FW Pg 3:Issue 3 23/04/2009 09:10 Page 3
Worldwide President’s letter
Changes and challenges
riendsDear F
As I drafted this lett
er I was ironing
. It’s a chore that I dislike but it does
make good think
ing time. Actually
, with the development of modern
fabrics, the pile of ir
oning is much smaller these da
ys so maybe soon
there won’t be an
ything to iron, and I shall ha
ve to find another
‘thinking space
’.
Meanwhile I wonder ho
w the ironing has r
eflected changes in family
life. I enjoy the lack of ir
oning but my mother didn
’t have that luxur
y. After
marrying, my mother didn
’t work outside the home and I r
emember that
Monday was washing da
y and the ironing was M
onday evening
’s task. Laundry was a whole da
y
event and the house smelt of washing!
Wet washing was alwa
ys pegged outside t
o dry and the
fresh ironing was strung on a special rack and hauled up t
owards the ceiling t
o air. She had no
washing machine as I do
, but a Burco boiler and a hand-wringer
. It was just one of the jobs that
had to be done ar
ound the home without the advantage of modern labour-sa
ving machines
.
Her mother bef
ore her had a lif
e that was focused in on the home and the family t
oo. I can
remember being sho
wn her very hea
vy, black ‘flat iron
’ into which you put hot c
oals to give the
heat required t
o press out the cr
eases in material
. Life revolved ar
ound the tasks in the home and
raising a family
. My generation has had the oppor
tunity to widen our horiz
ons and develop a
career. I always had a job outside the home ex
cept when the childr
en were young
. I enjoyed the
stimulation of the w
orkplace as well as the jo
y and challenge of bring
ing up a young family
.
Changes in family lif
e are many. My
children tell me that their expec
tations are differ
ent from mine,
but I want them t
o have the love
and support that I ha
ve from my membership of M
others’ Union.
ements
MU is talked about so much in m
y home that they ha
ve a detailed kn
owledge of the achiev
and the differenc
e to family life the or
ganisation makes
. This thrills them, but they ha
ve a different
approach to being a member
. It is the projec
t work that is their priorit
y and they find little time t
o
join a group at the moment.
ee time.
As my ironing r
eflects a different age so t
oo does the wa
y that young people spend their fr
As a ‘family’ organisation I believ
e we should take on boar
d the different needs of all ages
, potential
young members
, older members and us t
weenies. Can w
e be open and sufficiently flexible that all
our needs are met?
This is a very real challenge f
or us.
As ever with lo
ve
Rosemary
familiesworldwide – Issue 3.09 3
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