Be reasonably clean and tidy, to face the day
Rescue mornings from decision-making
It’s overall quite paralyzing to decide every day when you will finally take a shower and get dressed… or to discover you ought to have done it earlier because now you suddenly have to go out or someone is at the door. Sleeping in workout clothes and then just going through the day in them is not actually a way to live.
(For details on how to take a shower if this is a real effort for you — maybe because you have a couple of infant children running around — go to my ridiculously precise instructions here.)
Perhaps you have a nursing baby who pins you in bed; perhaps you need to take kids to school. Perhaps you really have mornings quite free. Whatever the case, set a time by which you will be showered and dressed and devise a routine to accomplish this goal, thinking through and obtaining all the necessary items to carry it out.
I suggest a cozy cotton terry bathrobe and designated hair towel. A quilt to put the baby on comes in handy. Buy a pack of disposable razors and keep one in the shower on a high shelf.
It’s amazing how much nicer the day is when we’re armed and girded to meet it, rather than having it creep up on us all unaware!
Woman Bathing by Mary Cassatt
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My book on how to live with the Liturgical Year: The Little Oratory
The School for Housewives brings you short, practical, and thoughtful messages to inspire you to make your home. If you’re new here, go to the homepage for the previous Lessons; the categories are arranged in the menu bar at the top.
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As with everything here at the SFH, the best thing is for you to take my ideas, coming from my experience of 45 years of marriage and raising seven children, and apply them to your situation with discernment, prudence, and confidence — and a sense of humor!