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My
husband told me much about his mother during his childhood.
When he was six years old and ready to begin first grade he put
up such a fuss to stay home that he got his way. He began
school when he was seven. Home, he thought, was the very best
place to be. When he was in school he described how great it
was to go home. As he and his brother walked home in the snow
they were thinking of home. Soon they smelled fresh bread
baking. When they arrived they never had to raid the
refrigerator for a snack. She had freshly baked bread and
homemade jam waiting for them.
Shortly
after we were married we spent a month in their household. They
had five children and my husband was the only one married. I
observed many things about my mother-in-law during my stay
there. It was quite an education. They had two pantries, one on
the main floor near the kitchen and one in the basement. Both
had well built shelves nicely painted and well stocked with
food. The one near the kitchen contained fresh fruits and
vegetables including squash, potatoes, yams, onions, apples and
oranges. She kept the produce by a window to keep them cool.
Everything in the house was well painted, even the furnace. It
was a large coal furnace with large pipes going here and there
but they were all painted light green, including the furnace. I
have never seen such a clean, bright, well-kept furnace before
in all the days of coal.
Not
only was the house well stocked with food but with sheets,
towels, soap and clothing. In the beautiful tiled bathroom was
a little tiled nook with a faucet, especially for bathing
babies. My husband was the only child to have a room of his
own. It was always immaculate and his drawers always filled
with carefully laundered shirts, socks and under clothes. On
the breakfast table she kept a little glass bowl full of
vitamins of different colors. We were to help ourselves to one
of each color. Yes, she watched out for her family’s health
in every way, now mine included. I could easily see that here
was a woman who had her heart in her work and that housework
could be a real pleasure. What an abundant blessing it was for
this little family, and how sad that many women of today desert
their posts and run away from their work.
One
more thing I observed about my mother-in-law: She was so very
good at taking care of babies and little children. What a
wonderful example she was in this regard. They were always well
bathed and well fed. She prepared them for a nap, not by just
laying them in their crib with all of their clothes on, but by
first removing their shoes, then dressing them in comfortable
pajamas. She sensed when they were tired, hungry, thirsty, or
needed some soothing cream on their sunburned faces. She was
truly in tune.
What
made Gladys what she was? This is what I wondered. I think one
thing that made her what she was is that her mother and
mother-in-law were almost the same. They were both shining
examples. They couldn’t help but be a positive influence on a
young woman who observed them.
One
day while I was visiting Gladys’s mother, I looked around to
observe a well-painted, immaculate, orderly dwelling place.
Humble but very nice. While there I asked for a needle and
thread and was handed a little sewing basket. I have always
remembered the moment I opened the lid to see the most tidy
sewing basket I have ever seen. Instead of the sewing things
being jumbled together as in most sewing baskets, I saw neat
little rows of spools, little skeins of embroidery floss, a pin
cushion, needles, thimbles and scissors, all in a place of
their own. Another thing that made Gladys what she was is that
she went the second mile. She did more than her duty required.
This is what takes the burden out of work and brings soul
satisfaction. It makes “our yolk easy,’ and ‘our burden
light.”
Besides
the benefit of homemaking bringing soul satisfaction and inner
happiness, did you know that the exercise required to fill this
role is the best for a woman’s body? How do I know this? One
morning when I was lying on the floor doing my exercises and
listening to TV, I heard a news report that medical research
had found that the use of the various muscles required for
doing housework and carrying for a family – bending,
stretching, picking things up from the floor, pushing a vacuum
cleaner around and carrying a toddler on your hip is the best
type of exercise for a woman’s body. They made no comment
about men. I will end this discourse by saying that I believe
homemaking is the best therapy for a woman’s distress, the
best career for emotional and physical health, the most soul
satisfying, and the greatest contribution a woman can make to
her family and the well being of society.
About
the Discussions:
I
have had many requests to bring back The Discussions.
Many women claim they were greatly helped by them in having a
better understanding of FW and greater success in living it. I
am seriously considering bringing them back but this is not an
easy request to fill. Here are the problems:
1.
Many women, including me, had trouble all along in getting into
the discussions. We had to have a user name and a password and
this did not always work as it should.
2.
Problem two: We had a certain number of hecklers to deal with.
Often their remarks were subtle, hard to recognize, but very
undermining.
3.
Problem three: We had no monitors to delete the negative or
rude remarks of the hecklers.
4.
Problem four: I had several reports that being on the
Discussions became addictive to some women and they were
spending far too much time on the internet, neglecting their
housework and failing to live the teachings of FW.
Solutions:
1.
What is needed is a good discussion program that is very simple
and easy to get into. No user names and passwords. Just click
in. But, were do we get one?
2.
Then we need someone to put it online for us. My webmaster is
reluctant to do this.
3.
Then we need three or four volunteer monitors that will take
turns monitoring it.
4.
It would also be nice if I could make a few comments now and
then, when I have something important to say. Or, would you
rather I be excluded. Be honest!
If
any of you have any suggestions I would like to hear from you.
Mrs. A
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