Women's Jobs
Cooking
One part of a women's daily life is cooking. Women had to farm along with kids and men to get food to cook for the family. Women would be cooking most of the day. Women would have to wake up early, such as 5:00 in the morning to cook breakfast, which would take around an hour or two. She would take a break to eat, then she would start making lunch which would take 2 or 3 hours. Sometimes if another families mother was sick, one mother would have to cook for 2 families which would take double the time. Then the mother would eat lunch and go back to cooking for dinner. Dinner would take about 2 to 3 hours. The mother would eat dinner and have some time to do other house work like cleaning. Sometimes for breakfast, a family would eat berries fresh from the farm. For lunch and dinner, they would eat eggs with either turkey or chicken, what ever they have more of on the farm. As a drink, they would have fresh milk from the cow or some boiled water. They would boil the water because they did not have very clean water so there could be parasites or bacteria that could make you sick, boiling the water would kill those bacteria so it would be useable.
Cleaning
Women had to clean around the house. After a meal, women had to clean dirty dishes, and when I say dirty, I mean DIRTY! Every one was in the family, besides the mother, was a slob, and guess what, slobs dont bother to clean after them selves. Women had to carry the dirty dishes to the sink, rinse off of all the food and stains on the plate/bowl and if you had a soap bar, you would put that on the dishes. You had to be a pretty rich person to be able to buy a bar of soap, so most families had to eat on partly dirty plates each day. Women also had to clean clothes after a day's work. Women used a wash board to scrub clothes clean with water and very little soap that may or may not clean your clothes, but after this at least your clothes wont stink. Women had to clean rooms around the house, but as always it wont clean completely, the dust will just go away, not much more. And finally, women had to clean people. Women back then had a lot of kids and kids did not wash themselves so women had to wash their kids. Sometimes if a mother had an old daughter she would have to wash her siblings.
Troubles for Family
As it says in the introduction, Women were a big part of a pioneer life. In the family, women did all the house house work like cooking, cleaning, and doing everything. If something happened to the mother, the family would be in danger, because no one else in the family knew how to do what the women did. Now do you get why the family would be in trouble if the women wasn't there. Men would find find new wife's to help around the house if something happened to his wife, that's how desperate families were for a woman in their family. Always remember that Pioneer woman are very hard working and you cant live without them.
One part of a women's daily life is cooking. Women had to farm along with kids and men to get food to cook for the family. Women would be cooking most of the day. Women would have to wake up early, such as 5:00 in the morning to cook breakfast, which would take around an hour or two. She would take a break to eat, then she would start making lunch which would take 2 or 3 hours. Sometimes if another families mother was sick, one mother would have to cook for 2 families which would take double the time. Then the mother would eat lunch and go back to cooking for dinner. Dinner would take about 2 to 3 hours. The mother would eat dinner and have some time to do other house work like cleaning. Sometimes for breakfast, a family would eat berries fresh from the farm. For lunch and dinner, they would eat eggs with either turkey or chicken, what ever they have more of on the farm. As a drink, they would have fresh milk from the cow or some boiled water. They would boil the water because they did not have very clean water so there could be parasites or bacteria that could make you sick, boiling the water would kill those bacteria so it would be useable.
Cleaning
Women had to clean around the house. After a meal, women had to clean dirty dishes, and when I say dirty, I mean DIRTY! Every one was in the family, besides the mother, was a slob, and guess what, slobs dont bother to clean after them selves. Women had to carry the dirty dishes to the sink, rinse off of all the food and stains on the plate/bowl and if you had a soap bar, you would put that on the dishes. You had to be a pretty rich person to be able to buy a bar of soap, so most families had to eat on partly dirty plates each day. Women also had to clean clothes after a day's work. Women used a wash board to scrub clothes clean with water and very little soap that may or may not clean your clothes, but after this at least your clothes wont stink. Women had to clean rooms around the house, but as always it wont clean completely, the dust will just go away, not much more. And finally, women had to clean people. Women back then had a lot of kids and kids did not wash themselves so women had to wash their kids. Sometimes if a mother had an old daughter she would have to wash her siblings.
Troubles for Family
As it says in the introduction, Women were a big part of a pioneer life. In the family, women did all the house house work like cooking, cleaning, and doing everything. If something happened to the mother, the family would be in danger, because no one else in the family knew how to do what the women did. Now do you get why the family would be in trouble if the women wasn't there. Men would find find new wife's to help around the house if something happened to his wife, that's how desperate families were for a woman in their family. Always remember that Pioneer woman are very hard working and you cant live without them.
Women's Free Time
Women rarely had free time, but when they did, they used it wisely. Learn all about what women did during their free time on this part of the page.
Learning/Writing
In women's free time, women loved to learn, read, and write. As a kid, women did not have a good chance of learning, because Girls were learning how to work around the house, so when they grew up, they would be perfect at their job. Now, when women had a chance, they would learn as much as possible. Women also got together with other women to collect scraps of paper, and berries to make ink and a feather. Women would stay together to make books. Women loved to write anything, but they especially loved to write novels or biographies about themselves. After women wrote their books, they kept them to themselves, surprisingly. Now, when people write a book they at least let their families see the book, but women wouldn't even share it with their closest friends.
Staying with Friends
Just like everyone today, women stayed with their friends. Mostly, this would happen when when women were married. Women would go to empty house and sit a large table, because when women got together, it was probably 10-15 women. Women would bring yarn and knitting needles so while they were talking they could also help around the house, but this was a fun way of helping. As far as I know, women talked about their work and their family. Mostly, they were mean things like, "My kids never work around the house, but my husband, he is never here!" As you can see, women really had to have some kind of work in mind no matter what, if it was thinking about it or doing it, it was in their minds. Thats a struggle for pioneer woman, now a days mothers only think of work when there at a job or at home, never this much!
Bibliography:
•Life on a Pioneer Homestead by Sally Senzell Isaacs
•www.BrainPOP.com
Staying with Friends
Just like everyone today, women stayed with their friends. Mostly, this would happen when when women were married. Women would go to empty house and sit a large table, because when women got together, it was probably 10-15 women. Women would bring yarn and knitting needles so while they were talking they could also help around the house, but this was a fun way of helping. As far as I know, women talked about their work and their family. Mostly, they were mean things like, "My kids never work around the house, but my husband, he is never here!" As you can see, women really had to have some kind of work in mind no matter what, if it was thinking about it or doing it, it was in their minds. Thats a struggle for pioneer woman, now a days mothers only think of work when there at a job or at home, never this much!
Bibliography:
•Life on a Pioneer Homestead by Sally Senzell Isaacs
•www.BrainPOP.com