What a man needs.

[Eliyahuw]

When my folks were first married, my mother--like many women in rural America--literally had to carry water from a creek each morning to boil it to do her cleaning and laundry. There was no washing machine, but a tub with a manual scrub board. No drier, but dad put up clothes lines. No vacuum cleaner, just a broom and hand 'carpet groomer.' No gas or electric range, but a wood or coal stove for which dad chopped the wood, or purchased the coal (I remember sometimes mom would send us out to walk along the railroad tracks with buckets to pick up the pieces of coal that had fallen off the passing coal cars on the trains!). In fact, when the oldest of we siblings were little, they didn't have indoor plumbing either, so there would always be mud or dirt tracked into the house over night (dad would NOT allow indoor 'thunder mugs'!). Poor mom! She had no microwave, no blender, no store bought bread, & certainly no bread maker. No "Mr. Coffee" with automatic timer and bean grinder attachment, no tupperware, no quiznarts, no garbage disposal, no refrigerator, no freezer, no dishwasher. ALL the clothes had to be ironed. And there were no electric irons. The iron was either heated by sitting on a special plate on the coal stove, or the 'modern,' 'convenient' ones had a little cap you removed and you could drop a load of glowing coals right inside the iron, which would keep it hot for 30 or even 45 minutes--OH THE JOYS OF MODERN CONVENIENCE!!!

Soooo.........after she and dad had hauled 30 or 40 gallons of water up to the house (usually before the kids got up), mom would begin stoking the coal or wood stove, dad would bring extra coal in from the coal shed, then mom would cook breakfast on the old stove, while trying to get the school age kids up and ready for school, while dad got ready for work--which was walking distance, fortunately, so mom generally got to keep the car. After enough water for the breakfast dishes had been boiled, and certainly after the kids were off to school, she would pour the hot water into a basin, and fill another basin with cold water for the rinse, and do the morning dishes. She also hand dried them and put them up. Then she'd heat more water to begin her cleaning with her broom, dustpan, carpet groomer, steel wool, mop, various cleansers, etc. Usually by that time, the little ones were waking up, so there was more water to heat for cleaning up the kids, heating a bottle (or two....or three!). Washing the sheets for the ones who wet the bed had to be done, and as I said water had to be heated for this task on the coal stove, and then they were all scrubbed by hand, rinsed by hand, and wrung out by hand, then hung on the outside clothes line to dry by hand (unless it was rainy, then 'emergency clothes lines' were strung up all over the house (this made a fun fantasy world for us wee-uns, and as we dodged in and out and through this laundry, I'm sure we simply re-dirtied it!). All the while the little ones were whining for this or that, or just for attention.

Then it was time to make bread. All the ingredients were mixed by hand, and sometimes improvisations had to be made because there wasn't enough vegetable oil, or only 1 egg left, or whatever..... While the bed is baking, and throughout the day, she had to keep chasing little ones away from the hot stove (Yes, the WHOLE STOVE was HOT! Sides, bottom, back, every surface ready to blister you in a single moment of carelessness). Ironing had to be done. There were no 'never iron' or 'wrinkle free' garments EVERYTHING had to be ironed, and with the primitive implement I mentioned above ("Well, time to re-stoke the iron!" my mom would say merrily......).

Dusting was a constant chore, as coal soot would settle every where, and we were not allowed to 'run around looking like little renegades' covered with soot!

The rigors of preparing a large family dinner nightly on a coal stove, and without even the benefit of a refrigerator are boggling, are they not? Yet mom did it every single day.

Sometimes, bigger unexpected messes made mom have to get a couple of buckets, get the kids in tow, and go down to the creek for extra water, then come back and heat THAT up too. If it was winter, the stove had to be kept stoked all day, because that was our source of heat for the house too.

Now for most you reading this, your mothers, or grand mothers lived exactly like this. Today we have indoor hot and cold running water, vacuums, microwaves, refrigerator/freezers, electric ranges, mixers, automatic coffee makers, toasters, bagel slicers, store-bought, pre-sliced bread, electric irons, wrinkle free clothes, automatic washers and driers, GOBS of convenience producing gadgets, and the only difference between our houses, and gramma's? We have far fewer children, and GRAMMA'S HOUSE WAS CLEANER AND BETTER KEPT! Statistically, America's homes are messier and more unkempt than they have been in several generations.

What's going on?

Well put Leonard and I can see where you are coming from.

All those women like your Mom should all have received medals simply for WANTING to get out of bed the next day!!!

True too, we modern women have all the mod cons and we still whinge, complain and serve up frozen dinners.

I'm really starting to believe the Prov 31 woman IS extinct and trying to revive her is going to be one heck of a task.

IF you look at the Prov 31 woman, you will find that she is more free and independant than the so called feminists are today.

[peaches]

IF you look at the Prov 31 woman, you will find that she is more free and independant than the so called feminists are today.

care to elaborate?

[Guest lnj]

IF you look at the Prov 31 woman, you will find that she is more free and independant than the so called feminists are today.

Do you REALLY believe what you have put forth?

I think you are joking.

[RGR]

IF you look at the Prov 31 woman, you will find that she is more free and independant than the so called feminists are today.

care to elaborate?

I dunno, but I'd LOVE to see Jane Fonda take a crack at that for a while!

[Vickilynn]

Shalom,

I'm not the one who said it, but I agree totally.

If you look at the Proverbs 31 woman, she is a perfect model of womanhood and one that the feminists cannot argue with since the woman runs her home, buys the materials and sews her clothes, runs a business (buys and sells, makes sashes and sells them) buys land, provides for her servants, gives to the poor and her husband trusts in her.

[Guest Biblicist]

I think a man needs a wife who will bathe him in prayer!

[Guest lnj]

Shalom,

I'm not the one who said it, but I agree totally.

If you look at the Proverbs 31 woman, she is a perfect model of womanhood and one that the feminists cannot argue with since the woman runs her home, buys the materials and sews her clothes, runs a business (buys and sells, makes sashes and sells them) buys land, provides for her servants, gives to the poor and her husband trusts in her.

But...Feminists want the independence, plus freedom AND have a loving man to boot.

In a "perfect" marriage..it's about giving of yourself to others......God, husband, children,society.

From my knowledge of feminists, they're not so big in the art of SELFLESSness/sacrifice, that's why alot of feminists are atheist.

[Vickilynn]

I think a man needs a wife who will bathe him in prayer!

Shalom,

Oh dear Bib, I quickly scanned your reply and I thought it read...

I think a man needs a wife who will bathe him!

Oh my! I'm tired!

Edited February 19, 2007 by Vickilynn

[Vickilynn]

Shalom,

I'm not the one who said it, but I agree totally.

If you look at the Proverbs 31 woman, she is a perfect model of womanhood and one that the feminists cannot argue with since the woman runs her home, buys the materials and sews her clothes, runs a business (buys and sells, makes sashes and sells them) buys land, provides for her servants, gives to the poor and her husband trusts in her.

But...Feminists want the independence, plus freedom AND have a loving man to boot.

In a "perfect" marriage..it's about giving of yourself to others......God, husband, children,society.

From my knowledge of feminists, they're not so big in the art of SELFLESSness/sacrifice, that's why alot of feminists are atheist.

Shalom Inj,

Well, again, we can't make generalizations. There are feminists who are very selfless and giving, but believe in a woman's independence. That does not mean her selfishness.

Anyway, it was an observation and an opinion. Everyone has one.

[Guest lnj]

Shalom,

I'm not the one who said it, but I agree totally.

If you look at the Proverbs 31 woman, she is a perfect model of womanhood and one that the feminists cannot argue with since the woman runs her home, buys the materials and sews her clothes, runs a business (buys and sells, makes sashes and sells them) buys land, provides for her servants, gives to the poor and her husband trusts in her.

But...Feminists want the independence, plus freedom AND have a loving man to boot.

In a "perfect" marriage..it's about giving of yourself to others......God, husband, children,society.

From my knowledge of feminists, they're not so big in the art of SELFLESSness/sacrifice, that's why alot of feminists are atheist.

Shalom Inj,

Well, again, we can't make generalizations. There are feminists who are very selfless and giving, but believe in a woman's independence. That does not mean her selfishness.

Anyway, it was an observation and an opinion. Everyone has one.

You bet...the joy of having an opinion

Had to laugh one time, again listening to Christian radio and they were discussing the feminist movement in the '70's and one of the leading fem women in the US vowed and declared she would never marry a man, horror of all horros!!....Fast forward 30 years and she's HAPPILY married and comfy in her middle age......