I’m enjoying reading everyone’s comments though. It’s certainly opened my eyes to how good we have it these days.

We heated water on the camp stove, and washed dishes in plastic dishpans outside. We washed some clothes in our small “power washer” (sold at Lehman’s – you add clothes, hot water, soap – then you shut the lid and turn the crank to tumble the clothes).

Yes, the weather was hot – REALLY hot. And we had to have the windows closed most nights because we discovered the hard way that the mosquito truck would go down the street in the middle of the night. However, I was so thankful to be able to still use the toilet and wash my hands.

We had oil lamps (though they just made it hotter – it was easier to just go to bed once it got dark), and my children thought it was great. They had the best time, and were actually a little disappointed when the power finally came back on. BLESS those tireless linemen who worked day and night until everyone had power restored! And it was WONDERFUL to finally be able to take a full shower instead of a sponge bath with a wet cloth (though it was lovely and cool in the middle of a hot day).

So, while all the modern conveniences are great, it is possible to be entirely happy without them. We had prepared, and instead of spending money on a generator we used it on the campstove and canned goods. Because we were blessed to have our main house intact, we enjoyed the time together and had a wonderful adventure.

But let’s not give up our indoor toilets!

I spent a year living with my two girls in a cabin in the Southern Virginia back-woods. There I learned to live without a dishwasher….garbage disposal…..trash pickup…….carpet……bathtub…cable TV.

The thing I missed the most during those months was probably the dishwasher because I hate doing dishes and I had very little counter space in that cabin and dirty dishes just seemed to pile up! I also really missed having a bathtub and being able to just soak in a tub of warm water.

I am back in civilized Arizona now…living in the burbs in my pretty house (made of ticky tacky). I now miss certain things about that cabin….like the quiet, the coziness and the rustic nature of it all. But I have my dishwasher and a garden-sized tub that I get to soak in all I want (although I don’t use it nearly as much as I thought I would!).

So, it’s funny to read your grandmother’s list and see that I’ve had to do without some of those things myself, or at least haven’t had them in the ways other housewives had.

For instance, we did not have a car our first five years of marriage. ou first year we lived in a big city and were able to take public trans, which was great (although still pretty tricky to bringhome your groceries on the bus). After that, however, my hubby got a job in a very rural location. So for the next four years of my life, shopping was whatever I coud haul in my granny cart across town, or begging a ride occassionally for larger order shopping. A year after having our own wheels, I am still so thankful i can go to the store when i need to.

I have never had a dishwasher and probably won’t for a good long while. What’s more, I have yet to live in an apartment with a double sink. I am greatful for all that god has given me, and as someone who works for an international missions org., I am honestly so thankful just to have clean, hot water coming out of my pipe. That being said, single-sink dish washing is not always fun.

We have never had central air but we have always had a window AC for the summer for the bedroom and, this year with our income increase, we bought two, one for each end of the apartment. I honestly don’t know how those poor people lived before AC. And as for heat, as we are the upstairs of a split house, the downstairs tenants control the thermostat, so there are definitely nights whenw e just put on a sweater and another blanket.

As for clothes washers, oh man I can’t imagine life without them. i had to take a taxi to the junky laundromat here in town for a good two years, before we moved into an apartment building with a machine in the basemement. I just couldn’t do it without them.

And how about lighting? And refrigeration and freezing? I would lose my mind without those things I think.

Great post! Thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/More-Work-Mother-Household-Technology/dp/0465047327/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226602202&sr=8-1

I loved how this book explains how we got to where we are today, what we’ve gained by industrialization and what we’ve lost. It’s a very interesting read and I was able to find it at my library.

Another good book is Made From Scratch, Reclaiming the American Hearth. Link: http://www.amazon.com/Made-Scratch-Reclaiming-Pleasures-American/dp/0684869594/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226602875&sr=1-1

Both are excellent reads if you’re interested in the history of Women and our role in home keeping.