Radio and television mirror (July-Dec 1950)

This is my life at HILLTOP Julie Paterno Creating a real home atmosphere for the children is our goal. Here are some of the ways Mrs. Dolben and I do it Deep summer brings special problems to Hilltop. It is lovely here, and peaceful. The house is surrounded by flowers, greenery and happy children. But as in any house where children stay home in summer, August brings the old-fussy question . . . "Julie, what can I do now?" Meaning, of course, what shall I play with now. Children need guided play, especially near the end of vacation. Some of this play can have a useful purpose. So in the play hours we try to direct their activities to their good, and ours! This is a good opportunity to show Shirley and Johnny how to make a smooth bed. They've been after Hannah and me to show them how to make "those ship's corners." A clean, comfortable bed is necessary for full rest and relaxation for everyone, especially for children because their days are so full of activity and excitement. Now to start: bedding should be aired. Spread it over two chairs by an open window. It should air for at least an hour. Do this before breakfast. Now here are the important steps to follow in making ship's corners or mitered corners. 1) Spread the mattress pad smooth. Place the lower sheet with the rough sides of the hem down and the middle fold in the center of bed. 2) Tuck the sheet well under the head of the mattress. Lift the edge of the sheet with the left hand to form a triangle. With the right hand tuck in the bottom edge. Drop the triangle. Tuck in firmly making "ship's corners." Miter all four corners. Pull sheet smooth and tuck sides in. 3) Place the top sheet with middle fold in the center of the bed. Allow enough sheet at the head of the bed to fold over the blanket edge for protection. Leave enough to tuck in at the foot. 4) Place blankets high enough so that they will cover the shoulders. Tuck in at foot of bed. Lift edges of top sheet and blankets together to form a triangle. Tuck in bottom edges of triangle. Drop the triangle. This is a half-mitered corner. It is firm enough not to slip out and it gives a neat, finished look. 5) The spread is the final touch. Place it on top of the blankets and let the sides fall evenly, covering the blanket edge. Well-made beds insure good sleep. Qltj^tLlJkktf Croquet is fun — challenging, too. Pixie, our aspiring young writer, was a bit of a problem for a while. All she wanted to do was stay in her room day after day and write! I don't like to discourage her from this because she may blossom into a professional writer, but children do need to get out and play. Of course, she felt much too old to play with the little children for any length of time. So Dolbie and I put our heads together and came up with the idea of croquet. Pixie enjoys the game because to play it well she must master it. She challenges the other children to play against her. She jiow has reached a nice balance between work and play. Hilltop is full of child activity. The older boys are at Scout Camp but those that stay here go swimming or hiking with the neighborhood children. We've set up an outdoor shower for the youngsters to run in and out of. And the cookie cutters they use make beautiful sand or mud cookies! 10, coc yVWuQAC The care of floors could be a great problem at Hilltop with so many children walking in and out all day. But cleaning floors and waxing them can be a "fun" thing. First the floor is washed with warm mild soapsuds. We use a mop and wring it almost dry. Then we rinse with a mop wrung out of clear warm water. Starting at this point, our children watch the floor, waiting for it to be absolutely dry. And now fun begins. We spread liquid wax in a thin film. Hannah does this on her knees! She says "Too much wax smears and makes the floor slippery." Then comes another half hour of waiting for the wax to dry. During this period the children draw lots to see who will be the lucky ones this month. When they are chosen, they wrap their feet in soft clean rags. This is treated like A new way to keep floors shimmering. 50 RADIO MIRROR for BETTER LIVING