Child Discipline. How many times have you heard someone say, "What are you supposed to do? Children don't come with a manual!" Nowadays, they don't have to. It seems like there's a parenting expert on every corner.
A century ago, none of these experts were available - but even then, people still came up with parenting ideas. (Remember "children should be seen and not heard"?)
I suppose child discipline has been discussed in every play group, at every quilting bee, and around every cook pot since time began.
But it all boils down to this - what works well for one child, doesn't work for the next - and we all have to figure it out for ourselves.
Henry and Naomi Heninger faced parenting challenges just like we all do...here's what they did.
Henry and Naomi raised their family of ten children in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Shortly after their 6th child was born in 1897, Henry was called to serve an LDS mission, leaving Naomi to take care of the farm and family.
Their oldest son, Lorin, was only nine years old - but still expected to do his share around the farm. Naomi's younger brothers lived nearby, and they would also come to help.
One day the "helpers" were doing their farm chores, and got to playing. They started chasing the pig - and chased it until it fell down dead.
What was Naomi to do? How do you discipline (punish) children for killing a pig?
She did the only thing she could do. She cut out large letters spelling "Pig Killers" and pasted them on the their foreheads.
Why have I never thought of that?
After Henry came home from his mission, he stepped in to help with parenting.
Henry was well-known for his lengthy prayers. One night during the family prayer, some of the boys started getting bored and unruly, giggling and poking each other. Henry stopped praying and walked over to the kindling pile. He came back, swatted each boy's behind with a piece of kindling - then knelt down and continued his prayer right where he left off.
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One traditional parenting method was to sit the child in the corner in the pouting chair. This is Miles pouting in my pouting chair.
My Mommy's kind-of short you see,
She bought this chair for her, not me.
It helps her reach the things up high,
Without it she wouldn't even try.
It looks like a chair as you can see,
Now she uses it for me.
When I'm bad she makes me sit,
In the corner, facing it.
I usually cry when I'm there,
That's why it's called my pouting chair.
-Anonymous-
Here's a list of some other parenting techniques I've heard of (or tried...or had tried on me!):
What did your ancestors do to discipline their children? How about you? I hope you'll leave me a comment and help me add to my list! Just click on comments below, and follow the instructions!
More pouters....
Naomi Heninger was a good cook.
That's what it says in a history written by her granddaughter. And I believe it.
Especially when I read how hard she had to work to put on a good meal. These days, you can make a gourmet meal with all the fixings and hardly do any work, thanks to Costco and pre-made everything....
And if you throw away the box, everybody will think you made it yourself!
But it wasn't that way for Naomi. Back in the early 1900's, everything was homemade.
Naomi cooked on a coal stove and baked in a coal oven. When someone asked her for a recipe, she would say, "I put a dash of this and a pinch of that - a handful of flour - a cap of vanilla - a sprinkle of nutmeg." Vanilla was her favorite flavoring, and nutmeg her favorite spice.
She was well-known for her yummy pies - no one could make them quite as good. She always made her pie crusts from lard that she rendered herself.
Anyway, Naomi's apple pies were the best. She used Asterkin apples if they were available, and if not, she used her own bottled apples. (Yes, every year she bottled hundreds of quarts of fruit.) For the pie, she sliced the apples thin, dotted them with butter, some sugar, and always nutmeg that she would grind herself.
When Naomi called one of the children to bring a cup of cold water from the pump (FROM THE PUMP!), they knew their daddy was hungry for pies . It took several pies to go around, and they could each have one piece - there were ten children after all. She made custard pies (always flavored with nutmeg, and a little lemon extract); mincemeat pies (made from scratch); and squash pies (prepared from a squash, not a can!)
Naomi made a couple of delicious desserts that were everybody's favorite.
One was called Lumpy Dick.
Another was Dead Pig Pudding. Really.
When Naomi made suet pudding, she put it in muslin and tied each end in a double knot. It resembled a dead pig with its feet in the air. So it was called Dead Pig Pudding.
Naomi even churned her own butter, and they always had plenty of buttermilk. Her churn was a wooden one shaped something like a half barrel, with a handle on the side, which her father had made for her.
The story is told that Naomi loved to read, but her husband Henry thought it was a waste of time. So when she was churning butter, she would read with the book in her lap while she churned. If Henry came in the house while she was reading, she would just cover the book with her apron and keep right on churning.
Naomi made delicious hot biscuits with buttermilk, a little cream, a half teaspoon soda and a teaspoon of baking powder. And she always mixed her dough for bread and let it "set" at night.
Just thinking about all that hard work to feed a family of ten children makes me exhausted. If I'm out of milk or bread, I run to the store - night or day. I make rolls only if I want to. And I can buy any kind of fruit, even in the dead of winter.
Right about now, I'm feeling pretty spoiled.
If Naomi walked into my beautiful kitchen and saw my fridge with the ice maker and water dispenser, my dual fuel range, and my dishwasher (!) what would she say? (Not to mention indoor plumbing and flush toilets....)
I don't think she'd be envious. And I hope she wouldn't think I'm lazy. You know, I think she'd be happy for me. I think she'd walk around with me and let me show her how everything works - and she'd probably be thrilled at all the little conveniences we have to make our lives easier.
I hope she'd sit a spell and let me wait on her. I could take her to Costco and let her sample all the gourmet treats. And when we got back, maybe she'd even lay back in the Lazy Boy and read a book.
And after that, I really hope she would teach me how to make Dead Pig Pudding.
Vintage Arm and Hammer label courtesy of The Vintage Moth.
This is my entry in the Carnival of Genealogy's
A Tribute to Women
Why in the world did we ever stop wearing hats? Aren't they beautiful? Plus, think of all the stress you'd save on a bad hair day...just put on a cute hat!
Hats must have been all the rage in the early 20th century in Logan, Utah, and the surrounding communities. From the looks of things, every girl had more than one hat. I think they might have been the most important fashion accessory.
My
great-grandmother, Sarah Ann Brown Gunnell was a milliner or hat maker.
She wrote a short life story - this little excerpt tells how she got
her start making hats:
Sarah Ann Gunnell"At the age 16, I was sent to learn the millenary and dress making art to Sister Ellen Whiton. Thereafter I followed that line in a limited way sewing and making straw hats. My sister braiding the straw and various patterns. I had become quite adept at making the trimming for the hats out of the natural and died straw thus we manufactured all the family hats and sold many."
These are her three oldest children - Rosella, Veda, and Charles - I'm sure she's the one that made their cute little hats!
What about you - do you wish we still wore hats like they used to wear? What kind of hat would you choose? Do you have old family photos of women wearing hats?
I hope you'll leave me a comment and let me know - just click on "comments" below this post and follow the instructions!
This story is my contribution to the 10th edition of the Blog Carnival "Smile for the Camera."
Comments Imported from Blogger:
I love the hats. I like to wear baseball caps but how awesome would it be if we wore hats like those. They would be like shoes for me...get one you love and then you have to buy clothes to match it. My favorite is the one Hazel has on in the portrait. She sure was pretty! ~Jenny
I'm with you - a hat for every outfit...or an outfit for every hat!
Love all the hat photos. My Mom makes hats-crocheted-for my girls they wear them a lot-but aren't allowed to wear them to school which is a bummer.