@Drythe wrote:
@GraceLady
My Mom believed in child labor, I started ironing very early too. Started with my Dad’s pocket handkerchiefs. My Aunt taught me to make beds, she was a nurse, still do those hospital corners! Also, all pillowcases are open toward the room door!
After flats, comes collars and cuffs! My favorite day was sprinkle day. Mom did have to keep an eye on me because it was so much fun. I learned quickly the next day when when everything came out of the bag why I shouldn't over sprinkle. My grandma and mom worked in hospitals for years, too.
I would never call this child labor. This falls under knowledge. I am super thankful that I can do all the things she taught me to do. I was the last of an era of girls to have basically "forced Home-Ec", while boys had wood/metal shop. My sisters didn't have the same experiences I did. My sisters didn't even pick up the same level of homemaking skills I did and we are just a couple of years apart in age. Times changed very quickly. (They can fold fitted sheets though!) In addition to learning the proper way to iron, I learned to cook, bake, and sew to a much higher level than girls younger than me.
I like knowing the right way to do things, and do get surprised when I learn how few people can do some things or didn't know things because this knowledge is dying. Just because I can sew doesn't mean I make my own clothes. I am really glad I know how to set a sleeve, put in a zipper, customize patterns a little. All basic stuff, but my kids had the best Halloween costumes around. One day when I have grandkids, I hope I can do it again. It was also a way of bonding with my mom and my grandma. They are great memories.
To your point, my mom did believe in her kids working around the house. It was nothing my parents hadn't done, but the reasons were different. As was a widow with four kids, there were times when she needed all of us to chip in with chores. We didn't have any friends who had to do chores which was really hard sometimes. They would ride by on their bikes asking my mom if we could come play while we were doing the weekly yard work on Saturday morning. Pure torture! As a child, my husband grew up doing nothing around the house, so we came from very different worlds. What did we do? We gave our kids chores. My husband didn't want our kids to grow up with a sense of entitlement instead of a work ethic, and I saw all my childhood friends, all the ones I was so jealous of without chores, taking far too long to figure out how to adult without mommy and daddy to lend a helping hand. I think we did okay by our kids. I am not second-guessing--yet.
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