2021 Frugal Living Challenge

summertime_2

florianatwobob; yes fresh air was a 'must' years ago. Its funny when l think of my old dad saying to us kids  if we ever moaned back then 'that us kids never had it so good'  Mom and dad was born just after the !st world war and times were really bad for my grandparents, so they both knew hardships plus they married during the 2nd world war and all the rationing.
l was just thinking of my moms strict  routine that she had with all those 7  kids. l did try to follow her example but  never managed to be as successful as her. She breastfed all of them, but l gave up when l had my 3rd as l couldnt manage my days housework timetable as her. Amazing when you think l had all the time saving products  ie vacuum cleaners, microwaves, et.c. This is what l was told was her routine, and memories of what l remember..
She would be up at 6am to light fire, feed the new baby, bath them and dress them in masses of warm hand knitted clothes.  Then get the rest of the school kids up for breakfast and get them off to school. Had to go on there own, even at age 5 yrs old,  but it was only a few yards down the street and of course much safer for kids on the own in those days. She would quickly tidy up so to get washing done( ie cotton nappies, no disposable ones in those days and on line by 9am. Monday was the full washday but babies clothes washed daily. All housework done by 11 am. then teabreak with neighbour. 11.30 walk to local shops to be back for school kids home for dinner at 12. (saturday was market day so older child who's off school looked after baby, while mom and dad went to meat market to get weekends joint of lamb and fresh veg  and fresh baked jam doughnuts for us for teatime treat.
Kids home for lunch 12 to lpm.  Hot Dinner was at night when dad home...then tidy up again  from 1 to 2 then babies nk feed and change at 2pm and back in pram.
Night dinner prep at 3pm and kids home at 4 pm.We had to do school homework before we could go out to play, plus a few jobs around the house, ie get washing in from outside, clean our school shoes for next day, etc etc. We played outside in all weather till 6pm teatime. and we loved it, playing out there even in the dark in winter...how times have changed for safety of children ! Boys as well as the girls had to make their own bed before school, keep room tidy ,learn to repair there own clothes by the age of 11... thats one thing l did do ,is my son could sew and repair his school trousers  etc by age 11 , his future wife was very impressed he could sew ! Sunday was bathtime at 7pm, Bed at 8pm with hot drink and biscuits and cozy tucked up with massive of blankets with flanellete sheets and nightwear in Winter .And lots of beano comic's, Story books & yearly comic Annuals.   Her evenings after washing up etc was sewing. ie repairing sheets, making a few clothes.  l never managed to fully keep to her routine as hard as l tried....Hard times for her but lovely homely times for us.

florianatwobob

@summertime_2 I think your mum must’ve been Wonder Woman! Interestingly fresh air for babies is still
a must in Scandinavian countries. They’re often left outside cafes and in balconies!

C_J

@nannygladys : if you'd like to give yourself a treat but not spend as much as a bottle of Jo Malone perfume, Aldi do a range of eau de toilette (numbers 1, 3 and 14 I think - the rose one, the lime and bergamot one, and the pomegranate one) which are really good dupes of the Jo Malone fragrances (at a tiny fraction of the cost). They often have the hand lotion and body wash in store all year round, but keep a look out for the perfumes as they get those around this time of year.

annieb64

My mother used to put us outside in the pram with a cat net over the top to stop cats sitting on us.

Living_proof

You should never put a baby out in a fog apparently. By the time mine were tiny, the fear was that someone would come along and steal them. There is a theory that since children have spent very little time outside in early babyhood, more allergies are rife because they miss out on the fungal spores in the environment.

prepareathome

I remember when my oldest was 4 weeks old, we were going to an important family function that started at 10am and there was thick fog and phone never stopped ringing with all the older family members calling to say that they know I wanted to go and they wanted to see my daughter but as so foggy I was not to come as she could not go out in fog at that age, so I said OK, but not one could ever say why just it was bad for her lungs.   Never did ask a doctor if it was true or an old wives' tale.   I did used to put all mine out, all wrapped up in their hand knitted clothes, in their prams every day it was day for an hour or so with cat net over the pram - this was late 1970s, early 1980s.  

DawnW

I used to put my babies outside in their prams in the garden in the 1970s and 80s. Only if the weather was nice enough to have the door open to keep an eye / listen out for them though. We lived in the country with few passers by, and I certainly never even considered that they would be stolen. As for the cats, I did use a net when the oldest was really tiny, but they very soon learned that it was best to avoid babies and therefore prams at all costs

tboo

Is the 'not taking babies out in fog' from the older generation harking back to the smog days?

I wasn't told this by my older relatives but saying that I never went out in the fog anyway.

nannygladys

C_J - I will have a look in Adli, I use Lydal as its nearer, but Adli isn't that much further.

I'm another who used Terry nappies, two dozen every other day boiled and washed, and mostly line dried, it was lovely to see all the white nappies on the lines, and we used to gossip about the not so white looking ones over morning coffee, we were very proud to keep them snowy white!!!! Can't believe that was the worst gossip we did lol. Oh I had two babies very close together, hence lots of nappies!! And they (babies) were put outside but in the back garden, it's so funny looking back on it lol. It's all changed as it should.

Leftovers for tea and I've as already made tea for tomorrow, as I put in my recipe book that it tastes better the day after lol.
Nannyg

joedenise

Another who's babies wore terry nappies; disposables were only just becoming available when my eldest was born.  They were using disposables in the hospital apart from when the baby had a bath and then it was a terry nappy - so just one a day!

The disposables were the sort where you cut some off a roll and it went inside plastic pants, not very comfortable for the baby at all.  I used to use the roll inside the terry nappy on my eldest as she could sleep for England and used to pee so much overnight!

I always put mine out in their pram in the back garden every day.  I'm sure that's why today's youngsters seem to have so many allergies as they were kept cooped up indoors rather than getting the fresh air and thus building up immunity from various stuff in the air.