BabyBlogger

While I was reminiscing about when my children were small, the current world financial crisis was in the back of my mind.

I am not sure if some of you will be old enough to remember when the Pyramid Society crashed back in the 80’s.  Those my age and older certainly will.  We had two young children and a mortgage at the time.  The interest rates were going up, up and up.  We were paying 17. something %, say 18% interest on our loan, leaving only $20 left in the pay packet to live on.

Those were worrying times, a bit like today.  My husband and I managed to get through by living as cheaply as we could.  We only had one wage coming in so I could stay home with the children.

Some of the ways we managed to save a bit was as follows:

We bought powdered milk (yuk but it did the job).  Ate very little red meat, if we did it was a small amount of mince mixed with sausage mince.  With this I made small meat balls with lots of sauce, savoury mince dishes, spaghetti bolognaise etc.  To extend the mince, I bought packets of TVP (dried soy grits), soaked it and added it to the mince.  It wasn’t really noticeable.  I soaked beans and added them to most hot meals.

We bought the cheapest bread we could and used every bit of it.  Any left overs, were put in with the meat, or put in the bottom of a baking dish, topped with whatever I could find, sprinkled with cheese and beaten eggs poured over the top.  (Salt, spices, herbs added for flavour)  Always very filling. Rice  was a good filler and added to most things.

Breakfast was good old fashioned oats or rice if that was all I had.

I made chicken soup out of chicken carcasses as I couldn’t afford to buy the whole thing.  This was boiled up for the flavour and the soup filled with whatever goodies could be found.  This was served over a bowl full of rice with Maggi on top.

We were blessed to have friends and family who would arrive at times with a bagful of groceries for us.  The goodness in others touched us deeply.  Neighbors would bring over veges from their gardens.  Ron and I would go along the bush roads and collect the wild green apples.  These we would peel and cook into apple sauce which was a delight on cereals, rice, custards etc.

I made our own washing machine liquid by boiling down cakes of pure soap.  We used the car only when needed, walking was the norm.  I brushed my teeth with salt to save the paste for the kids.  Their clothes were homemade and the bed quilts were patchworked from scraps.  No fancy materials back then.

We managed and remained healthy.  When hard times come, you just cope, you have to. We knew it wouldn’t last, things always get better.  Even bad situations look good if you see it in the right light.  We learnt heaps from our experience and are thankful for it.

So with the media making the world sound so grim lately, remember the world has been through very tough times before and in those times, there were people who through desire and need saw opportunities around them and acted on them while others sank in despair.

Look around you, opportunity is always there.

See you next time.

Sharon

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As I write this, I am filled with joy and anticipation in the knowledge that we will be grandparents in the New Year.  27th April 2009 to be exact.

Holding a newborn baby in my arms is a wonderful experience but to know that this child will be our first grandchild fills me with great emotion.   Memories flood back to my own children as babies.  It sounds a long time ago but it doesn’t seem that long.  I have been looking forward to grandchildren for some time even before my own children were fully grown.  Babies, I love babies!  As mine grew, I longed for another and another.  But after four, my husband said he thought that was enough.  Over time, I gradually adjusted to the idea and was very thankful for the family we now had.

My Mother was one of 12 and my Dad, one of 4.  Having four children was a reasonably small family unit as I grew up but by the time we began to start our own, a family of four was classed as large.  Usually, people had to buy another car with a bench seat, a 4WD or a Tarago.   We drove around in two cars for the first 6 months if we needed to go out as a family or one person would stay behind.  These days, there are many more cars to choose from and more family friendly.

On the accommodation side of things, we added an extra bedroom after a few years.  I remember visiting my Grandma’s house and wondering how she slept all her children in the tiny two bedroom home.  My mum laughs and says that they slept 3-4 in the double bed and top to toe in the single beds on the veranda.  I might add that the verandah was not enclosed so they used to burn manure outside at night to keep the mozzies away!  Also as the new babies came along the older ones left home.  Gran’s kids lived outside during the day and only came in for meals, baths and bed.  They lived a very happy, carefree life.

Times change and I wonder how people’s lives will be in another 30 years or so.  Technology has progressed so quickly, it is hard to keep up, but also it brings us together.  The World Wide Web has brought us so many possibilities.  We can choose to shop online, study online, explore online, talk to family and friends online.  Even work online.  The possibilities are endless!

I have been browsing maternity sites, nursery sites, baby name sites, book sites and it goes on and off from the comfort of my own home.  Actually, time disappears when I am online.  There is so much to see and be involved in.  My daughter keeps in touch through the net, so she doesn’t feel far away.

I am sure we will be grandparents more than once and I look forward to it all.  To see life through the eyes of a child is to relive your own childhood experiences again.  If anyone out there is in the same boat as me and awaiting a grandchild, please add a comment to my blog so we can share in your joy as well.

To give is to receive.

Want to know how our family survived living on $20 a week?  Look out for my next blog….. 

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