Community Chat

[River Song]

My mom started me very early on dusting and vacuuming the house, when age appropriate.  Mopping the floors and cleaning the bathroom.  Every Saturday morning was cleaning day and the house had to be cleaned and straightened up before I could be free to play.  Mom helped, of course.

I always got stuck drying the dinner dishes because my older sister did the washing and got done before I did.  Mom started teaching me to iron by ironing cotton pillowcases and handkerchiefs.  No steam iron so we had to sprinkle the items with water first.  We had a glass Pepsi soda pop bottle with a cork stopper that had a metal topper with holes in it.  Then I graduated to ironing clothing.  

I was also taught how to sew, knit, crochet, embroider and hook rugs.  Plus, I had to rake and mow the grass, weed the flower beds, and shovel snow.  I was also taught how to do laundry.

I loved to bake and learned how to bake pies, cakes and cookies.  Every single day, there was some sort of dessert for dinner.  When my Mom went to work as soon as I entered 7th grade, I would get home first from school and start dinner and Mom would finish when she got home.  By high school I was proficient at making dinner on my own.

I have to say, my parents taught me to be self-sufficient by the time I went off to college.  Oh, my Dad taught me how to change the motor oil, change a flat tire, check all the fluids and tune up the car.  

No rest for the weary, lol.

[Kalli]

The only chore I liked doing was watching my younger brothers. I was very reliable with that but the rest, ironing, dusting, cleaning the bathrooms, nope. I would weasel my way out of them on a regular basis. My mom never held that against me. She was so patient and kind I don't know how she remained that way with 6 kids! 

At the age of 12 I started babysitting for neighborhood kids. I charged 50 cents an hour-woohoo! It was cool to make money and it was fun saving it. At one point I had $40 saved up. Mom's wallet was stolen at the supermarket. She came home, asked me how much I had in my piggy bank and I gave it to her. Never regretted that. 

As an adult I still love being around kids but I loathe cleaning. I pay someone to do it and I'm happy. 😊 

[Bonkers1]

@jlkz 

Ironing was one of my chores also.  Am I remembering right 

the shirts were rolled up in a pan - they could have been damp.

[chickenbutt]

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@Bonkers1 wrote:

@jlkz 

Ironing was one of my chores also.  Am I remembering right 

the shirts were rolled up in a pan - they could have been damp.

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Oh yes!  I remember the small 7-Up bottle that had a sprinkly top thing on it.  You sprinkled the clothing items, rolled them up, and I can still see a pyramid of them  stacked on the back end of the ironing board.

[geezerette]

My mother used a beer bottle to sprinkle the clothes for ironing.😆

I got to iron my dad's hankies when I was first allowed to use the iron.  I liked ironing and still do.

[Desert Lily]

I never had any childhood chores.

We had a live-out housekeeper who also did the cooking.

Although we had a washer & dryer, the laundry was sent out to be done.

When my older brother was in h.s., he sometimes wanted a certain shirt or pants to wear. If there was no one else around to launder & iron, on occasion I laundered & ironed for him. I only did that about 3 times, and I was horrible at it Lol.

My grandmother taught me how to cook & inadvertently taught me how to keep house.

Learning to do laundry was by trial & error.

[makeup bestie]

I can believe it.  It's hard work. 

[Xivambala]

Cleaning the bathroom. Still hate it to this day!

[Sooner]

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@geezerette wrote:

My mother used a beer bottle to sprinkle the clothes for ironing.😆

I got to iron my dad's hankies when I was first allowed to use the iron.  I liked ironing and still do.

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@geezerette Mother had an Old Grand Dad whiskey bottle.  She didn't drink, nor did my dad, so I have no idea where we go it!  

[We rescue cats]

I ran the sweeper every couple of days, swept the porches and in summer I washed and wiped the porch furniture. I loved helping my Gram clean the fish tanks and doing dishes with her every evening. I set the table every evening for supper, helped with the clean up and then we set the table for breakfast before bed.