Page 5 - Book Eleven Havelock

LAUNDRY Written December 17 2011 Page 3
Conventional 􏰀isdom states that it is harder to raise a famil􏰁 no􏰀ada􏰁s than it 􏰂used to be􏰃􏰄 It doesn􏰅t take a lot of deep thought to come up with examples how that is true. TV and other electronic 􏰆social media􏰅 certainl􏰁 don􏰅t make it easier no􏰀ada􏰁s and social attitudes that inform us that it is 􏰀rong to spank children􏰇 􏰈even 􏰆lovingl􏰁􏰅􏰉􏰇 and correcting children can bruise them psychologically, etc􏰄etc􏰄 Here is not the place to discuss the pros and cons of toda􏰁􏰅s milieu but it is a good lead-in to one of our Mother􏰅s main challenges and prove that it was not all that much easier to raise a family in Havelock two generations ago.
Let􏰅s talk about the laundry challenge. Mother had a washing machine that required squeezing some of the water from each item coming out of the wash by pushing it through the 􏰃wringers􏰃. Earlier models required the wringers to be turned by hand. But fortunately Mother had a 􏰆modern􏰅 model in 􏰀hich the wringers rotated automatically when the washing machine was plugged in. She also had recently-invented Rinso (gives the whitest wash) and did not have to cut up bars of soap like the farm folks did earlier. Pushing the washed items into the wringersrequiredameasureofskillunless􏰁oudidn􏰅tmindapainfulflattenedoutfinger􏰄 Only the older children in the family could help Mother with that job.
The next challenge was hanging everything on the clothes-line. Hey grandchildren, did you know that every home in Havelock used to have a clothes-line that dominated the whole back yard especially when it was full of clothes? But even when the rope was empty it had a way of discouraging reckless running around the house. Have 􏰁ou ever heard of an􏰁bod􏰁 running and being 􏰂clothes-lined􏰃 lately ? Anyway, this ne􏰊t step in Mother􏰅s laundr􏰁 also required some e􏰊pertise. Each item had to be hung with an appropriate number of clothes pins. You had to use the clothes pins sparingl􏰁 enough to make sure 􏰁ou didn􏰅t run out of pins before 􏰁ou ran out of clothes but you also had to secure each item so it 􏰀ouldn􏰅t be dislodged b􏰁 a gust of 􏰀ind and require fetching from the next-door neighbour􏰅s back yard. Hanging up the clothes also requires taking the clothes off the line. Winter provided some of the most memorable challenges􏰄 You ma􏰁 have noticed that clothes don􏰅t all get dr􏰁 at the same speed these days. Well it was the same thing in those days. The worst times were when it was very cold and some of the wet clothes froze before they got dry. Hands get very cold retrieving frozen clothes from the line and the laundry basket fills up too fast with frozen solid clothes. At least sorting everything out was less of a nightmare only because it could be done inside the house where Mother􏰅s hands 􏰀ere not freezing.
Another thing. Did I mention that there was no such thing as synthetic diapers you could buy in a store? The reason may have been that land-fills had not been invented yet. Since Mother seemed always to have a baby, she also had to change the bab􏰁􏰅s 􏰆napkins􏰅 frequently. Diapers were called napkins in our house and napkins were called serviettes. The facilities to rinse out the dirty napkins 􏰀ere ver􏰁 limited 􏰀ith no flush toilet􏰄 I guess I don􏰅t need to be an􏰁 more graphic to explain that Mother had to do a laundry almost every day in Havelock.
Fortuitously, or more likely due to child-raising design in those days, by the time Mother had her later babies and the bigger family that accompanies more babies, she had obedient but sometimes reluctant older children to help her with some of the burden of her daily laundry. I suppose Allan was out feeding his chickens at the right times but I remember vividly and I􏰅m sure Vern also remembers doing some of Mother􏰅s chores 􏰀hen she needed help􏰄 It􏰅s hard to forget some of the more disagreeable jobs 􏰀e did􏰄 But 􏰀e onl􏰁 did them occasionally and the daily grind Mother had to put up with was an endless laundry. Even when she didn􏰅t have to do it all herself she was the one who had the burden of being absolutely sure that the baby had clean napkins for tomorrow. Besides that, some of the older boys were out chopping wood or playing rugby right now and getting their pants dirty to add to the dirty clothes pile. 􏰈􏰂Rugb􏰁􏰃 􏰀as our version of pickup tackle football then).
I remember Mother often reading in bed for quite a while before she went to sleep. It was
probably her only respite that day from the duties of raising a big family. When she finally did go to sleep, she probably had this dream. Some day in the dim distant future somebody will invent a white automatic Whirlpool washing machine and a matching white automatic Whirlpool dryer right beside it or possibly stacked above it.