Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-09-15
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING.
By Laura A. kirkman.
KEEPING YOUNG
BY KEEPING HOUSE

I'm going to miss sports when |
marry" an athletic young bride-to-be
told me year ago just before she mar
ried. Ever since high school days | have
played golf, canoed, played tennis, hlked,
and gone in for swimming and diving IN
season. OF course | wont have time Tor
that sort of thing after I'm married-and
consequently | suppose II lose my color
and turn into fright-but such IA lie
We all come to it sooner or later, House
work has got to be faced
| smiled wisely, but said nothing. |
thought would lei this young Diana find
out for herself that housework, if rightly
taken, is Just IS beneficial to ones health
as any sport.
Yesterday | called upon my young
friend at her pretty little home.
"Well?' / said, as she greeted me IN her
apron and we sank into chairs on her coy
porch Il notice YOU haven't lost your
color, vet; how do you account for that
YOU remember, you expected to be a
fright because of your hOusework.
She laughed happily. Il said that be
cause Id never done any ho'lsework at
! that time" she replied. Now that I've
| given it a trial find that l get exactly
| the same exercise out of housework that
| | did out of athletics. Pushing an iron is
as good as rowing or canoeing; the miles
| | walk all over the house are as beneficial
as hiking; and sweeping gives me the
same muscular exhilaration that tennis or
swimming did. Why, I'm as mt today as
| | was when | went IN for sports. But
/ what puzzles me is this: Why don't all
| housekeepers improve IN looks because OF
| their housework, as | do? Why does the
average woman look all dragged out be-
| cause of her household duties? Why
| doesn't housework prove as beneficial as
| sports TO everyone, as we'll as to me-!
| | wanted to kiss this young and right
| thinking little housekeeper-she was abso-
| htely normal. so perfect a pattern for all
| housekeepers to follow. 1t was such JOY
| to find an ideal housekeeperi / appre-
| ciated her from her sensible low-heeled
| shoes TO her prettily-arranged han.
Because. my dear, said, ''the average
! housekeeper contracts the habit of being
sorry for herself-and when you get that
viewpoint, anything you do at all Is gong
| to hurt YOU Self-pity turns the slightest
! task into the most unbearable burden.
| You went into your work 'gamely-as |
knew YOU would do-and it has done you
good. But if you had gone into it with
| lcaden heart and an unhappy spirit, your
very feelings would have given you the
| 'dragged-out' look which you speak OF
other women having like them,
you would have blamed the housework for
| that look! To be sure, some women have
not the strength that others have; and
such women must take care not to overdo
at their housework and TO get plenty of
rest between tasks. But woman who
could take part in an athletic game if
| occasion offered, or woman who has the
strength to tramp to the movies fire.
| quently- such woman should be able to
bring zest and vim and JOY TO her house
hold tasks, and derive as much physical
benefit from them as from exercise taken
| for purposes of pleasure. If a woman ex-
poets her housework to make her beau-
| tiful-it willp'
Tomorrow--A Single Luncheon Menu
All inquiries addressed to Miss Kirkman
in care of the Efficient Housekeeping
department will be answered IN these
columns in their turn. This requires con-
siderable time hoyyeyer owing to the