Show 5 W f. f G S By IRIS SYN RG Recently I read a magazine article written written writ writ- ten by a man probably unemployed who spent several days following his wife around the house with a stopwatch As a result he came up with the bright conclusion that all housewives should be able to do all their work in a hour five-hour day CHECKING his theory I found that in order to accomplish one hours hour's actual work I have to spend four hours because forty forty- five minutes of that hour is taken up with non-essential non tasks such as wiping up spilled milk answering telephones and doing re-doing what I did the previous hour This means that in order to accomplish five hours work I really have to work twenty And even And even though I dont don't belong to a union union union-I I refuse to work more than a sixteen hour day so I can easily figure out what's happening Im I'm running behind an average of twenty hours a week Or roughly rough rough- ly a thousand hours a year NO WONDER theres there's a dirty window In that east bedroom Rut But our article writer offers what he cheerfully considers a solution He lie says the housewife should operate on a strict sched ule He lie says we arent aren't efficient because we dont don't have our time well organized RELUCTANTLY I 1 have to agree with him We dont don't One thing that would disrupt disrupt dis rupt any womans woman's schedule would be to have havea a headed tat husband follow tallow her around the house with a stopwatch But nut cooperative to the end I t planned a schedule I 1 got a clean piece of paper and wrote down one days day's work A child promptly drew a sided lop house on it but no matter IN TilE THE FIRST of my five hours I decided to wash the breakfast dishes dishes- every last one of ot them including the milk glass in the bedroom forgotten the last three days days and and to get the living room straight In my second hour Id I'd get all the beds made and the bedrooms In the third hour I could scrub the kitchen floor and wax it In the fourth hour my little darlings could eat their lunch while I worked on that east bedroom window In the fifth hour I planned to dust and vacuum the living living liv ing room so it would be all neat and clean when my husband got home from his hard day at the office I got up bright and early ready to begin my efficient new life In my first hour I washed the dishes remembering the dirty glass from the bedroom and got the living room straight By the time I got that done the kitchen was full of ot dirty dishes again so I hurried to wash them and darned if the living room didn't get itself That man with the stop watch didn't once mention mention men men- tion children I suppose having them around isn't really efficient BUT Dur I CARRIED on I 1 made the beds and the bedrooms Except my teenage sons son's bedroom I have all I can do doto doto doto to find the bed on the day I change sheets never mind In the third hour I swept the kitchen floor deciding to scrub it another day since it was full of dishes again In the fourth hour I fed the children their dinner but I forgot about having the living room clean for when my husband got home because by that time hed he'd BEEN home two hours already I wish I J could remember the name of the theman theman theman man who wrote that article Id I'd like to invite in invite in vite him and his stopwatch to my house for fora a visit Maybe he could tell me what it is Im I'm doing wrung wrong |