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Friday, January 15, 2010

What Would Ma Ingalls Do?

Besides have an irrational hatred of Native Americans and wear a hoop skirt anyway?

I have undertaken a lot of things in the last year, started teaching Sunday School, baking my own bread, cooking nearly everything from scratch (including sour mix, more on that later) and recently homeschooling. Needless to say my own lax standards of house keeping are compromised by my schedule and the daunting destructive capabilities of my toddler daughter. My seven year old doesn't help much either, but at least she stays out of my way more often than not.

So I started thinking about all the various chemicals, appliances, and modern conveniences I have and I wonder how come I can never seem to get on top of my housework? What would Ma Ingalls do? She had no running water, had to grow her own food, sew her own clothes, linens and even toys for the children and her house was always clean. Of course how much dusting could there be when she only had the one what-not and the single china shepherdess? However, my point remains the same; why does house work always take all day? Did cave women grunt, "Me need to clean cave, but exhausted from big mammoth hunt?"

Needless to say the last thing Ma Ingalls would have done was write a long blog post about it. So if you'll excuse me I am off to polish my what-not and bake some cornbread.

3 comments:

  1. I forgot you were homeschooling, I think I'll go look up your MT diary on that (you did one right?) I believe I am going to homeschool next year (exciting! terrifying!) and I'm so nervous! My husband doesn't know yet so this will take a lot of convincing but I'm sold.
    And yeah, if you figure out the housekeeping thing, let me know. I'm thinking, kids are banned from brushing their teeth and husband from shaving (my sink will stay clean) and no one is allowed to eat anything, ever.

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  2. You would have been apalled by the state of Ma Ingall's house, I think. With an increase in the ability to remove dirt (vaccuum cleaners, washing machines, etc), we've also increased our standards in acceptable cleanliness. Don't forget...she lived for a good long while in a dug out house with a dirt floor and grease paper windows. I doubt she was really spending hours scrubbing the floor clean!

    Carina (aussieyank)

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  3. Well, that is true, but I think I also remember her *sweeping* the dirt floor with a willow broom, which must have been doing something. Compacting the dirt to keep the dust down? I dunno. I think the key is keeping all household belongings down to what you can pack into a Conestoga wagon. :)

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