Housekeeping Book | Imamother

HooRYou

Thu, May 08 2008, 5:27 am

From my understanding what is good about "its About Time" is that you create your own schedule based on what is important to you. It is an avodah though since to make it really work you have to keep a calendar and plan your time ahead. I imagine you can schedule in un-scheduled time, but that isn't really spontaneous.

Fox

Fri, May 23 2008, 1:51 am

Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson has been mentioned on several threads, and I strongly recommend it. It does not have child care or personal care advice, but the housekeeping advice is top-notch, and I find I refer to it over and over.

BTW, some people (including me) find it a bit overwhelming. I don't do everything she recommends (like cleaning the floors on my hands and knees), but it's still the best overall!

Raisin

Fri, May 23 2008, 5:10 am

Fox wrote:

I really enjoy browsing through it, but its been wreitten by a woman with one child. Enough said.

louche

Fri, May 23 2008, 10:04 am

Raisin wrote:

Fox wrote:

I really enjoy browsing through it, but its been wreitten by a woman with one child. Enough said.

I hated that book. The woman is incredibly preachy, bossy and opinionated, "My way is the right way"--even though she admits that she had 2 grandmothers with completely different methods and philosophies of housekeeping and she took lessons from both. I don't mind that she wants her dust rags to be blinding white and stain-free (floor-cleaning rags can be slightly grey)--I mind that she tells her readers this must be so or else you're simply a slob, a loser, or both. She all but tells you you're morally deficient if you don't clean your floor on hands and knees, or if you don't fold your towels so that they all line up at exactly the same width.

If you can get past her attitude, it's a fun read,, containing echoes of a long-gone past, culled from her childhood on a farm in Appalachia. yes, my friends, despite the name, she's not Jewish. Her husband (he's the Mendelson) may or may not be, but she spent her childhood slopping pigs.

For myself, I'd call her book "Home Discomforts".