For the last couple of months, every time I find myself overwhelmed by domestic responsibilities, I think, “Hmm. What would a pioneer woman do?” This thought makes me feel like maybe I don’t have as much work as I think I have. For example, when it seems like a hardship to get my kids into their snow pants and out the door, I think about the pioneer woman who had to shoot something and skin it to even make snow pants.
Snow pants were probably the least of her concerns when she didn’t even have ELECTRICITY. Think of all of the machines that we take for granted, too. Like the dishwasher, the washing machine, the car etc, etc…. I feel like I can’t get anything done when I have all of these aids to help me. How would I have survived washing my clothes on rocks and (gasp!) hand washing my dishes?
Maybe part of the problem these days is that we have too much stuff to manage. A pioneer woman, for example, wouldn’t have the contents of an entire Early Years centre in her basement for the kids. She would just have one of those wooden paddles with a string and a ball attached to it. That would be the only toy. That and maybe some apple dolls. Not a lot to clean up.
A pioneer woman would also have some good old fashioned chores to keep her kids busy. Chores can tire little ones out a lot faster than an episode of Dinosaur Train does, for example. Recently I actually did a little pioneer chore experiment. A few weeks ago I was feeling desperate to entertain my children. So, after supper when my husband wasn’t home yet, I sent them out on the front porch to bang muddy shoes against the brick walls. “Yes,” I thought, “This is definitely the kind of physical labour a pioneer woman would have had her kids doing.” When my husband arrived home he pointed out that a pioneer woman probably wouldn’t have sent her kids out in the frigid temperatures in crocs, and that she probably wouldn’t have ordered a pizza for dinner. True.
I wonder how happy the pioneer women really were. All of our striving for personal space and time is a luxury, when you think about it. I bet that if your average pioneer chick were to find herself in modern society, she would have a lot of “me time” to claim for herself, even though she would be doing all of this work.
Most of the time I feel quite content to be a modern person. Except maybe when I want to churn a bunch of butter, go for a ride in a covered wagon, or whack a ball around on a paddle, and then I feel just a little bit envious of my pioneer ancestors.
You know, I imagine firing off a couple of rounds in the forest may have helped alleviate some of that stress those pioneer women had taking care of all the children (NOTE: not endorsing gun play or sport hunting of any kind). I often wonder if my kids never had all the toys they do if they'd be just as happy...and after watching Cole amuse himself with a stick and bucket and mud for over 1 1/2 hrs this afternoon, I bet they might be...maybe happier. But I'm not ready to trade in my coffee maker, tv, and modern amenities (aka bits of sanity) for a traditional life...although churning butter does sound like fun :) We'd have mad forearm pipes!
ReplyDeleteGood points! And I had never thought about the forearm pipes. How would they look in those apron-y dresses :)?
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