In keeping with my all about home theme my book this month is Mrs. Dunwoody's Excellent Instructions for Homekeeping: Timeless Wisdom and Practical Advice
by Miriam Lukken. The premise for the book is charming. Lukken complied the timeless wisdom of many southern women from the 19th century and created her character Mrs. Dunwoody. She is meant to inspire not make you pull out your hair with inadequacy....and that sort of works for me. The reason I wanted to read this book is because I am again thinking about my kitchen and how to make it work for me. I did not study how to run a household in university...lol... but it is a full time job and one that you rarely get concrete guidance on. My mom's system worked for her and our family, perhaps she'd say it was not ideal but what system is?I'm not looking for perfection here, just some tips on how to keep from feeling like I'm going in circles. When you are cleaning up after a two year old, well, there are inevitably circles. But I take this job seriously and I don't want to stress out and feel like I am constantly trying to catch up....I'm sure we all feel that way. Parenting as your full time occupation is crazy in it's dose of wonderful mixed with chaos. Wow, I'm getting off topic here, the book, the book.
Anyway, this book is sweet, and is full of little tidbits but is not exactly what I was looking for. So if you are looking for good old fashioned wisdom that still applies to today for the most part I would recommend checking it out. The first two chapters: The Art of Homekeeping and The Cares of House and Home were helpful. Miss Sallie Anne's Splendid Directions for Laundry lost me a bit since Miss Sallie Anne is never going to be a reality for Ms. Jen. The Art of Entertaining was similar. I liked it but I wasn't looking for an etiquette lesson, so if you like that kind of info then check out this book. My education continues and I will keep looking for a book that offers practical advice for home organization. Please leave a comment if you have one to recommend. I need all the help I can get.
2 comments:
Try reading Bonnie's Household Organizer by Bonnie Runyan McCullough. It was written in the eightys but many of the ideas are really practical.
The author goes step by step through the home to help you get organized and stay that way.
My favorite is a section on keeping your house in a presentable state. My usually is not.
I had forgotten all about this book until reading your post. I think I am going to pick up reading where I left off.
Thanks for the post.
Thanks One Pink Fish that looks like a great book!
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