Ruthie at
mysocalledhomeschoollife has a posting about how her blog has been neglected this last week due to the demands of being a mum.
This gave me the idea for this posting
I was a child of the 70's and my mum was, as most mum's were in those days, a Stay at Home Mum formerly known as a Housewife.
My mum would say that her job of looking after the home, a husband and 2 well-behaved children (we didn't dare be anything else, we respected our elders!) was more time consuming and harder in the 1970's and 80's because she didn't have the mod cons we do today and she didn't drive.
I would disagree and believe that being a modern Stay at Home Mum, or even a working, mum has more pressures these days. Could I do without my mod cons?
I plead my case
A typical week for my mum would start on Monday
WASH DAY (yes
day not days)
Mum had a twin-tub machine, which in those days was a luxury. All morning would be spent washing and spinning the week's washing. I knew as a child/teen that if I put jeans or my favourite top in the wash on a Wednesday, it would not be washed til the next Monday! Ironing would be done on one day a week, expect for school uniform, that was ironed Sunday evening.
Yes, I have an automatic washing machine and tumble dryer, for those days the washing cannot be dried outside, but this seems to say to my family that they can put jeans or their favourite top in the wash one day and it should be washed, dried and ironed by the next working day for their convenience!
"You only have to put the machine on, you don't do the washing the machine does"
Mum never lost socks in the wash. How can I lose socks from the washer to the dryer on a regular basis?
I admit mum had a very physical morning on a Monday using her twin tub and putting the washing out, but wash day was once a week.
Goal for mum!
SHOPPING DAY
Tuesday and Saturday were shopping days for mum. She didn't drive so what she couldn't carry she didn't get. She had a lovely choice of Butchers, bakers, greengrocers and the market in the High Street. On a Saturday (and Tuesdays in the school holidays) we would go to town with mum, and help carry the shopping home. What we didn't have, we went without. We were happy with the food mum got and she didn't pop out every other day for this or that.
I struggle, I hate it, round the bright, noisy supermarket, pay over the top prices for the essentials and fruit and veg (why do the supermarkets only have offers on the junk foods?) .
"
Is that my mobile going off? No, someone with the same ringtone," back in my bag goes the mobile. "
OH! Now that's my mobile", next follows a conversation with school about a meeting.
Mum would not be interrupted, halfway through the bread ailse, by a mobile phone call from the school about a meeting.
Then, an hour later, I negotiate the queues at the tills . Don't even ask me about last month when I got to the front of the queue with a full trolley only for the supermarket to have a complete power failure and I had to go to the other more expensive supermarket and start all over again!
I get home fill the cupboards and fridge......only for the kids to open the fridge and cry
"I thought you went shopping, there's nothing to eat!"
Translation for those who do not have a teen daughter "why have you bought so much fruit and veg....where's the chocolate?"
Food shopping does not seem to last the week and I can be found in the supermarket a couple of times a week topping up what we have run out of. Mum didn't run out of anything! .
Online supermarket shopping has been investigated, and abandoned, as I end up with either substitutes I do not want or missing items that I really needed. How can I make sweet chilli chicken with stir fry veg and noodles without the noodles? A trip to the supermarket is needed.
Think that is 2 - 0 to my mum at this stage, folks!
to be continued........
