Been There, Done That

Cheaper by the Dozen, a book I read when I was a kid, came to mind the other day. It is a memoir about growing up in the early part of this century as one of 12 children of an “efficiency expert.” The story focused on Frank Gilbreth's attempts to apply the principles of time management to raising a dozen children. So the kids bathed and dressed with Father holding a stopwatch over them, and all 12 had their tonsils out at once, because that was more efficient. Needless to say, time management techniques did not translate flawlessly from factory floor to home use.