Throwback Thursdays: The Pose (Boy Version)

The Pose (Boy Version)

Here's my caption:

Boy: But Mom, Putin posed like this.

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Memory Monday: Laundry Day

My husband, me, and my mother early in our marriage

                The house is quiet now; my children sleep in their beds, dreaming and softly snoring (although my daughter would vocally deny she ever snores).  I have a few minutes by myself before I join my husband who is already sleeping and probably snoring.  I have been sitting here thinking about being a wife and mother, and how it has changed (and stayed the same) over the years.

          Tomorrow morning is laundry day.  I have to do laundry, but not quite like Mother did.  She used a wringer washing machine (I remember it well; it was pink and white—Sears, of course).  Each laundry day, Mother would fill up the washer and the rinse tub.  After a load of clothes had finished the wash cycle, Mother would feed the clothes through the wringer into the rinse tub.  Then she would press a lever and swivel the wringer so that she could feed the clothes through the wringer into a basket.  Lugging the basket outside, she would hang the clothes on a line using wooden clothespins.  After the clothes dried, she would have to haul them in the house and sort the clean clothes—those to be folded and those to be ironed.  Mother would sprinkle those things she need to iron, wrapping them in a sheet and putting the bundle in the refrigerator (so they wouldn’t sour).  I often remember her saying, “I love to iron early on a Saturday morning.”   My mother said she did not mind doing laundry; she loved sending her family out in freshly starched and ironed clothes. 

          I don’t like laundry day.  Sometimes it’s really tough putting the clothes in my washer and dryer and then remembering to get them out when the buzzer goes off so I can hang up the permanent press clothes.  I hate it when I forget and leave the clothes in and have to re-fluff them to get the wrinkles out.  By the way, I love to sleep late on Saturday morning!!                    

I think that I better get to sleep. Tomorrow is laundry day after all, and I am going to need all my strength for that chore.

P.S.  I wrote this several years ago.  Since then, my daughter has married, so I don’t know if she still snores.  Also, my husband retired a few years ago and has taken over all the house work and all the laundry (after all, I write full time now).  I really don’t mind laundry day now.  Nope, not at all!

Thowback Thursdays: The Hat

The Hat

Here's my caption:
She says: I've got an idea for a television show called The Flying Nun.
He says: What's a television?

Leave your caption in the comments below.

Memory Mondays: Thoughts on the ABCs

My grandmother's parents and some of their children

My grandmother and the next three generations

            Five generations, and how have things changed through the years.

Years ago when my first child was small, I saw a children’s book at the store on ABCs and bought it. The name of the book was “I Live in the City ABC.” It was a fun book filled with rhymes. And as any parent is apt to do when a child likes a certain book, I read it to my child over and over (and over and over and over).  In fact we both heard it so many times, that we didn’t even need to look at the book to be able to recite it. I remember traveling from our house to my husband’s workplace to pick him up on several occasions. And on those times as we traveled from our home in the suburbs into the middle of the city via the interstate, my child—strapped into her car seat in the back— and I would repeat the whole book by memory. And my daughter could read simple stories before she entered kindergarten.

Five or six years ago, I came across a small book written in 1855—just ten years or so before my great-grandmother was born. It was written for a child and included poems and prayers. But the most interesting thing to me was the first few pages. On those pages was the alphabet and beside each letter was a Bible verse.  While in the book I taught my child the ABC's, “A is an Avenue with cars whizzing by” and” B is the bus with the driver up high.” In the old book, next to A was “A lying tongue doth the Lord hate. Prov. 6:16.17” and next to B was “Be ye kind one to another. Eph. 4:32.”

Now I understand two things: 1—just a list of Bible verses in a black and white book might not hold a child’s interest in today’s world of colorful picture books and animated character on the TV or computer, and 2—children won’t understand Bible verses like these when they are still pre-schoolers. The solution to the first is easy if you want to make an ABC book with Bible verses. There are all sorts of ways to make your own book using pictures from the internet or old books that can be cut up. The answer to the second thing is just as easy if you think about it. When I first started reading the City ABC book, my child didn’t know what an avenue, a bus, an elevator, or a jaybird were. I had to explain those as we went along (and explain again and again, although the pictures helped). But that is the same thing with a Bible verse ABC book. We need to teach our children the things of the Bible and talk about them over and over again. One time is never enough. How many times do we still need to hear lessons on forgiveness, kindness, understanding, and the gifts of God’s love, grace, and mercy? 

First Step on the Path

Researching or writing--I don’t know which I love more. I write historical romance novels that take place during the 19^th century.

My husband and I are the repository of all things family. After my mother passed away, I inherited a box of black and white photos, some of which were taken in the late 1800’s and the early 1900‘s. As I looked at those pictures, I remembered so many of the stories my parents and grandparents told me. I have used those stories, pictures, and my research to create glimpses of the past.

I hope you enjoy walking across the generations with me. 

Mondays are family and history posts, while Thursdays are your turn to add to the story. On Thursdays, I will post a photo from my family's "Old and Unknown" pictures with a caption. If you like you are welcome to comment with a caption of your own.