No pioneer woman ever stepped on a Lego Block!

[fairfarmhand]

This site gives us ladies a reality check when it comes to pioneer ladies....

 

http://www.ladiesagainstfeminism.com/biblical-womanhood/dont-revere-the-pioneer/

 

It is a reminder to me that comparisons inevitably lead to discontent and insecurity.

[4everHis]

Very good article. It's good to be reminded that there are pros and cons to both ways of life.

 

Thanks for posting.

[Sparkle]

I love it! Thanks for sharing this.

[Tap]

I don't really agree with the article.

 

Sure, we have more to clean up, but we also have a bit of space. Not a one or two room house with 5 kids underfoot.

 

 

 

Sure, we have Legos, but they had sticks and rocks. Kids make toys out of what they have around.

 

We have more laundry, but they had to hand wash it...summer heat or winter snow in icy water, by hand. Depending on where they lived, it could have been muddy, murkie or stanant water too, or downstream from cattle. The layers of petticoats, dresses and aprons, made each dress more than one item of clothes. They also had to hand wash all the sanitary pads, diapers, and what I assume would be very dirty underwear (no cushy TP to wipe a toosh clean).

 

They also had to pack their water from the creek, and dispose of the water when they were done. They had to heat water or wash dishes in cold water.

 

When they ran out of item, it wasn't just a quick trip to the grocery in your car. It could be 1/2 days journey.

 

They stored veggies and only ate what was stored or fresh in season. What happened when mice got in the store house...they cut off what they could and ate it anyways.

 

If someone got sick, they didn't just run to the dr for an antibiotic. The person just dealt with it (for the most part). High fevers, pneumonia, kids crying in pain from an ear infection, mastitis....all common ailments that didn't get cured in a quick visit and a few days of antibiotics. What about when everyone got sick, and they still had to cook from scratch and carry water.

 

 

 

 

 

I have a friend who lived in a house for 15+ years with no running water or electricity in the 80-90's. She had 3-4 children. The lived a mile off the road and had to walk into the homestead. One of her stories that really stuck with me was that she went into labor a few weeks early and had to go outside and chop wood for the fire between contractions, because it was a cold day and she knew she would be up late laboring....alone...with only young children to help. Her husband was at work and they had no phone. At night, they used to let the fire go out and just relight it in the morning, so she wasn't prepared for the early labor on an uncommonly cold night. She delivered her baby, by herself, with her young child (under 6yo) holding a flash light. She tied the cord with a shoe string.

 

She had sooo many horror stories that really brought home the emotional stress of living in that time period. She had one story about sitting with her son as he bled so heavily from an injury that they didn't think they could get him down the path and to the ER, before he bled out. They sat, holding their son, waiting for him to die. They were lucky, he did stop bleeding and they did get him to the ER to clean and close the wound. How helpless people must have felt, with injuries like this.