Do any of you Boomers remember the Clean Up, Fix Up, Paint Up program the city schools had back in the 50’s? I just remember this time of year the teacher sent home a form with all kinds of household chores listed from cleaning windows, to raking the yard, and painting the fence.
You worked with your family to try and do as many of these chores as possible and return the form to school. There must have been a certificate or a sticker or some kind of reward, but I don’t remember. I think it was a great idea and schools today should adopt such a program, because it makes the kids take pride in their homes and yards. (e-mail me if you remember at paula.weeklyview@yahoo.com)
I remember my little sister Gail and I wallpapered the dining room. We were only 10 and 12 years old! Can you imagine having your kids wallpaper? My Dad worked 3 jobs and Mom had a chronic illness. We did a pretty good job and to this day, I still like to wallpaper and have done dozens of rooms over the years. We lived in a duplex and rented our upstairs for 10 years and had 33 rental families (I know it sounds like a hotel), so I learned to paint, plaster and do a lot of cleanup.
My sister and I also painted the garage gray, when we were just kids and the trim on the first floor of the house. We didn’t have a tall enough ladder to do the second floor and it never was done.
I say we need to hand those kids of ours a paint brush and let ‘em go to it. If they don’t learn when they are kids, when will they?