Mama made me take out the trash, make up my bed, set the dinner table, polish living room plants with mayonnaise, hang clothes on clothesline, bring in clothes from the clothesline, shop at the corner grocery, shell peas and snap beans, crack and shell pecans, and take my turn churning the peach ice cream on the back porch.
Those were my regular chores before age 10. Then I guess Mama thought I had passed the age of breaking things, and I was promoted to dish dryer. We worked our kitchen duty assembly line in an orderly fashion. My older sister washed the dinner dishes and placed them on the drain board to her left, and I stood at the drain board ready to grab the next dish with my towel.
Usually I put everything I dried up in the cabinets and drawers immediately. But sometimes I would dry plates and stack them below the cabinet where they belonged. That was located on the right side counter, and my sister would wash them again. We went round and round a couple of times before I realized she was washing the clean dishes. We laugh about it now. She is 76, and I am 70.
Defrosting the refrigerator was always a dreaded chore for me. Mama always made me help her. She would put a pot of hot water inside, and I had to chisel frost and icicles off with a table knife.
One Saturday Daddy, Mama and I stripped the yellowed wax build up off the kitchen floor. We used paint scrapers, table knives and razor blades inch by inch on our knees all day. Then she would add a fresh coat of wax to make the floor shine bright again.
I confess that I hated hanging the wash on the clothesline and having to take it all down later that day. But now…I would love to sleep on sun-dried sheets and dry with those stiff bath towels that my Mama washed for me.
In my childhood home, I learned about responsibility, team work, organization, cleanliness and so much more!
©️ 2019 princess2ears
