The thing I dreaded the most was taking my younger brothers to the movies with me. It was in a neighboring town and I used my babysitting money to go. I was maybe twelve or thirteen, so they would have been six and nine. I remember whining that my other friends didn't have to bring their brothers with them. Needless to say, I made them sit far away from me.
As for chores, I remember handing laundry on the clothesline as young as eight or nine. Pretty much the same for washing dishes but I am pretty sure I started with just drying them when my mother washed. By high school, I did all the family ironing and believe it or not, I enjoyed it. I'd put on several favorite records and iron all afternoon. I loved seeing the wrinkles disappearing. My brother who was three years younger than me, decided he would only wear white cotton button-down long sleeve shirts when he was in junior high. Of course they were cotton (this was the early 60s) and needed spray starch. I can still smell them as I ironed them.
The only chore I remember avoiding was when I was in high school. We had moved from Massachusetts to rural New Hampshire and my mother planted a vegetable garden. I hated weeding (we'd never heard of gardening gloves) and getting dirt under my fingernails. To this day, I dislike and avoid gardening of any kind.
What was your hated chore or thing you hated to do as a child?
My brother and I had to keep our bedrooms clean and between us wash and dry the dishes. As we got older I also did the ironing for extra pocket money, and I too love to iron whilst watching a movie.
ReplyDeleteWe were latch key kids so from about age 10-12 years we had to prepare the evening meal to be ready when the parents got home from work. (Mum left instructions on what to make.)
Weekends my brother had to vacuum the stairs and landing, and I had to clean the bathroom which I hated with a passion, to this day I detest scrubbing toilets!
We all did laundry between us, and if it started to rain whoever was home would run out to bring the clothes in off the line.
Household chores were just a normal part of growing up, so I find it strange nowadays that some kids don’t know how to do the basics of cleaning and cooking and keeping house.
Kids today are a different breed, aren't they.
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