“How do you manage your home?” was a frequent question from neighbors and friends. Many women, I came to realize, were struggling in their effort to keep their homes clean, neat, and organized. Some confessed they had not
seen the bottom of their sink for three days, the bottom of their laundry basket for three weeks, or the floor in the children’s playroom for three months. Many felt bored, restless, and unfulfilled in their homes. As a happy homemaker and mother of a toddler and a baby with a smoothly functioning home, they wanted to know my secret.

Our across-the-street neighbor Mary Helen Parsons, particularly, was persistent in her questioning. She wondered aloud why I always seemed to get my work done while she felt hopelessly behind and totally overwhelmed by her duties. At first I didn’t have any specific answers; I told her I just got up and did my work like my mother had done. Hank encouraged me to analyze my habits so I could offer her some practical tips.

Mary Helen was a very good cook, however, and a dietician by training. She was teaching an adult education class once a week at the old McCune Mansion in Salt Lake City for the Brigham Young University adult education program. At that time leaders there were organizing a “School for Brides” which consisted of a series of classes about everything from meat carving to budgeting. Mary Helen was preparing to teach a class on basic nutrition and meal planning for brides. She suggested my name as one who could teach home management. So, I was invited to teach two consecutive classes, one on “Efficiency in the Home,” and the other, “The Simplification of Household Tasks.” I was thrilled to be asked and, with Hank urging me on, I began in earnest to prepare information.

The Art of Homemaking Story

My mother helped immeasurably with a great supply of stories, jokes, and ideas. Sometimes she would tend the children so I could concentrate on my preparations. I thought of the home my parents established for me, one of happiness and harmony, orderliness and cleanliness, goodness and graciousness. I thought of women I knew; some were frustrated, others were fulfilled. I tried to learn from them as I observed their habits.

I went to the scheduled class, but there were no brides in attendance. The “School for Brides” was a failure. Evidently the brides didn’t know the questions, so they weren’t interested in the answers. But the evening of my class, the room was filled with women—the brides’ mothers and older sisters had picked up on the advertising and were eager to learn any household tips I might share. They did know the questions and could hardly wait for some answers.

The next morning my phone began to ring with invitations to speak. Soon, stake and ward Relief Society leaders from all over the valley and eventually nation wide wanted their women to hear the message. Invitations from BYU to participate in their Education Weeks and later their “Know Your Religion” programs soon followed.

The notes I passed out as handouts eventually became the basis for my first book, The Art of Homemaking.

I was blessed to have teaching opportunities about home management for the next forty years or so, minus missions. I did not charge or sell books (local bookstores took care of the sales), but I was reimbursed for travel expenses by the hosts when the events were out-of-town.

I often took several of the children with me for an outing, and when school was not in session the entire family would come along. Hank would load us all into our station wagon and we would have great travel experiences swimming in motel pools, exploring scenic destinations, and visiting church and national historic sites. Back home we practiced as a family what I preached on the road. These were rich, rewarding years for our family. We all learned a lot and were blessed in many ways.