Wednesday this and that . . .

I woke up positively exhausted this morning.   That's because I was folding laundry all night in my sleep . . .  and getting nowhere.  I have heard of people running in their dreams and getting nowhere, but I have never heard of anyone folding laundry and getting nowhere!   I was folding shirts and pants and sorting through the never ending piles of socks which never have matching pairs all the night long.

I can remember never being in top of the laundry when my kids were growing up.   I always had tons of it to do,  and an enormous pile of socks to sort . . . . and that doesn't count bedding change day.  I think I spent most of those years sitting amidst a pile of clean laundry waiting to be sorted and folded.  Don't get me started on the ironing.



Ironing was done on a "need to wear" basis.  When I had my fourth child I had three in diapers . . .  and they were cloth diapers as well.   Disposable diapers were luxuries, used only when travelling.  Yep.  I had three diaper pails on the go, so you could add all of those to the pile of laundry.  I can remember at times feeling quite overwhelmed, but there was nobody else to do it and so I just got stuck in.  Moaning about it didn't get the baby's bum wiped as they say.  My ex wasn't very good at helping out that way really . . .  besides,  because of his job he was away from home more often than not, so it was all down to me.  Plus his job was really stressful.  He worked hard to bring home the bacon and I worked hard to fry it in the pan.

Between laundry and everything else in the house, I was kept quite busy.   There was a delicious meal on the table for supper each night and always fresh cookies in the cookie jar.  Sometimes there was even a cake or a pie.  I do admit that when the children were really small, bath times were usually group baths.  With only me being the only responsible adult in the house most of the time,  it was the only way to get it done efficiently and yet still have an eye on them all.   There was always time for an evening cuddle and story time afterwards.

Thinking back on it now I am not surprised I was much, much thinner back then!  I am also not surprised that I always looked tired in photographs from then.




I used to long to have a dish washer to help out with doing the dishes.  They all had to be done by hand.  Once the kids got older, they each had chores to do.  The girls did the dishes and the boys did the garbage and yard duties.  That would probably be seen as sexist now, but it wasn't back then.  It was just the way things were done.  They each also had to keep their bedrooms tidy, which was always a source of contention.   I learned to just shut doors. 

My middle daughter was positively horrid at keeping her room clean, but her home now is as neat as a pin, with everything in its place and a place for everything.  She has a beautiful home and two lovely children, and she works full time as well.  I don't know how she does it all. I really admire these young mums today who work full time  and also take care of family and home.  My life was probably a doddle compared to theirs.



My home was never spotless, admittedly  . . .  but it was clean and cared for, and happy.   I guess thats what counted most.  I do confess I was never one much for helping with homework.  If they had homework, they did it on their own with only minimal input from me.  I didn't have the time to do all of that as well as everything else that I had to do.   I remember asking them their spellings and their times tables, but the rest was down to them . . . and they managed.  My eldest daughter was developmentally delayed so that brought with it additional challenges of its own.

I look back now and wonder how I ever coped . . .  but somehow I just did.  Being a wife, mother and homemaker was all I had ever wanted to be and I was very happy to be all three.   I never questioned my role in life or longed for anything else.  I was quite quite content.  I didn't have time to be depressed or feel sorry for myself.  I thought  life was pretty darned good, and always felt kind of sad that we only ever had the five children rather than the ten I had always wanted to have.

 

This huge box of goodies arrived yesterday!!    Oh yes I am a very lucky puppy.  It was just like Christmas.  There was cute little paring knives, silicone flat whisks, mini choppers and a ceramic clipper  . . .  a madeline pan, ceramic pie dish and the cutest little rooster pie funnel . . .  and for summer a sweet daisy food cover and some beautiful botanical cake cups.  I am going to have a lot of fun with all of this!   Can't wait to get stuck in!

 

And look at what I did last night when the telly was rolling along  . . .  its going to be a bunny dress.  So much fun.

And with that I will leave you with a thought for today  . . .
ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ 
It is not what you do 
for your children,
but what you have taught 
them to do for themselves, 
that will make them 
successful human beings.
~Anne Landers
ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ 

Spiritual Enlightenment




Cooking in The English Kitchen today  . . .  Persian Cucumber Salad.


Have a great Wednesday!  Don't forget!

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And I do too!