How to Care for the Most Important Health Tool You Have

As Mammas we all want our families to be as healthy as possible. That is one of the most important parts of

our job. So what is the most important tool we have to accomplish that?

The toilet.

The (Lesser) Great White Throne!

Imagine having to handle- with your hands (using bowls, etc)- all the human waste from your family. Or having to go out to a smelly hole in the backyard every time nature called. Think of what life would be like if you suddenly didn't have a toilet :-P

The toilet has changed the world in important ways.

Prior to the mass introduction of flush toilets (invented in 1596 by Sir John Harington and improved into what we know as the toilet by Thomas Crapper, 1836-1910, and this is why it's called a "Crapper")  into our large cities, (late 1800's- very early 1900's) people had to use outhouses (holes dug in the ground with small buildings over them). So, an apartment building with 100 residents might have 4-8 outhouses in the backyard. These were occasionally emptied by special contractors, who were not always very diligent about sanitation, dumping the waste in the river, park, vacant lots, wherever. (It was still believed by the most prominent doctors and scientists that disease was spread by bad spells and spirits.)

If your neighbor had Scarlet Fever, and you shared the same outhouse (or the epidemic-rates of mice and rats ran from the outhouse to your apartment) you got Scarlet Fever. Can you imagine the effect this had on disease? If your neighbor had Measles, you didn't have a lot of choice but to have Measles. Typhoid? Thanks to the rodents, the entire block would get it.

Actually, a good part of the world still doesn't have toilets (also called  "water closets"). Here is an article discussing the effects that has.

An article from the World Health Organization on the same subject.

Here is a handy chart showing the decline of disease. Notice that all communicable diseases saw a sharp decline.

(Actually, along with toilets came clean water, trash trucks hauling refuse away, refrigeration, and other general improvements in hygiene. I believe the toilets were the biggy, but let's acknowledge these other advances, also).

That modest little "chair" is probably the single most important tool you have in your home to keep your family healthy!

Toilets come in "round" (the most common type), elongated, and "comfort height" (which is a handicapped toilet without an official ADA sticker on it.) And of course, nearly any color you can dream of, though white is far the most common and cheapest.

Other countries have squat toilets which you squat over to do your business. This is actually much better for your health since it shortens and widens the pelvis area, making it much easier to "go" and reduces constipation. In America, we can buy stools to elevate our feet and achieve a similar effect.

So How do I Care For My Toilet?

I'm glad you asked that!

First of all, they don't really need a lot of care, generally, to function right. The basic mechanism functions on its own with little- or no- maintenance. It uses simple levers and gravity. A rather brilliant design.

If your toilet runs constantly, take the top of the tank and flush it to see what is happening. In fact, even if your toilet is working great, go do this so you know what "normal" looks like.

• If the chain is getting caught on something, which is most likely the case, simply shorten the chain (don't worry about putting your hands in there. That's clean drinking water. It's what comes out the bottom that's contaminated). There is usually a clasp on the arm that goes up and down. Take the chain off that clasp and put it back on a few links down, like you are shortening a necklace. Test it to see if you got the length right. 
• If the chain is too short to let the little black, blue, or red flapper (rubber thingy that covers the hole in the bottom of the tank) completely close, lengthen it (see above, but in reverse). If the chain is at its longest and the flapper still can't close a paper clip can function as an additional link.
• If the flapper is broken and so not covering the hole, turn the water off the toilet (underneath there should be a knob on a flexible pipey thing, called a "flex pipe" or "water supply"), take the flapper out, and go to the nearest hardware store. Show the flapper to an employee and tell them "I need one of these." They'll help you find the right one (actually, there are only a few options, so it's not rocket science. Color doesn't matter. Match the size of the ball, disk, and holes that fasten it to the toilet). Then just snap the new one in place and turn the water back on. You will likely need to adjust the chain. 
• If you still hear water running, and you are sure its the toilet, call a plumber. The above, though, will fix 99.99% of toilet running.

If your toilet keeps getting clogged up, quit putting anything but poop, pee, and toilet paper in it. If you still have a problem, you may need a plumber to look at your lines. Tree roots and other obstructions can wreak havoc with your pipes.

A toilet uses 1-7 gallons per flush, with the average today being 1.6-2 ish. There are more efficient designs in the works that would only use 1 gallon. 

Now, what about sanitation? 

Flylady, the guru of curing CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) says to wipe down the outside of your toilet, and run the brush around the inside every day. This way you don't need to use harsh chemicals, just store the brush in a vase (or something equivalent) beside the toilet with some water and soap (dish soap, shampoo, body wash, doesn't matter. Soap is soap. Use that nasty shampoo that fried your hair). This will keep your Throne nice and pretty, as well as sanitary. Takes about 2 minutes a day.

If you haven't cleaned it for a while, it will get a nasty yellow build up in the bowl. Lower the water level by pushing the water down the "throat" of the toilet with your toilet brush until it's gone, or dump a gallon of water in it real fast. Then squirt a little toilet cleaner (acid) up under the rim and around the bowl, scrub with your brush, and wait a few minutes (up to about ten). Then scrub again and flush.

If repeated use of the acid cleaner doesn't get rid of the last of the nasties, lower the water level, put on rubber gloves, dip a pumice stone in the water, and scrub. Keep the pumice wet so it doesn't scratch the bowl. When the yuckies are all loosened, flush. 

Other than that, the toilet really needs very little care. It is completely non-porous and so doesn't hold germs. They simply wipe off. It is truly one of the greatest inventions of the modern era!

Now, doesn't that feel good? You are protecting your family from massive, deadly diseases and certain death by....wiping your Crapper down each day. Talk about a return on your time investment!

Have you ever looked in your toilet tank to see how it works? Let me know your thoughts on the Great White Throne. 

House Keeping Tips for My Son

(My oldest son is talking about buying his first home. At this point all my children still live at home, though 5/9 are adults. I am sure I will have some adjustments to make when he moves out (especially since he has offered to rent a room to at least one brother), but, though I have taught all my children individual skills for housekeeping, it will be a bigger adjustment for him to put all those skills together to keep a nice home.)

"Housekeeping" has three main departments (before children are added, anyway)

1) Calendar and meal Management
2) Clutter Control
3) Regular Routines

(I draw largly from Flylady.com . You can go to her site to get her whole program, which would be a good idea. I have also added in some from the Messie's Manual, and Don Aslott's writings, as will as a bit of my own ideas)

1) Buy a good calendar and write EVERYTHING on it (birthday's, anniversaries, major purchases, household maintanance, etc.) Flylady's calendar is big and made of non-glossy paper, so you can write on it with any writing implament. It's the one I have hanging on the linen cabinet (in the middle of the house). You can use it for menu planning too.

2) "You can't organize (or clean) clutter. You can only get ride of it." -Flylady. Keep an eye on how much stuff you have The more stuff, the more work. You, dear son, won't likely be starting out with all that much clutter, but it can get out of hand way fast!

3) Routines are divided up into daily, weekly, and monthly-or-less categories. The more frequently a chore is done the more important it is to do it.

Daily: 

• Wash, dry, and put up all the dishes (actually, I would advise you only own enough dishes for yourself for- at most- two meals. If you have company, use paper.) Actually, this should be your most frequent chore, washing, drying, and putting up all the dishes everytime you eat. If you have a dishwasher, turn it on every night and empty it every morning. Hide your dirty dishes in it the rest of the time.
• Take all the trash out of the house. It encourages mice and bad smells to have it linger in the house.
• If you own a washer and dryer, do a load each day (wash, dry, fold, put up). This reduces the sheer number of clothes you need to own, thus clutter, you need to have in the house. If you don't own your own machines, schedule in one day a week to do your laundry, and daily sort your clothes so they are readiy to go at all times.
• "Swish and Swipe" your bathroom(s). This is a Flylady thing. It means to wipe down the mirror, faucet, counter, sink, and outside of the toilet (and floor around it) daily. Then swish the toilet brush around inside the bowl and flush. The brush can be stored in a container with cheapy dish soap. This will keep it from making a mess on the floor, as well as always having soap to clean the bowl. 
• Make your bed. It is the biggest pice of furniture in your house and if it looks neat, so does your house. Besides, it keeps bugs and dust out of your sheets. 
• "Reboot" each room. Go through the house putting things back where they belong. No more than 5 minutes per room. 
• Wipe the kitchen counters down and clean the sink.
• Do anything you can to make tomorrow go nicer and easier. Can you put supper in a crockpot? Do you need to take something out of the freezer to thaw for tomorrow? Put anything you need to take away from the house with you by the front door (library books, papers for work, etc.)

Weekly

• Spend 10 minutes with a feather duster dusting lightly. This will prolong how long you can go between serious dusting without affecting your allergies. 
• Spend 10 minutes either washing windows or wiping fingerprints off of doors, knobs and handles.
• Vacuum all carpets (just the middles is fine. The edges only need to be done occasionally)
• Mop all hard floors.
• Change your sheets. Makes them last longer and feels oh-so-nice to have fresh sheets. 
• Make a menu, checking what you have on hand and what is on sale at the store. If you use Smiths, make your own account and add coupons to your rewards card electronically. Make a shopping list.
• Schedule one consist ant day a week to do your grocery shopping and take a list with you.
• Clean your car and check it's fluids.
• Toss old leftovers from the fridge.
• Include your yard as a room to check out weekly. I know I have not done a good job at keeping up on these weekly and less often things, but the house would be better if I did.

Monthly

Flylady divides the house into 5 zones, tackling what needs to be done in each one one week a month. Week:

1. (From the 1st to Friday) Clean your entry, porch, and dining room. What ever needs doing such as washing walls, decluttering, deep vacuuming.
2. (First full week of the month) Clean your kitchen. Do your cupboard doors need washing? Do they need straightening out/organizing? Does the fridge need washing? How about the silverware drawer?
3. (Second full week of the month) Clean the family bath and one other room (store room, office, guest room, laundry room) Deep vacuum, declutter, organize, detail dust, whatever most needs doing.
4. (Third full week of the month) Master Suit. Under your bed, closet, drawers, cupboards, shower curtains, rugs, etc. 
5. (Last week of the month, usually partial, until the first of the next month) Living room. Whatever needs cleaning. 

In each of these don't ever pull out more than you can put back in an hour or less. Do baby steps. Most of the time, just 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week.Flylady and https://homecalendar.com/dashboard will both send you things to do in the house. Flylady has daily missions for monthly or less cleaning, while the home calendar has the odd ball chores like cleaning under your fridge or shutting all the shutoff valves off and back on. I'm sure you can find other sites that will also help you know when and what to do  for the less frequent chores.  

Keep one day for play and one for worship. 

If you consistently do this your house will stay clean, especially if there are only 1 or 2 people living there. 

Covid 19

I know there is a lot going around about this virus right now. And it is kind of weird that there was a serious epidemic in 1818-20, and again in 1918-20. But I'm not really worried. Cautious, but not worried.

First of all, God takes care of us.

But secondly, it's 2020, not 1920.

And what's the difference?

In the 1918 epidemic toilets, clean drinking water, and refrigeration had only been introduced on a mass scale shortly before, and certainly hadn't taken full affect yet. Not everyone- or even a majority- had indoor plumbing yet.

Have you noticed that all these "killer viruses" that we have panicked over in the last few years started in developing countries with few or no toilets and clean water, or, in the case of China, places where food and such are rationed? And they all fizzled out by the time they reached America?

Toilets corral all disease associated with human waste (including the poop of those who are sick) away from everyone. This single device reduced the spread of all communicable diseases by a substantial amount. (see my post about toilets here)

Along with toilets comes clean drinking water. Most of us Americans really take this major health tool for granted. If we really wanted to stop disease in the developing nations we would make sure everyone had clean drinking water.

Refrigeration; at the time of Louis Pasteur there was actually a debate about what caused disease. Was it the transmission of germs or the health of the victim that determined who got sick and who didn't? The germ transmission theory basically won, leaving us with the feeling that we are always playing Russian Roulette with our health. If we could just kill all the germs we would be fine (thus all the hand sanitizer, which usually does more harm than good).

But it turns out that its both. If you look up Measles deaths in the US in the last 20 years you will find that 1) there have been pitifully few (20ish in the last couple of decades put together) and 2) those who died were already immuno-compromised, already weakened. Notice its only the already weakened that are in real danger from Covid 19? Everyone who has died was over 80, and all those who have been hospitalized were over 60. That wasn't true in 1918.

Refrigeration has allowed Westerners to be the best nourished people in history. Our immune systems are simply strong enough to resist most illnesses and to keep those we do get very mild. Oh, we occasionally see someone get seriously ill from germs, but it's pretty rare now a days (unless you look at Staph infections in hospitals of course, but that's a different topic.) We westerners are sick, and seem to be getting sicker all the time, but they are not illness caused by the transmission of germs. They are diabetes, cancer, and conditions where the immune system is attacking part of the body. (i.e. Rheumatoid Arthritis is the immune system attacking the joints.) They are diseases of prosperity.

So, I'm not really worried about Covid 19. I don't really think it will spread much here in America where we have well functioning toilets and clean water (except among the homeless in California where it may turn out to be a major problem since they are currently pooping in the street and living basically on drugs), and if we do catch it, those who live in my house are not in any high risk groups. We'll be sick for a week or so and then move on. I am a bit more concerned about my 81 year old father, but honestly, he is as tough and strong as you could expect a man in his 80's to be. I will be suggesting to him today that he up his vitamin C and maybe start taking echinacea as a precaution, but really, He's probably fine.

We are seriously blessed to live in this time.

(and you know, all those hoarding hand sanitizer and toilet paper; what in the world???? I would think, you know, FOOD would be the best thing to stock up on in case of quarantine. But whatever....)