Ok, so lately I have been listening to Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books. The Ingalls had 4 girls...I have 4 girls! (They did lose a son at a very early age) Anyway...
Times have SO changed!
I wish my girls believed that work comes before play!
I have always been drawn to the 1800's. Yes the women worked a lot in the house, and the men worked in the fields etc. And the housework was no easy task... laundry by hand...no dishwashers...no sewing machines...until late 1800's...hot water was boiled on the cook stove or in a fire to make it hot for baths, cooking, whatever else.
I mean, the average day was like this for the average Frontier Family:
Up by 4:30 or 5:00 am (sun up)...
Women...start fixing breakfast (no microwave to use)...Men start the fire then, out to milk the cow(s) feed/water the live stock back in for breakfast...
breakfast over...men out to the fields to manage the crops...wheat, oats, corn, potatoes, etc. then they had to go hunting for food...no grocery store for that! Just the flour, sugar, salt, etc.
Girls and Women...clean up after the meal...NEVER just a bowl of cereal...a full on meal! Remember no fridge to put things away in! Clear the table, Fetch water from the well, Heat water for washing dishes on the cook stove if you're lucky! I know how many dishes it takes to clean up after a simple pancake, eggs and bacon breakfast around here for my family of 6...and I have running water, AND a dishwasher! We also have dish soap...they had what they had made...usually lye!
By the time you've got breakfast cleaned up...you have to race to get the house looking spectacular, granted Frontier houses weren't usually HUGE 3 bedroom 2 bath, Living room, Kitchen, Bonus Room, Utility Room etc. type houses... AND they didn't have a different outfit for EVERY day of the week! They made their clothes last...out of necessity! My girls are SO blessed! 5 different school outfits as well as play clothes! geesh!
Anyway...if they were lucky that had time between breakfast and "dinner" (lunch to us now) that they would use to churn butter, bake breads or pies for the next week, mend clothes, wash clothes, iron clothes...no electric iron...remember?! Cleaning the house thoroughly usually happened once a week then too...
Then it was time to prepare what was then called Dinner! A big hefty meal to fill up a farmer working out in the fields all day...clean up Dinner, back to whatever task you were doing that day...then time to start Supper!
Just going through this in my mind makes me tired...yet...somehow I yearn for it!
Simple times...although, I'm sure I'd miss the convenience of electricity and my hair dryer very quickly!
Life is so complicated now a days, with the desire for more money, more toys, to be recognized for your possessions. Working hard was the only life known back then. Making the best of anything that came your way...turning lemons into lemon aid! Feeling the sense of accomplishment after a job well done. Working Hard instead of Hardly Working. Mom and Dad home with the kids at night, raising them together. The whole family working together for a successful family.
That's my hope for this year :D
The Whole Family Working Together For A Happy Family.
Working Hard Together instead of Hardly Working...at EVERYTHING!
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