Day Twenty Two
Day 22. The number 22 makes me think of when I was 22.
Do you remember being 22 years old?
It's a long time ago for me. That would have been in the year 1977. I became pregnant with our second baby in the month of February when the snow was blowing and I was extremely active with our first son who was a whirl wind of energy. Dear Elvis Presley died that SUMMER when I was prego. He was my Mother.In.Laws favorite guy performer. SHE absolutely loved him. A true FAN.
1977 was a fantastic year to have a BABY!!! What a delightful LIFE I had and have. Having a baby during the cold months and tippy toeing into the WINTER where I could stay indoors and enjoy tending to two little boys was ideal for me as I did not like getting out into the cold air with babies.
I was blessed to stay HOME and make due as best I could on my Husband's salary. No DAY CARE to go to so I could work a job outside the HOME. I was the DAY CARE with my children in my care and I LOVED it that way.
I did not want a BABY SITTER sitting for me. I wanted the privilege of taking care of my own children. Financially it was tight, tough and a task. Not easy by any means, but we made it, ate well, had clean clothes, clean bodies, paid our bills, lived in a very clean tiny tidy house that we called HOME and lived an honest LIFE. Our freedoms were in tact as we were young and busy being real.
I regret not being more creative during this time, but was so busy with the babies and house that I really didn't have the energy or time to be creative with crafts and decorating. Truly we all have the same number of hours in a day, but not all have the same responsibilities in that day.
I made their bedroom cute as I could with toys and a play area. They were allowed to be with me through out the house. We lived in a small two bedroom rental with a huge fenced in back yard. My Kitchen was so tiny there was standing room only for 1 and a half people. The fridge was outside the door sitting in the larger Dining room. There was barely room for a stove in this Kitchen where a sink was in front of a window. I could wash dishes as I looked outside the window that let light into this small room.
If we had had one of those miniature stoves in this room it would have worked better than the huge range we had on loan to us. Also have a miniature fridge that's on the market these days for apartment living. TINY KITCHEN. The L-shaped work area was fine for lil ole me. It worked alright for fixing meals and washing dishes. Alright in deed.
I use to sterilize the baby bottles and nipples on the stove top. I was into clean and sterile and this worked well. A large pan full of water to boil and sterilize the babies bottles. The throw away plastic bags that you could use were not in my budget. Nor were cloth diapers. So I was one of those mommas that washed bottles and diapers. Even hung the diapers on the clothes line to dry. Used plastic pants to cover the cloth diapers so the wet didn't get all over things.
Plastic pants are a thing of the past as far as I know. If we hadn't used plastic pants then it would have been easier to tell when Baby was wet and needed a change, but we didn't want urine on the upholstered furniture. So it was either the plastic pants or no upholstered furniture.
I had chocolate brown with white ruffled curtains in my tiny Kitchen. I remember those curtains.....I loved them so much for a poor woman. AND I was stinking poor, but loved.
The phone hung on the Dining room wall. There was a room furnace in there beside the bathroom that held a clawfoot tub. A large linen closet in the bathroom made a nice storage area.
I think often about that small cottage home
that I hold dear in my heart.
My little Living room was large enough for a full size sofa, end tables with a couple of chairs and a television set. Get this....we had a black and white tele and I don't mean the outer casing was black and white. The picture that was shown on the screen was what was called black and white. Only got a handful of stations as we were not on cable and there was no such thing as cable in our neck of the woods at that time.
If there had been we wouldn't have had it as we were poor as church mice as some would say. Some would have called us poor white trash and we didn't even live in a trailer. I don't call people poor white trash, but have heard this said about some.
Poor white trash.
Well....how do you do?
I'm fine Thank you,
d
