LEFT IN THE LURCH

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 42, 13 November 1926, Page 18

LEFT IN THE LURCH

, In. households wjiere only one maid i is kept there is now and again a more or less complete domestic upheaval, due J ’ to the absence of the kitchen’s presid- . ing genius. It may be that it is the time of the maid’s animal holiday when, for one reason or another, the ; ; house cannot be closed; or it may be * that the maid has left unexpectedly, ... or has been called home to a sick parent, or has herself fallen ill. 'At . • such times , as these the household she ■ has served is left very much in the • • -. lurch, .especially if the service that has been rendered by the absent one ' has been of an efficient character. ’ The Housekeeper, under such cirI cumstances, is often rather bewilder-. I . ed by the eagerness shown by every .. member of her household to come to . « the rescue. . If the family is a large '• one the confusion .is naturally greater ■ than in a smaller Circle, but in every ! "j* case., there is apt, to. be a somewhat ? overwhelming usefulness, just at first. i 2 Whether 'the helpers' are few .or I i many,- the wise housewife, when left ' - ii servantless, acts as .does a general on t i the eve. of a .battle. She marshals her : forces, and then proceeds to allot to ; each his or her Share ip the daily dut- - ies. To the workers who are forc- ■ * ed to be absent from the house for ! • ' the greater part of each day she gives { a smaller portion of the labour; to i * the school children, also, she tempers

THE SERVANTLESS HOUSE

the wind of adversity as far as is consistent with justice. She gives to each a task, reserving to herself such duties as may interfere with the ether occupations of her household or which they are not fitted to perforin She gives out the tasks, and then, more important still, she insists on their being performed -The eagerness to help in times of domestic crisis only too often wanes after the fit st novelty has worn off. It may be quite good fun to scrub and polish for a few days, tut after a fortnight or so the novelty of the task wears off The wise general then summons her arrnv of helpers and changes the tasks round, so that she who formerly polished shall now wash up; and she who has toiled a't steps and brass’ shall make beds and tidy .bedrooms for a period t When this is done , the workers do not so soon tire and become slack and inefficient More than half of the worry and disorder that is so often consequent upon the maid’s failure to be at her post .is due to the fact that everyone tries to do everything for the first few days, and then forgets to do anything at all. People who manage without a majd are content to plan the-work out and give evervom something to do. They make rJien heads save their hands in a hundred wavs, and as a result are not overworked, flurried, nor out of tempei at the end of the dav’s work