Whi thinks that this is an acurate discription of life as we knew it?

I think that is fantastic and I am going to copy and paste that to give to a few people who will love it. I know that ALL back then wasn't fantastic but there is far more wrong with the world now than there was then.

One of today's improvements which I appreciate is soft toilet paper partly because printers ink now comes off on our hands, it don't think it did back then which is why we could use newspapers as loo paper. I had soap in my mouth just once - I NEVER swore again. It wasn't a fun time for women but they didn't complain because they'd been aware what was their 'lot in life' from being kids. I did also but, fortunately I saw some changes as I went into adulthood and then middle age.

Some things are far better for our children and grandchildren but many things are far worse I'm sad to have to say.

My great-grandmother owned an antique shop. My grandmother earned an associates degree in interior design, but went on to raise children. My mother "had the kind of business mind that she could have run a Fortune 500 company had she been born in a different time." (Words my uncle--her baby brother, who did start his own company and became a multi-millionaire through it by the time Mom joined in to help--told me after she died.)

So there are three generations of women before me who would have liked to work, but raised children instead. They all loved their children, so, if there were any regrets, they didn't tell me.

My mother was the girl scout leader, a cub scout den mother, a boy scout leader, helped start our small town's Head-Start program, was the lady behind the table at the only voting location in the town, substitute taught at our Catholic grade school when a teacher was sick, was the lunchroom lady when the lunchroom staff called in sick, was the "Volunteer Mom" for every class trip and bake sale, cleaned the altar at the church--big altar made of marble lol--and Dad won the argument on whether she should continue to teach fourth grade simply by making sure she got pregnant again, after 10 years, which was the beginning of the end of their marriage, so I suspect I know what Mom's choice would have been, had she been given one.

The poem reminds me of Laura Engles Wilders' first eight books in the Little House on the Prairie series, but her ninth book showed reality. The first eight books only looked to see only the goodness out of a past life. Her last book showed all of the life--both good and bad. I ache for women who never had the choice--both then when they could not choose to work without society judging them, and now when they rarely can choose to stay at home, because taxes would bury them.

I see things a bit differently than merely cheese and bread. I suspect the poem was written by a man.

I think this should be called "Rose Coloured Glasses". The children were seldom unhappy And the wife was content with her lot....give me a break ! In my childhood we were totally unhappy , and my mother was miserable 100% of the time because she hated being forced to stay at home. If Dad could have swallowed his pride and let her go to work, life would have been a lot better for everyone.

The elderly throughout the ages have always yearned for the past, for "better times"

What makes the past "better" is that we were young, in young bodies, and life was new and fresh and full of possibilities and goals the stretched to an endless horizon.

I find that the older I get (I'm 64 now), the more I like myself, and the happier I am with life regardless of health or circumstances.

I do not wish for the past.

And I remember when I was young, hearing the elderly complain about how things had changed.

It is an indication of hardening to life when we do not flex and move with it. A psychological withdrawal from life in preparation for dying. Some of this is normal and natural, but to dwell on it is not healthy.

That is a beautifully written poem. It takes one back to the carefree days of ones childhood. Could you tell me where you found it ?

The poem is written with a childlike view of the world, perhaps by a male senior citizen. As a child this man would have been either working outside helping his father or just playing outside. He didn't get to hear the mothers point of view, or that of his teenage sister who would have wished to have had as much freedom to go outdoors as much as he and be involved in the things outside the home once in a while.

You bring back memories of a forgotten time, a lot of the descriptions match my own childhood experience. Our parents reared us, the parents and grandparents of today's generation - but we are the ones who reared the generation that made life so successful and comfortable, the generation who created the technology we all benefit from in every area from health and education to transportation and wide career choices, and every other area in between.

Some of it is familiar, alright.

We ate what was put on the table..or stashed it in our pockets to get rid of later.

My grandparents didn't have a fridge in the 1920's.

I do seem to recall my mother boiling clothes to starch on the stove. I'd almost forgotten about that.

You are so right about the ironing that never stopped. It took me a few years to realize that permanent press meant just that.

Great piece of nostalgia. Thanks.

Nostalgia, GB, it just reminded me of my elder sister who died 20 years ago this week, we had a bicycle for Christmas between us, it cost a whole 2/6d. As she was 3 years older and very adept at death pinches and Chinese burns guess who got to use it the most. Still I would give everything I own for just 5 minutes with her to tell her I love love her and forgive the arm torture. Diets? on rationing we didn't have much choice, nobody was overweight.

It's a glorified version of our lives and doesn't mention the bad parts. I got a kick out of "the wife was content with her lot" - sez who? Some man? I don't have nostalgia for the old days, not one little bit.

I don't think our childhoods and the times were as perfect as we tend to remember, but still, life was more about family values and making do....and there wasn't a darn thing wrong with that!

Many of the memories and sentiments made me smile. Lol, my mouth was washed out so many times that it's a wonder I didn't blow bubbles. I swear, to this day I can STILL taste Ivory soap!

Thanks for sharing. :-)