I know they make lots of other things. But here is a problem that has come up in my family lately. My Grandmother is 93. She lives by herself in New Orleans. She has a housekeeper that comes in 2-3 days per week. Granny complains that the housekeeper uses too much bleach and wears out her sheets ( Granny likes the expensive high thread count sheets). A lot of times we ignore Granny's complaints about her housekeeeper because my granny is very difficult and we doubt if we could ever find anyone else that could stand Granny, much less anyone else that would suit Granny. But in this case, after a visit my Mom agrees that the housekeeper is using too much bleach and wearing out the sheets and towels too quickly.
In the past I had trouble with getting my son Peter ( now 7) off his bottles. He was about 18 months old and was drinking from a cup. He still preferred a bottle. I was giving him only cups and asked my babysitter to do the same. Our babysitter
( a wonderful lady, age 60 at the time, maybe a little stronger on nurturing than disciplining) would decide that he was crying and needed a bottle. I solved the problem by throwing away the bottles.
So I suggested that Granny just not keep bleach in the house. We take turns visiting her so she has the help of a family member for 2-3 days at least once a month. We do housework and errands for her, and we could do any bleaching needed while we are there. My Dad has rejected this suggestion. He says there is so much mildew in New Orleans and that the housekeeper needs the bleach for wiping surfaces inside and outside the house to prevent or correct mildew, so he doesn't think it is a good idea to dispense with the bleach altogether. The housekeeper is almost as stubborn as Granny,she is over 60 herself and set in her ways, and she already has plenty of crosses to bear working for Granny, so we hate to try to convince her to use the amount of bleach we think is good. So maybe there is a consumer problem for Clorox. Or a knotty problem for the psychoanalyst's couch. Take your choice. -- Jody, !
OT in Mississippi
