Det ska vi fira!

 (om vi så tycker)

Jag har aldrig lyckats lista ut vem som hittar på ämnet för alla dessa, mer eller mindre, märkliga dagar, som vi på något vis ska uppmärksamma.

Untidy Table

Ilya Mashkov

Nu har turen kommit till "slarvighetens dag", bara ordet slarvighet får mig att rygga tillbaka för dess otymplighets skull. Innebörden av det är jag däremot väl bekant med. Men att bordet ovan skulle vara särskilt slarvigt, har jag svårt att hålla med om. Vem bestämmer vad som är slarvigt, och vad som är ordentligt? Jo, hemma hos mig är det mina normer som gäller — men i största allmänhet, det finns ju trots allt oskrivna tumregler, för vad som är vad.
slar`vig adj. ~t 
ORDLED: slarv-ig
• som inte är tillräckligt noggrann och ordentlig {→hafsig, lättvindig 2, ovarsam, tanklös, vårdslös}: han var ~ med läxorna
BET.NYANS: om handling e.d.: en ~ genomläsning; ~a passningar; ~ städning
KONSTR.: ~ (med ngt)
HIST.: sedan 1654

Att läsa gamla råd om hur man ska sköta sitt hem, kan vara lika roande som, om man är "houseproud", oroande. 
Det är väl förresten inte underligt om man får ett nervsammanbrott om man tror att gårdagens idealbild av hemmet ska kunna upprätthållas, av en familj med heltidsarbetande vuxna, när husmödrar förr suckade över hur svårt det var, när de hade tjänstefolk.
Så här skriver Jane Ellen Panton i sin bok From Kitchen to Garret, Hints for young householders från 1890:
One of the very first things to be recollected, either in the kitchen or housemaid’s pantry, is that there should be a place for everything, and yet no holes or corners where dilapidated dusters, old glass-cloths, bottles, and other débris could be stuffed away; and another axiom to remember is that every glass, tumbler, cup, saucer—in fact, every possession one has—should be neatly scheduled and kept in a book, which should be inspected and gone through twice a year, or when any change takes place in the establishment. That disagreeable remark, that so often completely floors a mistress, ‘ ’Twasn’t here when I came,’ would in this case never be heard, as the sight of the list, duly signed and dated by both mistress and maid, would of course be a complete answer to any such statement; and seeing at stated intervals what glass and china had fallen victims to the housemaid is a wonderful deterrent, and also saves any large and sudden call upon the purse, which always comes at a time when the exchequer is at its lowest, but which need never occur in an appreciable manner should each article be replaced the moment it is broken. I am no advocate for having what is called best things, holding that one’s everyday existence should be as refined and cultured as when one has ‘company,’ yet it is necessary in most of our households to have best glass and a best dinner-service, and these should be kept in a proper glass{30} closet, under lock and key, as indeed should all spare glass and china; for, if the most trustworthy housemaid has an unlimited supply at her command, she will never tell of each separate smash, and reserves the grand total for the bi-annual day of reckoning with the book, when the mistress has often to make an outlay that is most disheartening to her, as regards not only the cost, but the blow it is to her to discover the carelessness and deception of, perhaps, a favourite maid, who would have been neither careless nor deceiving had she had to come to her mistress for every single glass over and above the few she had at her command.

As in every other department, in the housemaid’s department should rules and regulations be found. She should clean certain rooms on certain days; she should never leave her silver in greasy, or her knives in hot water; she should keep soda in her sink just as the cook does; and she should be instructed how to keep her glass clean and bright, a smeared glass or plate being at once returned to her for alteration should she bring it up to table.

Let the housemaid, moreover, have two or three coarse dust-sheets{36} for covering the furniture when she is sweeping and dusting (and see she uses them), a large piece of ‘crash’ to place in front of the fireplace, when she is cleaning the grate, and a housemaid’s box and gloves. She must, furthermore, have three dusters, three glass-cloths, a good chamois leather, a set of brushes and plate-brushes, a decanter-drainer, a wooden bowl for washing up in, which must be kept free from grease of any kind, and she must wash out her dusters for herself. This makes them last much longer than they otherwise would, and if she has only a certain number she cannot waste and spoil them. Little things like these are what almost ruin a young housekeeper, because she does not know how to manage, and because she is too proud, as a rule, to ask any one why dusters vanish into thin air, and why the washing bill adds up so mysteriously.
Silver can be kept beautifully clean if washed in clean soda water daily, and then cleaned with a little whitening; which glass should be always rubbed bright with a leather.