I am such a lazy bum!

I've loved reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books ever since my parents gave me the set for Christmas when I was a little girl. The only one I had trouble with was Farmer Boy.  It took me years to get around to reading that one, but when I finally did it was one of my favorites. It always makes me hungry though, Almanzo was obsessed with food and it goes into extreme detail about several meals. And he's always eating doughnuts.

Anyway, I re-read that book just the other day, and I noticed something besides the food that really got me thinking. Those people did EVERYTHING for themselves!

They raised their own sheep, sheared them for the wool, spun and weaved the wool into cloth and made their own clothes, with a few exceptions (ie the women's Sunday clothes). They were farmers and grew just about every vegetable imaginable, they raised their own meat and butchered it themselves. They hauled their own lumber for building and firewood, they cut ice in the wintertime for use in the summer. They were always busy! The father and the boys were working on the farm with the animals (and they got to skip school when "there was more important work to do") and the mother and the girls were cooking, canning, sewing, cleaning (although the boys had to help with spring cleaning) and helping with the crops as well in extreme situations. Almanzo's idea of fun was breaking his pair of oxen to drive. Oh, he had a sled that he liked to ride on too, but he spent very little time being idle.

I read that book and felt so lazy afterwards. I have a hard time sometimes finding the energy to wash my dishes! I can't imagine doing the things Almanzo's mother did! I do feel better though about trying to start canning, and making my own curtains. I may not be up to Mother Wilder's standards, but I'm getting better about being self-sufficient.

Also, random thought, in the book, Mr. Paddock wanted to take Almanzo as an apprentice in his shop (I think he was a wheelwright) and Almanzo's mother was extremely upset. She seemed to think that owning your own business and being a skilled worker was a step down from being a farmer. They certainly saw it as important to be self sufficient in those days.