What We Call Progress

Throughout her musings on the daily housekeeping routine, Amy Vanderbilt places households into one of two categories: one with servants and one without. I can't imagine Amy ran a house devoid of help, but apparently, having an entire staff of help was just as much work as not (I'm still not buying it). Just for fun, here are some of the people who may or may not have been employed by Ms. Vanderbilt, as well as a bit about their job description.

The Butler: Where there is no housekeeper, the butler is in charge of all servants and is the household's major executive. (The big cheese, the head honcho, the big kahuna. You get the idea.)

The Valet: Keeps his employer's clothes in order, does personal shopping, keeps shoes shined, and every clothing item clean and in repair. (Today, the valet has been replaced by LLBean.com and the shoe shine guys at the airport.)

The Chauffeur: Usually on seven-day duty, on call day or night. He is expected to do more than drive cars and care for them; he usually doubles as a butler or gardener. (Today the chauffeur has been replaced also - her name is mom.)

The list goes on, my friends, to include the housekeeper, the companion (someone who is a good conversationalist, a good reader, and enjoys parlor games - Mom, are you still looking for a job?), the social secretary, the cook, the lady's maid (she draws the baths for, lays clothes out for, and helps the ladies of the household dress), and the chambermaid.

Amidst the economic recession our country has been faced with of late, I sheepishly admit: Ours is a household without servants. Well, actually, we have all of those things - my husband and I. And while he holds down full-time paid employment, many of the aforementioned tasks fall to me.

But never fear; Amy has advice for managing the "servantless household" as she calls it. Continuing on from the last post about laundry, she explains the next part of the morning routine as follows:

As the kitchen is the heart of the house, it should never be left untidy while other chores get prior attention in the morning. The best plan is to finish the kitchen first, then proceed to bedmaking, if it is not possible for each member of the family to air and straighten his own room and make his bed before reporting to breakfast (the ideal arrangement in a servantless household) (p. 377).

In my household, it is definitely not possible for my husband to make the bed before reporting to breakfast. Trust me, it's just not. Plus, I don't want him late for work in the mornings to
"air and straighten" our room - what would June think of that?! My little one, being 8 months old...well, looks like mom will take care of his room, too!

I don't know if we've reached "the ideal arrangment" for our servantless household yet, but we're getting there. Just the other day when my husband came home from work, the first thing he said was, "Hey babe...the place looks great!" And he invited me to join him in front of Sports Center for breakfast. Now that, my friends, is what we call progress!