Wednesday 10 September 2014

There is not a lot of time

this morning. I have answered the urgent e-mails, advised people I will be away from the computer for the day, made breakfast and the beds, put the second load of washing in and hung the first on the line. I have put the Senior Cat's lunch in the oven so that he only needs to turn the oven on - and packed myself a cut lunch. Right.
I wonder how mothers do all this every morning and still get to work on time.
It takes a certain amount of organisation. I don't do all this in quite so much of a rush each day...although I sometimes need to do more or leave earlier I am usually back in time to do lunch or something else will balance things out.
The Senior Cat has just said, "Remember those weekly charts on the 'fridge - the ones your mother used to make?"
Oh yes. There they were - Sunday to Saturday along the top and the jobs to be done down one side - dishes, setting the table, taking out the rubbish, sweeping the floor, helping with the meal or the laundry and so on. Every Saturday evening a new one would appear, rapidly filled out by our mother with just our initial.
Any suggestion that the distribution was "not fair" was likely to ensure that, the following week, it was most definitely not fair.  It did not stop us grumbling of course but, for the most part, we did not let our mother hear us. If something really was unfair then my brother and I would quietly help each other out knowing that the favour would be returned. I suppose our mother knew about this but she never mentioned it.
Despite all that I did not learn a lot from her. It was my paternal grandmother who taught me the housekeeping skills - from how to sweep the floor to how to sort the laundry to anything else you care to name. I suppose our mother must have taught us some things but I cannot remember her doing it. Perhaps it was just done by example? She was a teacher - but not of her own children at home.
Now I am off to "mind the quilts" for the day - part of my "steward" duties at the show. I will have the company of a friend who is knowledgeable about the quilts and who will do an excellent job of answering questions.
It is always rather interesting to deal with the public when they are there to enjoy themselves.
And I have done the things that most needed to be done today - even written a blog post. Mm... perhaps I should have some drafts in reserve? Now, that would be organised!

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