moms and lists

i love this mother-list, which is excerpted from the excerpt of Elizabeth Smart's diary which is included in the book Mother Reader: Essential Writings on Motherhood:

New Year's Resolutions 1945
1. Keep a diary or Daily Notebook.
2. Keep Accounts and never spend more than 20 a month on living (and partly living).
3. Keep the children Prettily dressed always.
4. Keep Everything Clean.
5. Answer all letters within three days.
6. Keep bowels open.
7. Have a baby. [checked] Sebastian 16 April 1945.
8. Learn to play Chess.
9. Write Canadian History Book.
10. Acquire a Radio, Piano, Dulcitione, Harpsicord, Clavichord, gramophone or Alto as means of obtaining music, and teach children to listen.
11. Tranlate Canadian Folksongs and acquire all available books and information on them.
12. Make a final decision about George, if he won't about me, and stick to it. The years roll on and the freezing wind.