If you’re like me, you’ve set aside certain “duties” for a Saturday. This has come about through practice or years of training.

When I was growing up, my sweet Saturday meant a slight sleep-in, and I mean “slight.” My mother had a list of chores for us girls and Saturday became the day that we helped her with household chores.

The day would begin with my mom banging pots and pans, as she emptied the dish washer. No quiet movement about the kitchen, our Saturdays began with the clanging of metal and scraping of glass dishes. Oh, and did I mention the slamming of cupboard doors? If we were lucky, our weekend would begin at around 8:30 am. The day would go pretty much like this;

8:30- “Girls, time to get up!” After a hasty breakfast, we began the list of chores whilst our 3 brothers slept onward.

9:00- We received “the list.”

9:02- Bathrooms were scrubbed, floors washed, then buffed, then polished. Yes folks, those were the days of “sustaining your linoleum” and this took HOURS.

11:00-Dusting the furniture, washing walls and cleaning the windows. Sometimes light fixtures were added for variety.

12:30-A light lunch if we could squeeze it in.

1:00-Vacuum carpets followed by “RAKING THE SHAG RUG!” This was the 1970’s so shag was “in” and to keep it from matting, we had to rake it. May I mention that our entire home was SHAG (exceptions were the lino bathrooms hallways and kitchen).

2:00- Change the sheets on ALL the beds and re-make them using hospital corners.

2:30- A mixture of emptying garbage bins, cleaning out kitchen food cupboards, tidying clothes drawers.

3:00- At this point, my mother would release us from our duties for a couple of hours before we ate supper and then those supper dishes would be next on the list.

During the week, our chores ranged from ironing, putting away the laundry, and helping with dinner.

I wondered why my brothers got to sleep in the basement while our bedrooms were upstairs next to the kitchen, and now I know.

The truth is, mom could count on us to hep her run a busy household, and the more kids you have, the more the house needs maintenance. She also helped my dad in the family business so she needed us to cooperate.

So now my sister and I can maintain a tidy household. I’m not sure what my brothers can actually DO around a house, but they’re probably basking in a late morning sleep-in right now and letting their wives handle the chores. But maybe that’s unfair.

They can probably fill up a car with gas….)