I've Got Class

I am sorting through books these days in my attempts to get rid of a few more things in my house.  Being a true SHE (Side-Tracked Home Executive).  I do well about everyday tidying for a while and then something critical or more exciting comes up, and I get buried somewhere.  Nowhere is this more apparent than in my basement.  Right now it is a storage area for things I'm sure someone is going to need someday, including my children's toys that I hope they will play with at their house or mine.  I am going to need some granddaughters, since I have girl toys, too.  I also have the craft area and sewing room down there and during the last several months my daughter and I have been  making a mess  working down there. So, as I have started in the sewing area and going through projects that I will conceivably finish, and throwing out those I won't.; I have made my way to the book shelves.  I got rid of a box full, and separated another pile to read and keep or discard.  I found one called "Manners Now and Then", by May B. Van Arsdale and Mary Rebecca Lingenfelter.  It is written in 1940.  I was amused to find that some of the same bad manners they accuse of young people today, were a problem back then, too. I'm not keeping this book.  I don't feel it is an important resource for this day and age.  


But, I am digressing for the whole purpose of this post, which is to write down the few bits out of it that I want to keep.  


Chapter III
 Manners Begin at Home

"Home is the place where manners and charity as well as many other virtues should have their roots, and strong ones, too."
"The person who has always lived in an atmosphere of good breeding at home unconsciously radiates an air of gentility--or whatever you want to call that indefinable quality which we slangily speak of as 'class'. 


When I was in college I knew a girl, who I thought was the classiest girl I ever saw.  Even back then, I knew that class isn't something that you see on the outside of a person, it's what they are inside.  It's the way the behave, the way they treat other people, the words they use.  


I don't really have it.  I'm getting better.  I'm not as impatient as I was and I can control my temper better.  I have learned there are plenty of things people say that aren't worth getting worked up about.  The one thing that I have managed to achieve, is not taking offense by what others say.  Most people that say unkind things are just not thinking (I do that plenty, unfortunately)  or the people themselves don't matter.  


This poem reminded me of the attitudes I'd like to have:


Daily Creed
by Edgar Guest


Let me be a little kinder,
Let me be a little blinder,
To the faults about me
Let me praise a little more.
Let me be when I am weary,
Just a little bit more cheery,
Let me serve a little better
Those that I am striving for,
Let me be a little braver
When temptation bids me waver,
Let me strive a little harder
To be all that I should be.
Let me be a little meeker
To a brother that is weaker,
Let me think more of my neighbor
And a little less of me.


I know this little poem has been around for decades but it is just as needful today as it was then.  If I treat everyone, family,  friends, even strangers, if EVERYONE would treat others that way, we wouldn't have to worry about school shootings.  


I think I need to read it often.


This is the last little bit I wanted to save as a reminder to my kids.  Not that they will ever read it.


Chapter XI
How to Get on in Business


"A friendly, cheerful manner is one of the greatest assets anyone could have in business. There will be plenty of things about any job which will make you feel far from cheerful at times."
"If you have never learned before to conceal your own discouragement or irritation, and present a calm and cheerful exterior, you will have to learn it if you are trying to be successful in business." 
"Your usefulness will depend on how well you can adapt yourself to the circumstances of your job and the other people you work with."
"Good manners play an important part....In the rush of business, it may sometimes seem easier to crowd in front of someone else at a file, or to reach across a desk for papers that you must have in a hurry.   ....No matter what the rush, there is always time for a word of apology or explanation...."


Courtesy and patience, that's all it takes.  


And lest I let a post go by without a mention of Flylady.  If you use her principles of "being kind to yourself" and "do it now", so you are ahead of the game instead of behind, it's easier.  

Working at Home

My daughter and family were visiting overnight yesterday.  They live close enough to visit fairly often. When they called I was just trying to plan a bigger supper for my son's friends, and then just added them too, since the original supper planned for three wasn't going to work for nine.  I am really thankful I have plenty of hamburger in the freezer and I bought buns earlier in the day.  Nothing like a quick and easy supper of grilled hamburgers to feed a lot of hungry people.  Earlier in my life, I very likely would have left the kitchen in a huge mess because I was tired.  But, I'm learning not to live like that anymore.  It helps when my kids are company, because then I act a little more like they are company too, and clean up the kitchen. I like to wake up to clean dishes and a fairly tidy house.  In fact, I actually felt anxious about not having a chance to get everything cleaned up while they were here!  There is a time to spend all the time cleaning and a time to spend enjoying your family. It's not like I worry so much about getting things cleaned up right away on regular days.  That is the goal, but it doesn't happen EVERY time. I puttered around getting the most important things done, told the anxious feeling to go take a hike, and spent some time following after my grandson and chatting with my daughter and husband. When they left, I relaxed instead of getting right on the cleaning up which is against the rules I'm trying to follow.  The next day, instead of waiting until the very last minute, like I used to do, I did get started in good time to have the kitchen clean and supper waiting when my husband came home.  It was a good one, too, steak.