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Show Kathy Tes.tr tells me that on the East side of her b.mC daffodils are breaking ground. That s a sure sin March has Vrived at long last, bringing with it a hint of better things to come. Sadly, with that first spring iwakfrning comes the realization that t). wood stove, winter footprints and ti many indoor projects haven't done my home any good. It suddenly needs all kinds of extra attention. Something shudderingly called a Good Spring Cleaning. Just the words bring on visions of some poor soul out beating the rugs. Thanks to Ropers Cleaning Service, at least we don't have to do that any more. I notice Deniece Schofield's book -Confessions of an Organized Housewife," (which we reviewed in November) has made the Utah Best Sellers list. So go dig it out. You know, its that little paperback your mother-in-law gave you for Christmas with the vrords, "Now, dear, you don't really need this, but..." By the way. Rave Wood, who purchased pur-chased her copy at Candlelight Book Store, says the first chapter more than paid for the w hole book. It was that full of ideas. So if you really want to get into the organized housekeeping bit, try reading how first. And if you dread Spring House Cleaning as much as I do, try these tips from my friend, Lila Caldw ell. She has taught numerous homemaking classes all over the valley and says that by deep cleaning a different room each month, she never gets stuck with the whole house at once. Lila tells me her secret to keeping her tone organized is to have everyone who lives in it organized. And that goes double for kids. To help her children on the way, Lila divided the dresser drawers into compartments. "Even use cardboard, if you can't afford the convenient plastic dividers," advises Lila. "Seal the tops of the cardboard with masking tape for longer use. If the children are scall. cut a picture of the items to be sxed (socks, underwear, T shirts and s forth) from a mail order catalog and paste it in the bottom of each area so the child knows what goes there. Later rite the contents on masking tape." Soffids real tidy. "Incentives for children must be changed often," warns Lila, "just to feep the interest high." Ctoe clean-up idea her family liked ased buttons. For each job completed a child received so many buttons. And buttons could be exchanged for privileges, such as an afternoon downtown with mother, an ice cream woe, or staying overnight with a friend. Once when KayLynn, now a senior at Uintah, was three or four, she idn't turn in her buttons for several eeks. When Lila asked her if she didn't want to trade them for something, KayLynn replied, "They're so pretty, I want to keep them." As Lila's children grew older they could either take care of their own moms or pay for "maid service." And lie service came out of their s3owances, which were cut a certain amount each time Mother had to make i bed, pick clothes up off the floor, or Prt a game away. She admits they r,v,,, tested her, but usually cooperated because the "maid service" was purposely very expensive. A jail box is another of Lila's success ideas. If something in the home was found out of place, it went Into the jail box (a large cardboard box). And it couldn't be redeemed without a fine being paid. If the fine wasn't forthcoming for-thcoming after two weeks, it was assumed the child no longer wanted the item and it was put away to be used later by someone else. Lila keeps posted in her kitchen a daily schedule of little extra chores that must be done, crossing them off as they are finished. And before you get the idea Lila is a perfect housekeeper. "There are three kinds of housekeepers. The 'don't care' ones, the 'almost' ones, and the perfect' ones. I'm an 'almost'" says Lila. "I'm still working at it." That means my housekeeping falls somewhere in between "don't" and "care." |