Thank God it’s Monday, again. I always look forward to every Monday. They’re my 52 Chances a year, in which I get to share Memories of My Mom with you. Therefore, have a happy Monday.
We officially hopped into Spring this past Friday, PLUS, yesterday, being the fourth Sunday in March (for 2026), officially kicked off the start of… National Cleaning Week – one of my favorite celebrations but not Mom’s. As in standup comedy, she often stretched and twisted her homemaking experiences a little bit to generate a laugh.
During her 60-year-plus writing career, Mom wrote and syndicated several columns – one under the copyright heading, “No Laugh ’N Matter” – across the country and locally. In the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, she also designed, in similar subject matter, humorous cartoon panels, which she called “Full House, as Kept by Gloria Pitzer©”.
Like her editorials, the cartoons were somewhat reflective of her own comedic view of being a “Silent Generation” working wife, mother, and homemaker (in the midst of the Women’s Liberation movement) and some of our family’s experiences.
A few cartoon panels and editorials were about cleaning. Some of the cartoons are pictured below but I haven’t found the dates of when they were illustrated or published. One of her editorials is shared, further below.
As far back as I can recall, Mom was never a fan of cleaning, even if it did have some health and calorie-burning benefits. However, we never lived in a dirty home, either. Mom cleaned – we all did – she just didn’t like it. Me and my siblings had our own chores to do around the house, to earn our allowance.
However, Mom never got an allowance for her chores. Regardless, chores always need to be done. You don’t have to like them. Nevertheless, if – like me – you do enjoy cleaning (and organizing) then it doesn’t feel like “work”. If not, try finding ways to make it fun or, at least, satisfying.
Mom was brought up in a gender-biased generation that just did what they were “supposed to” or “had to” do. That’s how I was raised, too. Keeping a clean and tidy home was something me and my sisters learned to do at a young age, when we played “House”.
FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…
As seen in…
“No Laugh ’N Matter”, (printed in the “Times Herald”, Port Huron, Michigan; Feb 14, 1974)
EAT YOUR HEART OUT MR. CLEAN!
MANY OF YOU HAVE written, asking what shortcuts I recommend for getting through the hang ups of housework. I thought you’d never ask. And I’m happy to share with you some of the lesser known household hints that you are not apt to find in the elegant publications…
Now, my household hints are NOT necessarily recommended by GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, Dr. Seuss, my mother-in-law, the neighbors, [or] Mr. Clean… but they do work! Unless, that is, you’re expecting miracles.
“IF THE GOOD LORD had intended for me to have a clean house, He would have given me a maid!” – Gloria Pitzer
WHAT TO DO WITH LEFTOVERS: If, while they are in the refrigerator, leftovers become as hairy as hedgehogs at bay, don’t try to throw them out. Feed them dead flies and keep them as pets!
WHAT TO DO ABOUT COBWEBS: If you have cobwebs in your corners and can’t figure out why, because you don’t have a cob in the house; ignore them if you can’t reach them. If somebody calls them to your attention, exclaim with pride, “Oh! I can’t touch those. They’re my son’s science project!”
WHAT TO DO ABOUT JAR LIDS THAT REFUSE TO BUDGE: Tell a 4-year-old not to touch them!
IF YOU HAVE OVER-SIZED HIPS: Wear Jodhpurs. They’ll go out where you do!
IF YOU PUT ON WEIGHT EASILY: Let out your couch!
TROUBLE FALLING A SLEEP? If you can’t count sheep… try talking to the Shepherd!
CONCERNED ABOUT SHORTAGES? Help conserve water… bathe with someone you love! Help conserve paper… stamp out bumper stickers! Get an education… drive a school bus! Eat a beaver… save a tree!
TO CONSERVE ENERGY: Don’t hold post-mortems, brooding over your mistakes. The faster you make one, the less apt anybody is to notice it.
BEFORE GOING TO THE EXPENSE OF REDECORATING YOUR ENTIRE HOUSE: Move!
TO PREVENT SCRUB WATER FROM RUNNING DOWN YOUR ARMS WHILE WASHING WALLS: Hang from your feet!
CLEANER FLOORS: If you have tried the miracle product as advertised on TV and you still can’t get your floors to look as clean as those seen on the commercial, write to the manufacturer of that cleaner and have them send you that mop!
SHORT ON SILVERWARE AT MEALTIME? Delegate a search party of children to check out the sand box, toy chest and cold air returns. Chance are, you’ll find them!
TO REMOVE CHEWING GUM from a new, white bedspread, apply peanut butter by rubbing with vigorous motions. If it still doesn’t come out, get a new bedspread!
TO AVOID HAVING YOUR HUSBAND USE THE GUEST TOWELS to clean the carburetor…hang only cleaning rags on the bathroom towel racks!
[NOTE: Starting April 1st, I’ll be posting one of Mom’s “No Laugh ’N Matter” editorials each month on a new tab, on this website, titled “No Laugh ’N Matter”, by Gloria Pitzer.]
One memory I have of Mom, regarding cleaning, is from shortly after her stroke in 2015. She had to go through a number of different kinds of therapies, including physical and occupational therapies. One day, one of her therapists called me, concerned about Mom’s sudden dislike of her, after they’d been getting along so well during her first few visits.
I met her at Mom’s place during her next scheduled visit, to see for myself what she had been describing to me. The therapist went through all of the same things, with Mom, as she did in her previous visit. Everything seemed fine, at first, and I was starting to think she might have misinterpreted Mom’s reactions to her.
Either that or maybe it wasn’t going to happening on that day just because I was there. Then, after having Mom do some simple stretches, the therapist asked her to make the bed as one of her daily exercises. In an instant, Mom’s mood went from “sunny-and-75” to “dark-and-stormy”.
I had to laugh. The therapist and Mom looked at me strangely. I quietly explained to the therapist that Mom hated cleaning – well, let’s just say she “clearly disliked” it, as well as exercising. Either way, making the bed was at the top of her “torture” list.
Most people would probably agree that they don’t care to clean any more than they have to – and they’ll often find excuses to procrastinate or avoid it all together. Common excuses include “not enough time”, “artistic expression”, “inability”, “forgetfulness”, “too tired”, “too sore”, and more.
My oldest child liked to use the “it will just get dirty again, anyway” argument. Mom used the “organized chaos” excuse. My husband likes the inability excuses, “I don’t know how” or “I’m not good at it”. My oldest daughter, in her teen years, believed cleaning her room meant only picking up a few things. Having ADHD, she’d get easily distracted by then.
On the other hand, I love to clean (and organize). It makes me feel satisfied and accomplished. Organizing is actually one of my favorite hobbies. My kids and husband like to tease me, saying that I’m CDO, instead of OCD, because I like things in alphabetical order.
I’m weird but I’m okay with that. I get giddy at the thought of flipping the bedroom mattress and rotating the seasonal clothes and bedding, which is just a couple of the things I usually do during my spring (and fall) cleaning routines. I have an extensive checklist, pictured above.
I know a few people who’ve turned their loves for cleaning and organizing into social media and small business successes. There have been (and still are) several TV shows based on cleaning and organizing. One of my favorites was Clean Sweep (2003-2005), which focused on a messy room makeover, including purging and organizing.
Mom had a really good friend, from Marysville (MI), who moved to Arizona, named Linda Cobb. She has a very successful business and is known as “The Queen of Clean”. She has also written several great books, stemming from her love for cleaning and organizing.
For most people – not all – a clean desk is more efficient from which to work. In a perfect world, when there are less distractions around us, a clean work space improves our focus on the task at hand and, thus, also saves us time.
Mom tried to learn this from her dear friend, Linda, but it just wouldn’t stick with her, nor she with it. She kept a sign on her desk for years that said: “Please don’t straighten the mess on my desk! You’ll goof up my system.” Mom often joked that it was her “birth sign”. On the other hand, Dad cleaned off his desk regularly, throughout and at the end of each work day.
According to NationalDayCalendar.com, regarding National Cleaning Week, “besides a clean home, it’s a week that can produce improved moods, decreased stress levels, and increased creativity. It’s a week to put away winter essentials and tidy up our homes to usher in a fresh start with spring.”
Furthermore, the website also states that “the American Cleaning Institute says, on average, Americans spend approximately six hours per week cleaning their homes.” Additionally, “our most dreaded of cleaning tasks [are] cleaning the bathroom (52%), kitchen cleaning (23%), dusting (21%), mopping (20%) and doing the laundry (17%).”
Sorry, Mom – making the bed did not make this list. However, if I had to pick one least liked chore, I’d say dusting, for me – only because I have a lot of stuff to dust and it effects my allergies. Is your least favorite cleaning task or chore on the list? On the upside, cleaning can actually improve our health in more ways than one.
20 Everyday Activities and the Calories They Burn, by the Editors of Publications International, Ltd. (as seen on HowStuffWorks.com), claims that 30 minutes of dusting burns 80 calories and 30 minutes of mopping burns 153 calories.
Additionally, 30 minutes of doing laundry and folding clothes burns 72 calories and, if you iron for 30 minutes, it’ll burn another 76.5 calories. Among other housekeeping chores, the article claims that 1 hour of moving furniture around burns 504 calories and 10 minutes of sweeping a broom back and forth burns 28 calories.
Moreover, 20 minutes of vacuuming burns 56 calories. Plus, 30 minutes of preparing dinner burns 74 calories – I wonder if Rachel Rae knows that. In addition, to extend the health benefits, you should obviously make healthy meal choices, too.
Every year, around this time, I play the TetrisTM shuffle game, trying to organize my basement. It’s time to unbury my new Spring-Easter village display that got buried by all of the other garage sale stuff I picked up for a bargain, during the summer – thinking I might use it (someday) – all of which got buried under my fall, Halloween, and Christmas décor.
I also need to unbury and better organize our camping gear, from under the pile of stuff I want to put into a spring yard sale, before the Memorial Weekend gets here. This week, I’m going to focus on purging for a spring yard sale.
My OCD personality is yelling at me to “GET ORGANIZED!” I really need to MAKE THE TIME, this week, to get my basement cleaned out and organized – I can’t afford to pay someone else to come in and do it for me, as HouseholdManagement101.com suggested in one of their articles.
If you’re talented at cleaning and organizing, you can easily turn it into a small business. A quarter of Americans admit to having a clutter problem. Clutter reputedly causes stress. “Lack of time” is one of the top reasons given, for having clutter, at more than 27%; second to “lack of space” (at about 33%) but more than having “too much stuff” (at about 25%).
My clutter is becoming an uncontrollable accumulation of “stuff”, creating a sense of stress on my OCD personality. The sooner I get to it, the sooner I’ll feel better. I want to have a yard sale next month, as soon as the temperature gets a little warmer.
NationalDayCalendar.com also says, to observe this week, “…make cleaning week less intimidating: Tackle one room at a time, start from the top and work down; dusting ceiling fans, door moldings and window tops. Don’t be afraid to move furniture…” Share your cleaning ideas on social media, tagging them with #NationalCleaningWeek and #CleaningWeek.
LAST THOUGHTS…
Next Sunday will be National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day, thus, I’ll be celebrating my parents. They owned and operated their cottage style recipe, mail-order business for 41 years, working together, side-by-side (until Dad passed away in the fall of 2014).
Thanks for visiting! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my memories of my mom, her memories, and other related things. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at therecipedetective@outlook.com. You can also find me on Facebook: @TheRecipeDetective.
IN CLOSING…
In honor of Thursday, being National Spinach Day, here’s Mom’s secret copycat recipe for “Spinach Souffle” (that might be like a Stouffer’s sidedish); as seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 132). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition)]. As always, I’m asking only for proper credit if you care to re-share it.
P.S. Food-for-thought until next Monday…
March celebrates… Irish-American Heritage Month, National Caffeine Awareness Month, National Celery Month, National Craft Month, National Flour Month, National Sauce Month, National Women’s History Month, and more.
Unofficially, it’s Maple Sugaring Month. It’s not a national or federal holiday but making maple syrup is a big event in Michigan, as well as in the rest of the northeastern U.S. and its Canadian neighbors. See Michigan State University’s Extension’s website, for March is Maple Syrup Season in Michigan.
Today is also… National Chia Day, National Chip and Dip Day, National Near Miss Day, National Melba Toast Day, and National Tamale Day.
Tomorrow is… National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day and National Cheesesteak Day. Plus, as the fourth Tuesday in March (2026), it’s also… National American Diabetes Association Alert Day.
Wednesday, March 25th, is… National Lobster Newburg Day.
Thursday, March 26th, is… National Nougat Day.
Friday, March 27th, is… National Joe Day and National Spanish Paella Day.
Saturday, March 28th, is… National Black Forest Cake Day and National Something on a Stick Day.
Sunday, March 29th, is… National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day and National Nevada Day.
Have a great week!
…12 down, 40 to go!
