The Way It Was – a cooking pot and twisted tales

Without thinking twice, doing the laundry is not a chore that I am fond of. Thankfully, washing machines are in existence and we can cut ourselves some slack.

I remember my growing up years back home, we washed tons of clothes by hand and it was not a task to sneeze at. Every Saturday morning, would find me seated on a stool in the backyard of my parents big compound, with a big basin filled with soapy water and bales of clothing in the cloth basket waiting for my fond attention. As I didn’t know better then, it was absolutely fine and helped in domesticating me and my siblings – except my brothers who always tried to escape washing their clothes and would rather go through their entire wardrobe till there’s no clean stitch left to wear.

Now that I recall, I think my mother wasn’t fond of washing either and as soon as she could lay her hands on a top-loading washing machine that had been imported by a friend of the family, she quickly committed her finances into acquiring one. We were elated! We felt like the bourgeoisie and that we had climbed a rung on the social ladder. Not only did we have a landline telephone, we now had a washing machine to boot! I was the envy of my friends for a long time to come.

Fast-forward to my adult years, one of the household gadgets that I promised to buy myself was a washer-dryer as I didn’t want to spend valuable time washing tons of clothing items. My husband is still has an old-fashioned approach towards washing especially his inner whites as he believes that the machine does not do justice to the job. I made it understood that from the get-go when we got hitched 23 years ago, that ‘moi’ cannot be doing that handwashing.

He wasn’t particularly enthused at my obstinacy, but I stuck to my guns, fed him good meals, kept him happy in bed, gave him beautiful children, supported him in many other ways, kept our home warm and welcoming. I wasn’t about to start something that I knew I wouldn’t be able to sustain doing and I refuse to do things that I will only do reluctantly and grumble about. We came to an understanding pretty quickly and living happily ever after, thanks to the laundry machine.

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In my very young eye’s three of my grandparents were quite elites of their time, but I had a grandfather whose views of women was a bit too caveman and archaic, even I could recognize at quite a young age that he had a bad case of chauvinism.

Even though the short time spent around all of them was spent with their doting eyes and loving expression’s showered on their grandchildren, with some pampering and extra helpings of boiled groundnuts, roasted melon seed and the likes, I knew that the way grandpa treated my grandma was harsh, because his temper was quite short towards her.

If he were to return to pay a visit to my house for dinner, I bet his socks would fall off in shock when he hears me and my husband carrying on a conversation on just about every topic under the Sun.

His expectation would be that I should be sweating over the kitchen stove while the men discussed politics and drank straight scotch.

I am equally sure that he would be mortified at the modern audacity of women. The fact that we can blog and engage in conversations with other menfolk who are neither our Lords nor our Masters. As a matter of fact, he just might advise my husband to keep me in hand since he would consider that I have far too much lee-way.

Certainly, he would probably faint from shock when the conversation turns to politics and he hears that the a woman is daring to vy for the seat of The President of the United States of America.

On the other hand, I think that my grandma would be pleased with the recent advancement’s made to ease housework for women. She would be tickled with the dishwasher, washing machine and the vacuum cleaner. No more bending to sweep with the broom spuriously to ensure that the house is spic and span, no more hand washing heaps of clothes until the skin of your hands almost peel off.

She would be secretly pleased even if she keeps her opinions away from the ears of grumpy grandpa. She would probably want to sneak a mobile phone back with her as she leaves.

The Daily Post prompt Modern Families.

If one of your late ancestors were to come back from the dead and join you for dinner, what things about your family would this person find the most shocking?