It must be a blue moon today as I have been cleaning and sorting! I came across a little red book called 'Don'ts for Wives' originally published in 1913. I opened it and read....
'Don't let your husband sharpen lead pencils all over your drawing room carpet. He will be none the happier for it, and the carpet will suffer as well as the maid's temper. He doesn't do it out of pure cussedness; it is mere thoughtlessness, and a little instruction will induce him to use the hearth or the waste-paper basket. But don't row with him; be good-natured about it. after all, most husbands are only grown-up children in such matters.'
So that's where I am going wrong!!