Like perfect music unto noble words.”
CHAPTER III
FINDING THE MEANS FOR MOTHERCRAFT
“Efficient housekeeping is the beginning of good citizenship.”
—Professor Martha van Rensselaer.
The Budget. Many young people hesitate to marry on a modest income, either through confessed inability to manage a small budget, or an unwillingness to begin humbly and live simply. Many mothers are sorely perplexed over the problem of finding time and energy from their household work for the education of and play with their children. Parents are perplexed over how to provide for and educate more than one or two children in what they consider a fitting manner.
Efficiency Methods. The whole complexity may be reduced to definite problems of philosophy, scientific efficiency, physics, and mathematics. The first step is to appreciate the relative value of life and of things, of genuine simplicity and vulgar show; of educating the children to share, to carry responsibility, to be self-reliant, or to be selfish, dependent, luxury-loving.
Second, all the labor-saving machinery in the world will but slightly reduce the output of time and energy in the household work unless the worker will apply her mind to the problem, adapt herself to new ways of performing a piece of work, and be willing to think.
Third, the individual problem must be studied. Have a regular monthly session to analyze seriously, with pencil and paper, the household situation, and to question every process of work and every expenditure. Can the household régime be made simpler yet socially efficient? Where is there waste of energy, time, materials, income? How can the accumulation of dirt and dust be reduced? How can dishwashing and laundry work be reduced? How can time spent in cooking be decreased? How could any work be done in a less tiring position? Where could there be a reduction in the number of steps, trips, arm movements, duplications of work, arranging which requires later disarrangement? Where could pipes, drains, hose lines, faucets, pulleys, speaking tubes, signals, or other simple mechanical devices reduce time and labor? What work could be done by a part-time helper at an hourly or daily rate? What is the difference in cost between food cooked at home or purchased already cooked? What has been the loss from food wasted, spoiled, thrown away, improperly cooked? Could any foods be purchased directly from the producer, with a saving of cost? Are the dealers sending honest measures and correct bills? How could a reduction be made in the cost of fuel or of lighting?
Domestic engineers, housekeeping experiment stations, household efficiency laboratories already exist, but they are so new that the terms are not yet quite familiar. It may prove a great saving of time and energy to consult one of the new domestic engineers, whose business it is to analyze a kitchen or a house or a family budget, plan its rearrangement for economy of time, energy, and money, recommend labor-saving machinery, or organize a system of routine.
Fourth, begin at once to put efficiency principles into practice in the household work. Do not dawdle or potter over work. Analyze the work of the household into units, for example, preparation of breakfast, laying and clearing the dining table, care of a bedroom, washing the dishes. Specify the maximum amount of time each unit is worth, then see how this can be reduced, using the fewest arm motions and least walking.