in 1962, entitled “Useful Hints for the Housewife and Mother”. Here, ladies, are the tips we have all been longing for!
– …. A restless baby can often be soothed if you wrap a ticking clock in a soft covering and put it next to the baby’s head. He will think it is your heartbeat. If the alarm on it is not too loud you can also set the time you want the baby to wake for his next feed. This will help to train your baby to wake only at the right time
– If you have both a son and a daughter it is essential that you encourage them to play games like hide-and-seek in which they can both participate.
– When using a steam iron have a flat hairbrush ready so that you can quickly pat the garments to help get rid of the steam as you iron
– Using an old sheet or similar, make yourself “cuffs” that you can put over your arms when you are cleaning the grate or similar dirty chores. The cuffs should reach from your wrist up to you elbow, though there is no reason they shouldn’t be longer if required
– Underwear and any other personal items should be hung up to dry indoors only. If it is essential they are hung outside (if very wet for example), peg them up inside a pillow case
– Face flannels and tea cloths should be boiled in a pan full of plenty of soapy water about once a month
– If you have a telephone you can prevent the cable becoming entangled by looping it around a coat hanger which is itself placed discreetly behind a chair or table where it won’t show
– Use a pencil when dialling a telephone number. This will save your finger nails.
– Rub coarse salt on the lid and the outside of your lavatory. This helps it to shine.
Good. Well. I’m so glad I read that book. It will make household chores so much easier to deal with. Every woman should have a copy.
Catherine Broughton is a novelist, a poet and an artist. She is widely travelled and writes regularly for magazines and blog sites. Her sketches are on her web site http://turquoisemoon.co.uk . Her books are available from Amazon and on Kindle, or can be ordered from several leading book stores.
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Catherine Broughton is a novelist, a poet and an artist. Her books are available as e-books on this site:-
https://payhip.com/b/tEva “A Call from France”
https://payhip.com/b/OTiQ “French Sand”
https://payhip.com/b/BLkF ”The Man with Green Fingers”
https://payhip.com/b/1Ghq “Saying Nothing”
They are also available on Amazon & Kindle, or can be ordered as paperbacks from most leading book stores and libraries.
