I had it tough...but washing diapers?

There's nothing like reader mail to keep a lifestyles editor in check every now and then. Nope, I'm not referring to my anonymous fan (or not) who likes to point out my errors -- yes, anonymously -- claiming I don't pay attention to my work.

I am referring to a friend of mine who so graciously made gave me a new perspective on parenthood. Admittedly, I have been preoccupied with the upcoming arrival of my first child (which may be one reason I've not paid close enough attention to grammar, crossing my T's and dotting my I's), and Grandma L.'s perspective was very much welcomed by my inbox.

Expectant moms today have it hard -- I mean really, really hard. If our partners aren't smart enough to install an infant car seat, we actually have to drive to the police station where they do it -- for us.

We have to decide what color to have our nursery painted (we are not allowed to do that ourselves!), what theme to go with, what decorative items to place on the wall. All tough decisions!

We have to buy a large supply of diapers, enough to get us through at least the first two weeks. Now that's tough.

We have tons of extra laundry to do to get all those onsies that have been given to us at our showers soft and fresh for the baby. The hardest part of getting ready for a baby has to be deciding what outfit we want our newborn to wear home from the hospital. It's just so challenging!

All these "chores" are really, really exhausting, and I'm sure it's just nature's way of getting us ready for what's to come, including dozens of daily diaper changes and oh, don't let me forget, all that extra laundry to go with the many sleepless nights. Does life get any harder?

Okay, back to reader mail and back to reality. My kind friend, Grandma L (whom I was fortunate to meet several months back), wanted me to feel better about the mounting chores in front of me. She is a wise woman, because her letter, which follows, did just that. I now know that us expectant moms and new moms simply haven't got a clue.

Dear Sadie:

I don't know if anyone ever wrote to you about the way we used to have to wash clothes and I don't know what was written in the laundry book, but I do know how it was done.

The day before or early on the morning (Monday), we gathered up the wood for the fire, and sometimes had to haul the water from the creek or draw enough from the well. Then, we filled that old black wash pot, built the fire, got the water very hot, separated the clothes, white, colored and overalls, got the tubs out, got a bucket to dip water out of the pot and fill one tub, took the wash board and rubbed that bar of soap up and down and scrubbed every piece of white clothes then put them in the pot of boiling water (had soap in there).

We also had a long paddle that we punched the clothes down with let them boil while we did the same thing to the colored clothes and overalls. After all was scrubbed the first time, we dumped that water out and put fresh water in the tub, brought the white ones out of the pot and put the colored ones in. We rubbed the whites while the others boiled, rinsed the whites and hung them on the line. We did the rest the same way, overalls last.

I never hung any on the fence. I wasn't going to work that hard and use the fence for a clothes line.

After bending over the wash board all day, it was hard to straighten up -- It sure was hard on your back.

A line full of pure white diapers was a beautiful sight.

Young women today don't know how lucky they really are. I don't imagine many have even washed a diaper.

I really appreciate my washing machine.

(Sadie, I wrote this several years ago. I though you might like to see how I washed diapers. Thank the Lord you don't have to.)

Thanks, Grandma L., for a much-needed reality check.

-- Sadie Fowler is lifestyles editor of the Times-Gazette. She may be reached at sfowler@t-g.com.