Doing the laundry for my family always seemed to be a challenge in my life. Now with two "babies" (age 16 months and newborn) in diapers there was always lots of washing to be done. And living in a second story apartment with stairs on the outside and a second set of stairs to get to the basement where the washing machine was presented a new challenge for me. Just getting down there with all the laundry and with two little ones could be a nightmare. Do you take the baskets of dirty clothes down first and leave the children alone upstairs for a few minutes, or do you take the children down first and leave them alone in the basement while you run up the stairs and bring down the laundry? Not much of a choice. And Jim was gone from 7:30 in the morning to 11:30 at night except for when he was able to come home in between school and work for lunch. Fortunately, Jim was able to arrange his class schedule that next semester so he could come home each day and carry the clothes down for me. However, once we got everyone and everything in the basement, there was still the challenge of keeping track of the the one-year-old and oft times listening to a crying baby tucked in the buggy that I kept in the basement while I tried to get the washing done. I dreaded wash day which was usually every other day. And in the winter it was there were even more difficulties which I'm sure you can imagine.
The next two years of school were difficult, but Jim and I were adjusting to the long days of being without much of each other's company. He did come home for lunch (which I made dinner) each day, and that was great. But that one meal was usually all that we could afford each day (except for breakfast), so I always made sure there was enough left over to feed the children at night, and hopefully some for me. But there were many times that I did not eat. If Jim had been aware of that he would have quit school, and I knew it. But I suspect that maybe he at least thought that my not eating was a possibility because he would often bring a sandwich home which he bought in the cafeteria for twenty-five cents to share with me. The workers in the cafeteria knew Jim's situation and would stack the meat on those sandwiches at least double, I'm sure. So we would take it apart and make two good-sized ones. That was dinner for both of us.
Having enough money to pay all the bills was always a problem. Since I handled the finances at this time I had to decide each month who got paid and who would have to wait. I tried to rotate between the "receivers" and the "waiters" each month so as to hopefully not damage our credit rating too much. And I tried hard to not overspend our very limited food budget. That was not always easy, and there were times that I said a prayer then walked to the store looking for soda bottles I could redeem or loose change that someone may have dropped in order to have enough money to buy needed milk for the children. And it wasn't unusual if, at the end of the month our funds had run out, for us to drop by Jesse and Jean's home for a "visit". I think they knew that we needed to be invited to stay for dinner even though never a word was spoken about our need. And if we ran out of gas money before the end of the month Jim could always go to Jesse's work where they had a gas pump for their trucks and get gas he could charge to Jesse. We always tried to pay back for that gas, but most of the time he would not let us pay. How blessed we were to have such sensitive family. And how blessed we were that Jim had type O blood which he could sell at the hospital for $25.00 which he did as often as they would let him to bring in some extra money. Twenty-five dollars would go along way back then. And I can''t overlook the fact that my Aunt Dorothy who lived in Los Angeles would go into the garment district and buy big boxes of fabric. She would keep the larger pieces and send me the smaller pieces from which I made all of the children's clothes for the four years we were in school... except for the winter coats which I made from old adult coats that people gave to us.
During the second year of school, Jim spent free moments at work learning about the oxygen equipment in the hospital. So when a respiratory technician was needed he was able to step in. No more mopping floors! With a little more training he learned to be a respiratory therapist and had his own office. Since much of his work was on an "on call" basis, he now had some free time to study at work...and he now made a few cents more an hour. More blessings!
Those years in school taught us both so many lessons which helped us throughout our whole married life. I'm still great at handling money even though after we finished school I turned the finances over to Jim. And I so learned to appreciate having a husband around to help with the children. But most important of all, I learned how the Lord steps in and helps in so many small ways that could easily be unnoticed and unappreciated if all is going well. I have found that going through difficult times teach the greatest lessons and develop the character we need to make it through this life. I am truly grateful for all my challenges.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
New Moms Have It "Easy"
Having spent time last month with two of my daughters (Lea and Carrie) who had just had new babies made me reflect on how much things have changed since my own little ones were born. First of all, the normal hospital stay was three days. Now, barring no complications, you are home in one. I guess this was a good thing for me because I had no one to help me once I got home. We were instructed by hospital nurses to make sure we put our babies on a strict schedule once we were home. They should not be allowed to eat oftener than three hours and not past four. If they were screaming before the three hours we could give them a little water sweetened with a little Karo syrup. The bottles used had to be meticulously sterilized. That meant boiling all bottles, nipples, pacifiers and anything that went in the baby's mouth. We had a special kettle that were designed just for that purpose.
The pacifier of my day was a regular nipple from a baby bottle stuffed with cotton. Babies were to be bathed every day and were to be placed on their tummies to sleep. Since there was no such thing as a disposable diaper, our cloth ones were to be washed daily, if possible, and only in Ivory Snow or Dreft (mild soaps). And it was recommended that they be soaked in bleach before washing to disinfect them. All other baby clothes were to be washed separately in the same mild soap. Since all clothes had to be hung out to dry (no dryers on the scene yet) they didn't come in very soft and fluffy. It helped if we had a good wind blowing on washday. In the winter it was common for the clothes to freeze on the line, so I had to bring them in and drape them on furniture all over the house to dry them.
New babies had to wear "belly bands" around their tummies until the cord fell off. They would never stay in place, and the little shirts were the cross-over ones with ties that usually just rode up around the neck....no "onesies" or shirts that went on over the head. Babies wore night gowns with draw strings at the bottom night and day. They were not dressed up unless you were going out, and "going out" with the baby was highly discouraged until six weeks. (I didn't follow that rule very much. And you know what? I don't ever remember my babies getting sick much either.)
As for furniture and accessories that are so helpful for moms these days, there was practically nothing; no changing tables, no carriers, no swings, no car seats, no little bouncy seats that play music and make soothing sounds to place them in while you worked around the house (I'm sure they must have a name), no walkers, no intercoms and no fancy strollers (only the umbrella kind which were just new and expensive. I could go on and on. What I had in those early years as a young mom were: a week's worth of clothes and diapers with "soakers" or plastic pants to go over them, blankets, a crib and a second hand "buggy" which was like a cloth bed on wheels with a handle to push. It was used like a stroller is used today to take babies for walks. It had a "hood" which raised up to protect from the sun. That was it. If we wanted to take babies with from room to room we would just take a blanket and lay them on the floor. In the living room we would prop them up in the corners of the couch and put a pillow in front of them. Playpens were available, but we never had one until our twins were born. When the baby was old enough there were jumping swings that attached to a door frame. Someone loaned me one of those, and it was a godsend. My little ones loved to jump in that swing.
Somehow, all of our children survived, or better said, I survived without all those special things that help young moms today. I'm especially grateful that our children survived all the traveling in a car without seat belts or car seats. It seemed I always had a baby or toddler on my lap as we drove. That's kind of scary as I look back. Helps for a new mom have come so far these days, as has the concern for the safety of children. That is good. But at times I wonder if we have gone a little overboard as to what think are "necessities" for new babies. With a little creativity we didn't do so bad taking care of our children in the fifties. And it surely was a lot cheaper! I can hardly conceive of what life must have been for pioneer mothers.
The pacifier of my day was a regular nipple from a baby bottle stuffed with cotton. Babies were to be bathed every day and were to be placed on their tummies to sleep. Since there was no such thing as a disposable diaper, our cloth ones were to be washed daily, if possible, and only in Ivory Snow or Dreft (mild soaps). And it was recommended that they be soaked in bleach before washing to disinfect them. All other baby clothes were to be washed separately in the same mild soap. Since all clothes had to be hung out to dry (no dryers on the scene yet) they didn't come in very soft and fluffy. It helped if we had a good wind blowing on washday. In the winter it was common for the clothes to freeze on the line, so I had to bring them in and drape them on furniture all over the house to dry them.
New babies had to wear "belly bands" around their tummies until the cord fell off. They would never stay in place, and the little shirts were the cross-over ones with ties that usually just rode up around the neck....no "onesies" or shirts that went on over the head. Babies wore night gowns with draw strings at the bottom night and day. They were not dressed up unless you were going out, and "going out" with the baby was highly discouraged until six weeks. (I didn't follow that rule very much. And you know what? I don't ever remember my babies getting sick much either.)
As for furniture and accessories that are so helpful for moms these days, there was practically nothing; no changing tables, no carriers, no swings, no car seats, no little bouncy seats that play music and make soothing sounds to place them in while you worked around the house (I'm sure they must have a name), no walkers, no intercoms and no fancy strollers (only the umbrella kind which were just new and expensive. I could go on and on. What I had in those early years as a young mom were: a week's worth of clothes and diapers with "soakers" or plastic pants to go over them, blankets, a crib and a second hand "buggy" which was like a cloth bed on wheels with a handle to push. It was used like a stroller is used today to take babies for walks. It had a "hood" which raised up to protect from the sun. That was it. If we wanted to take babies with from room to room we would just take a blanket and lay them on the floor. In the living room we would prop them up in the corners of the couch and put a pillow in front of them. Playpens were available, but we never had one until our twins were born. When the baby was old enough there were jumping swings that attached to a door frame. Someone loaned me one of those, and it was a godsend. My little ones loved to jump in that swing.
Somehow, all of our children survived, or better said, I survived without all those special things that help young moms today. I'm especially grateful that our children survived all the traveling in a car without seat belts or car seats. It seemed I always had a baby or toddler on my lap as we drove. That's kind of scary as I look back. Helps for a new mom have come so far these days, as has the concern for the safety of children. That is good. But at times I wonder if we have gone a little overboard as to what think are "necessities" for new babies. With a little creativity we didn't do so bad taking care of our children in the fifties. And it surely was a lot cheaper! I can hardly conceive of what life must have been for pioneer mothers.
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