Chores

Each of us kids had our chores. We had to make our beds, dust the furniture, help sweep and mop the floors.  The boys would herd the cattle in for milking.  In summer we had to work in the garden pulling weeds–two rows each every day.  I detested doing that.  My favorite job was doing laundry.  We had a wringer washer, and two rinse tubs.  It was fun to put the clothes thru the wringer, being careful to keep them centered, and not too many at a time or the wringer would pop open.  After the second rinse, I got to hang the wash on the clotheslines that Daddy had built outside the back door on the corner of the lawn.  I loved to hang the colors together so it would look like a rainbow.  The ever present Wyoming breeze would dry each load by the time the next was ready to hang.  

Supper time we also had chores. We took turns doing dishes.  One would set the table, one would clear the table after meals, another would wash dishes and another dry and put them away.  Sometimes my brothers seemed to finish washing and drying dishes really fast.  But later Mom found that they had hidden the dirty pots and pans in the oven.  We girls never minded, that meant they had to have extra turns and we were free to play.